Dual monitors, dual frustration

[NauticalGent]

Good morning everyone! My issue should be simple, most of my users and I have a dual monitor set up. I have a main form and one of the command buttons opens up a pop up form. Because the main window can be moved as well as the pop-up, I want to ensure that the pop-up opens on the same monitor that the Access application window in on and that the pop-up form is a certain size.

I consulted ChatGPT and here is what I received:

To ensure that a form in Microsoft Access opens on the same screen as the calling form, you can use the Windows API to detect the monitor where the calling form is located and then position the new form accordingly.

Here's how you can achieve this:

Step 1: Declare the API Functions
Add these declarations to a standard module:

Private Declare PtrSafe Function MonitorFromPoint Lib "User32.dll" (ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, ByVal dwFlags As Long) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function MonitorFromRect Lib "User32.dll" (ByRef lprc As RECT, ByVal dwFlags As Long) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function MonitorFromWindow Lib "User32.dll" (ByVal hwnd As LongPtr, ByVal dwFlags As Long) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GetWindowRect Lib "User32.dll" (ByVal hwnd As LongPtr, ByRef lpRect As RECT) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GetDesktopWindow Lib "User32.dll" () As LongPtr

Private Type RECT
Left As Long
Top As Long
Right As Long
Bottom As Long
End Type

Const MONITOR_DEFAULTTONEAREST = &H2


Step 2: Create a Function to Get the Monitor Position
This function calculates the monitor where the calling form is located.

Function GetFormMonitor(frm As Form) As RECT
Dim hwnd As LongPtr
Dim r As RECT

' Get the window handle of the form
hwnd = frm.hWnd
' Get the form's screen rectangle
GetWindowRect hwnd, r
' Get the monitor based on the form's rectangle
MonitorFromRect r, MONITOR_DEFAULTTONEAREST

GetFormMonitor = r
End Function

Step 3: Set the Position of the New Form
When opening the second form, position it based on the screen bounds of the first form's monitor:

vba
Copy code
Private Sub OpenSecondForm()
Dim r As RECT
Dim frmMain As Form
Dim frmNew As Form

' Reference the calling form
Set frmMain = Me
' Get the monitor position of the calling form
r = GetFormMonitor(frmMain)

' Open the second form
DoCmd.OpenForm "SecondForm", acNormal
Set frmNew = Forms("SecondForm")

' Position the second form within the monitor bounds
With frmNew
.Move Left:=r.Left + 50, Top:=r.Top + 50 ' Offset a bit from the monitor bounds
End With
End Sub

Notes
Replace "SecondForm" with the actual name of the form you are opening.
The Move method positions the form, where Left and Top are measured in twips (1 inch = 1440 twips).
You can adjust the Left and Top offsets to ensure the form appears neatly on the same screen.
Let me know if you need help refining this for your specific setup!

This did not work and after playing with it some, I was able to detemine that the DoCmd.MoveSize code I have on the pop-up's OnLoad event was causing the issue. Once I removed it, it opened on the right monitor but the size was WAY off.

I know I can simply open the form and close it and it will stay where I last put it and that applies to the size as well. However, I want to explicitly set the location and size just in case I get a user that likes to play around.

Any ideas?

 

[AccessBlaster]

Have you checked @isladogs website? I was thinking he might have dealt with it.

 

[NauticalGent]

Have you checked @isladogs website? I was thinking he might have dealt with it.

I did, but didn't find anything, but then my wife says unless it jumps out and slaps my face, I won't see it...

 

[isladogs]

I know I can simply open the form and close it and it will stay where I last put it and that applies to the size as well.

Not quite true. Popup forms will always open on the monitor where they were last saved in design view.

You may find these articles helpful:

Extend Access across Multiple Monitors

This example app provides code that allows the Access application interface to be extended across two or more monitors. It can be used to show different forms or reports on separate monitors simultaneously or to simulate having a very large monitor

www.isladogs.co.uk

Auto position objects in extended Access interface

This example app shows how objects can be automatically positioned on different monitors in an Access application interface which is extended across two or more monitors.

www.isladogs.co.uk

Although these are specifically about extending Access over multiple monitors, they have code you can adapt to place forms on a selected monitor

 

[NauticalGent]

Colin, i don't care WHAT AccessBlaster says about you, you're aces with me!

 

[AccessBlaster]

Popup forms will always open on the monitor where they were last saved in design view.

I could have used that info 20 years ago!

 

[isladogs]

Another thing. You cannot use code such as Screen.ActiveForm on popups. See the latter part of this article:

Popup forms with breakpoint before GoToRecord

This describes an issue where adding a breakpoint to a popup form causes an error when using GoToRecord

isladogs.co.uk