Popup Menus Provide Quick, Context Sensitive Options in Microsoft Access

Give your Microsoft Access database applications a more Windows-like feel with Pop-up Menus that appear with the right mouse click button (or any event you specify).

The Popup Menu control displays a Windows-style context sensitive menu when a user right clicks on a control or form:

Popup Menu for selecting options in Microsoft Access database applications

Using the Popup Menu control

Design the Menu Items

Simply add the Pop-up Menu control to your form and interactively set its properties. You can specify each menu item individually:

  • Text to display
  • Font
  • Style
  • Point size
  • Colors:
    • Forecolor
    • Backcolor, if Windows XP Themes is not enabled
  • Graphic (BMP, GIF, ICO, or JPG format)
  • Selected status (check mark)
  • Enabled/Disabled

You can also add horizontal lines to separate menu items:

Example of Pop-up Menu with a Separator Line in Microsoft Access

With the Windows XP Themes option selected, it matches the appearance of your user's Windows settings.

Display the Popup Menu

Once the Popup Menu is designed, display it with its Show method.

Typically, a popup menu appears when the right mouse button is pressed over the form or a particular control. Select the control you want to add the popup menu, and invoke the Popup Menu's Show method on its MouseDown event for the right mouse click (Button = 2).

Handle the User's Selection

The Popup menu generates an OnSelect event when the user selects a menu item. Just invoke your action based on the selection.

Complete Programmatic Control

With VBA, you can programmatically modify your Popup Menu. Customize individual menu items, enable or disable them, add or remove items, change graphics, etc. so you can display exactly what you want based on your context.

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