Retrieving Lists of Objects

One thing that you can use these collections for is to retrieve lists of objects in the database. You might think that there's little need to do this, because the objects are right there in the Database window. But you'll find that working with your own lists of objects enables you to write friendlier user interfaces for people who find the Database window a bit daunting.

For example, you can use the AllForms collection to construct a general-purpose forms launcher for the sample database. Here's how:

1. Create a new form in Design view. Set the form's caption to Form list. Place a listbox control named lstForms and a command button control named cmdOpen on the form. Set the Row Source Type property of the listbox to Value List.

2. Open the form's module and add this code:

   
   

    Option Compare Database Option Explicit Private Sub cmdOpen_Click()   ' Open the selected form   If Not IsNull(lstForms.Value) Then     DoCmd.OpenForm lstForms.Value   End If End Sub Private Sub Form_Load()   ' Stock the listbox with the names of   ' all forms in the database   Dim AO As AccessObject   For Each AO In CurrentProject.AllForms     lstForms.AddItem (AO.Name)   Next AO End Sub 

   
   

3. Save the form as FormList. Open the FormList form and it will list all the forms in the database. Select a form in the listbox and click the button to open the form, as shown in Figure 15.2.

   Figure 15.2. A form listing all the forms in the database.