set focus on txt field

I have a form with a txt box named txtAuditor. on the exit event, i have some validation checks.
i want that if the validation fails, the focus will go back to that txt box.

i currectly have

if variable=false then
txtauditor.value=""
txtauditor.setfocus
endif

this did not work!
Any suggestions??

hm... i think you may have to preselect the value that's already there-
i know you've set it to " ", but maybe you have to select it?
give this a go-

if variable=false then
txtauditor.value="" 'resets incorrect value - may not be necessary?
txtauditor.setfocus 'sets the focus to the text box
txtauditor.selStart = 0 'starts the text selection at the start of the incorrect value
txtauditor.selLength = 1000 'indicates the last character of the incorrect value (really big, so youre sure you have it- although with the top value being reset- maybe you could error on the side of some smaller number?)
endif

lemme know if it works,
good luck
pim

txtauditor.setfocus 'sets the focus to the text box

this is the line that doesn't work.

i got around it by setting the cancel to true but i cant figure out why it's not letting me use the setfocus method.

You said you are using the Exit event, so use the functionality provided:

if variable=false then
Cancel = True
End if

causes focus to remain on the textbox.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy


"tkaplan" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
>
> txtauditor.setfocus 'sets the focus to the text box
>
> this is the line that doesn't work.
>
> i got around it by setting the cancel to true but i cant figure out why
> it's not letting me use the setfocus method.
>
>
> --
> tkaplan
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> tkaplan's Profile:
http://www.excelforum.com/member.php...o&userid=22987
> View this thread: http://www.excelforum.com/showthread...hreadid=471137
>

TK:

The SetFocus doesn't work because txtAuditor already HAS the focus and
is in the middle of leaving. It doesn't actually lose the focus until
AFTER the exit event has finished. The order of events when you change
data in a control is as follows:

BeforeUpdate
AfterUpdate
Exit
LostFocus

Note that you don't lose the focus until AFTER the event has happened.
You have to use the Cancel = True method because that cancels the exit
event, thus you don't leave the txtAuditor field & the focus never
changes to the next field. Does that make sense??

What you should be using for data validation is the 'Before Update'
event. This will let you check the data BEFORE it gets written to the
record. Then, because the record hasn't been changed yet, you just use
the Undo method for your field if it fails your validation
requirements, rather than setting it to "".

Here's the finished code:
Private Sub txtAuditor_BeforeUpdate(Cancel as Integer)
'Your Validation Code Goes Here, which sets the value of variable
If variable = false then
Cancel = True
Me!txtAuditor.Undo
End If
End Sub

Now, make sure that your validation code tells the user WHY you aren't
allowing them to change the data and you're all set!

Good luck,
Jana