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Object properties

Applies to: Access 2013 | Access 2016

The Object properties provide general information about objects contained in the Navigation Pane.

Note

The Object properties are available for all objects in a Microsoft Access database and only for forms, macros, modules, and reports in an Access project (.adp).

Setting

You can view the Object properties, and set the Description or Attributes properties, in the following ways:

  • Click an object in the Database window. On the Database Tools tab, in the Show/Hide group, click Property Sheet.

  • Right-click an object in the Database window, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.

You can also specify or determine the Object properties in an Access database by using Visual Basic . The Object properties of an Access project (.adp) are not available using Visual Basic.

Note

You can only enter or edit the Description and Attributes properties. The other Object properties are set by Microsoft Access and are read-only.

Remarks

The objects for which you can display properties in the Database window are tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and modules. Each class of objects in the database is represented by a separate DAO Document object within the DAO Containers collection. For example, the Containers collection contains a Document object that represents all the forms in the database.

The following Object properties are available from the Database window.

Property Description
Name This is the name of the object and contains the setting from the object's Name property.
Type This is the object's type. Microsoft Access object types are Form, Macro, Module, Query, Report, and Table.
Description This is the object's description and is the same as the setting for the object's Description property. You can also set the object's Description property in the object's property sheet.
Created This is the date that the object was created. For tables and queries, this property is the same as the DateCreated property.
Modified This is the date that the object was last modified. For tables and queries, this property is the same as the LastUpdated property.
Owner This is the owner of the object. For more information, see the Owner property.
Attributes This property specifies whether the object is hidden or visible and whether the object can be replicated in a database replica. If you set the Hidden attribute to True (by selecting the Hidden check box), the object won't appear in the Database window.

To display hidden objects in the Navigation Pane, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Access Options. Click the Current Database category, and then click Navigation Options. Click Show Hidden Objects, and then click OK.

The icons for hidden objects will be dimmed in the Database window. You can then turn the Hidden attribute off, making the objects visible in the Database window.

Example

The following example uses the PrintObjectProperties subroutine to print the values of an object's Object properties to the Debug window. The subroutine requires the object type and object name as arguments.

Dim strObjectType As String 
Dim strObjectName As String 
Dim strMsg As String 
 
strMsg = "Enter object type (e.g., Forms, Scripts, " _ 
 & "Modules, Reports, Tables)." 
' Get object type. 
strObjectType = InputBox(strMsg) 
strMsg = "Enter the name of a form, macro, module, " _ 
 & "query, report, or table." 
' Get object name from user. 
strObjectName = InputBox(strMsg) 
' Pass object type and object name to 
' PrintObjectProperties subroutine. 
PrintObjectProperties strObjectType, strObjectName 
 
Sub PrintObjectProperties(strObjectType As String, strObjectName _ 
 As String) 
Dim dbs As Database, ctr As Container, doc As Document 
Dim intI As Integer 
Dim strTabChar As String 
Dim prp As DAO.Property 
 
Set dbs = CurrentDb 
strTabChar = vbTab 
' Set Container object variable. 
Set ctr = dbs.Containers(strObjectType) 
' Set Document object variable. 
Set doc = ctr.Documents(strObjectName) 
doc.Properties.Refresh 
' Print the object name to Debug window. 
Debug.Print doc.Name 
' Print each Object property to Debug window. 
For Each prp in doc.Properties 
 Debug.Print strTabChar & prp.Name & " = " & prp.Value 
Next 
End Sub

See also

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