ACC2000: How to Control How the User Closes a Form

A Microsoft Access form has a CloseButton property, which you can use to prevent a user from closing the form with either the Close Button icon or by clicking Close on the File menu. However, the user can still close the form by pressing ALT+F4. This article shows you how to prevent the user from closing a form by pressing ALT+F4.

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. CAUTION: If you follow the steps in this example, you modify the sample database Northwind.mdb. You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb file and follow these steps on a copy of the database.

This example prevents the user from using ALT+F4 to close a form:

1. Open the sample Microsoft Access database file Northwind.mdb or the sample Microsoft Access Project file NorthwindCS.adp.
2. Open the Customers form in Design view.
3. Change the following property:

      Form: Customers
      -------------------------
      CloseButton: No
   					

4. On the View menu, click Code.
5. Type the following lines in the Declarations section:

   Option Explicit
   Public blnClose As Boolean
   					

6. Add the following line of code to the Load event of the form:

   blnClose = False
   					

7. Add the following control to the form:

      Command Button 
      -------------------
      Name: cmdCloseForm
      Caption: &Close
   					

8. Add the following line of code to the Click event of the command button, cmdCloseForm:

   blnClose = True
   DoCmd.Close acForm, "Customers", acSaveNo
   					

9. Add the following code to the UnLoad event of the form:

      Dim strMessage As String
      Dim intStyle As Integer
      Dim strTitle As String
   
      strMessage = "You are attempting to close this form incorrectly." & _
         vbCrLf & "Please try again using the designated Close Button"
      intStyle = vbOKOnly + vbCritical
      strTitle = "Closing Customers?"
   
      If blnClose = False Then
         MsgBox prompt:=strMessage, buttons:=intStyle, Title:=strTitle
         Cancel = True
      End If
   
   					

10. Open the Customers form in Form view.
    
    Note that the Close Button icon button remains visible but appears dimmed (grayed). Clicking Close on the File menu causes the custom message to be displayed. This message is also displayed if the user presses ALT+F4.

For more information about events, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type events and event properties Reference in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.