ACC: How to Retrieve the MS Access Window Handle (1.x/2.0)

MORE INFORMATION

Every window in the Microsoft Windows environment has a unique number, or window handle, assigned to it that is used to identify the window. The window handle is a required argument for many Microsoft Windows application programming interface (API) functions.

The following steps describe how to create the sample function GetAccesshWnd() that you can use to get the Microsoft Access window handle:

NOTE: You may have some Microsoft Windows API functions defined in an existing Microsoft Access library; therefore, your declarations may be duplicates. If you receive a duplicate procedure name error message, remove or comment out the declarations statement in your code.

NOTE: In the following sample code, an underscore (_) is used as a line- continuation character. Remove the underscore when re-creating this code in Access Basic.

1. Create a new module.
2. Add the following lines to the module's Declarations section:
   

         Option Explicit
   
         Declare Function GetActiveWindow Lib "User" () As Integer
         Declare Function GetParent Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer) _
            As Integer
   						

3. Enter the following function in the module:
   

         Function GetAccesshWnd ()
            Dim hWnd As Integer
            Dim hWndAccess As Integer
   
            ' Get the handle to the currently active window.
            hWnd = GetActiveWindow()
            hWndAccess = hWnd
   
            ' Find the top window without a parent window.
            While hWnd <> 0
               hWndAccess = hWnd
               hWnd = GetParent(hWnd)
            Wend
   
            GetAccesshWnd = hWndAccess
   
         End Function
   						

How to Use the GetAccesshWnd() Function

General Use:

1. Choose Immediate Window from the View menu in the module's Design view.
2. Type the following and then press ENTER:
   
   ? GetAccesshWnd()
   
   The window handle for the Immediate window will be returned.

How to Minimize, Maximize, or Restore the Microsoft Access Window:

1. Add the following to the module's Declarations section:
   

         Declare Function ShowWindow% Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd%, _
            ByVal nCmdShow%)
   
         Global Const SW_MAXIMIZE = 3
         Global Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1
         Global Const SW_SHOWMINIMIZED = 2
   						

2. Enter the following functions in the module:
   

         Function AccessMinimize()
            AccessMinimize = ShowWindow(GetAccesshWnd(), SW_SHOWMINIMIZED)
         End Function
   
         Function AccessMaximize()
            AccessMaximize = ShowWindow(GetAccesshWnd(), SW_MAXIMIZE)
         End Function
   
         Function AccessRestore()
            AccessRestore = ShowWindow(GetAccesshWnd(), SW_SHOWNORMAL)
         End Function
   						

3. To run these functions, type ? <function name>() in the module's Immediate window.

How to Determine If the Microsoft Access Window Is Minimized, Maximized, or Restored:

1. Add the following to the module's Declarations section:
   

         Declare Function IsIconic Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer) _
            As Integer
         Declare Function IsZoomed Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer) _
            As Integer
   						

2. Enter the following functions in the module:
   

         Function IsAccessMaximized ()
            If IsZoomed(GetAccesshWnd()) = 0 Then
               IsAccessMaximized = False
            Else
               IsAccessMaximized = True
            End If
         End Function
   
         Function IsAccessMinimized ()
            If IsIconic(GetAccesshWnd()) = 0 Then
               IsAccessMinimized = False
            Else
               IsAccessMinimized = True
            End If
         End Function
   
         Function IsAccessRestored ()
            If IsAccessMaximized() = False And _
                  IsAccessMinimized() = False Then
               IsAccessRestored = True
            Else
               IsAccessRestored = False
            End If
         End Function
   						

3. To run these functions, type ? <function name>() in the module's Immediate window. For example, type
   
   ? IsAccessMaximized()
   
   to return a -1 if the Microsoft Access window is maximized, or a 0 if it is not.

How to Move and Size the Microsoft Access Window:

1. Add the following to the module's Declarations section:
   

         Declare Sub MoveWindow Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, _
            ByVal X As Integer, ByVal Y As Integer, _
            ByVal nWidth As Integer, ByVal nHeight As Integer, _
            ByVal bRepaint As Integer)
   						

2. Enter the following function in the module:
   

         Function AccessMoveSize (iX As Integer, iY As Integer, _
            iWidth As Integer, iHeight As Integer)
            MoveWindow GetAccesshWnd(), iX, iY, iWidth, iHeight, True
         End Function
   						

To move the Microsoft Access window to the upper left corner of the screen and size it to the standard VGA display size of 640 x 480 pixels, type the following in the module's Immediate window:

? AccessMoveSize(0, 0, 640, 480)

On a computer configured with the standard VGA video driver, this will give the Microsoft Access window the appearance of being maximized, although it is really restored and sized to fill the screen. Note that the dimensions you supply to this function are in pixels.