|

Home

Excel

Access

Mailbag...
Back to the Mailbag
Use the Same technique
to Fill a Combo Box or
List Box on a VBA
UserForm
Create Cascading
Dropdowns on a Word
Form

Word

Outlook

FrontPage

VBA

Downloads

Index

How Do I Fill a Form Field Dropdown List in a

Word Document with Items from a Database?
The Problem...
When creating a form in a Word document you can add a Dropdown List (we propellorheads call
them Combo Boxes) offering the user a selection of items to choose from. The normal procedure is
to "hard code" the list by entering the list items manually into the properties window of the form
field...

Free Courseware

Download FREE courseware

handouts. These documents are
ideal for teachers, students and
anyone wanting to learn more
about their Microsoft Office
programs. Each handout covers a
specific topic and is illustrated
with full-colour screenshots. Many
have accompanying sample files.
The files are not restricted in any
way so you can print copies or
read them on-screen.
Get my Free Courseware here.

That's OK if the list is not going to change. But if your list changes from time to time you need to
keep it up-to-date. So, if the list is made up from information in a database, is it possible to have
the list update automatically?

The Solution...
The answer is Yes, thanks to ADO and a little VBA programming. ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) is
part of the VBA programming language which allows any Microsoft Office application to talk to a
database. Instead of manually defining the items on the form field's list you can use ADO to
retrieve the list from a database. This example uses Microsoft Access but ADO can talk to almost
any kind of database.

Get the Form Field's Name

eBooks

You need to know what the dropdown form field is called. Word automatically assigns a name to
each form field as it is added to the document, or you might have named it yourself. Right-click
the form field and open its Properties dialog. The name is shown as the Bookmark property (e.g.
"Dropdown1").

Set a Reference to ADO

So that Word understands your ADO coding you need to set a reference to the ADO object library.
Open the Visual Basic Editor (keys: [Alt]+[F11]) then choose Tools > References to open the
References dialog. Scroll down the list until you find an entry for the Microsoft ActiveX Data
Objects 2.x Library (where x is the highest available number) then place a tick in the adjacent
checkbox and click the OK button.
Do you want to learn more about
Access, Excel and VBA? Are you a
teacher looking for top quality
courseware for your students? My
eBooks are the ideal solution to
your needs. They are packed with
code snippets, illustrations and

Write the Code

The code should run each time the document is opened so that the list is always up-to-date. If you
plan to keep your form as a Word Document (*.doc) file then the code should run on the
document's Open event. But if you plan to save your document as a Word Template (*.dot) file
then the code should run on the document's New event (i.e. when a new document based on the
template is created).

step-by-step exercises. Written in

the same style as my popular online tutorials, my eBooks will help
you develop your skills and build
useful, professional looking
applications. Find out more at my
eBooks Page.

Both of these events belong in the document's ThisDocument module. In the Visual Basic Editor
double click the ThisDocument entry in the Project Explorer to open the code module...

Support this site!

Make a small donation to help
support this site.
Donate in US Dollars

Donate in UK Pounds

Donate in Euros

The code listing below runs on the Document_Open event, suitable for a Word document. If
yours is a Word template change the name of the procedure to Document_New. The code
contains a number of statements that you will have to edit to suit your particular database:
The Connection String (the line starting cnn.Open) specifies a provider suitable for a
Microsoft Access database, and also includes the database filename and path. Search
for help on ADO Connection Strings if you need to connect to a different type of
database such as SQL Server.
The rst.Open statement is a simple SQL statement that generates a list of unique
items from a named field of a named table and, in this example, also defines the sort
order. If you don't know SQL read some of my SQL tutorials or build a suitable query
in Access and look at its SQL View to get the code.
The form field to which the list items are added is referred to by name (here it is
Dropdown1).
The loop refers again to the name of the field (here [Department]) from which the list
items are taken.
Note that I have also included error handling in the code...

Private Sub Document_Open()

On Error GoTo Document_Open_Err
Dim cnn As New ADODB.Connection
Dim rst As New ADODB.Recordset
cnn.Open "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" & _
"Data Source=C:\Databases\StaffDatabase.mdb"
rst.Open "SELECT DISTINCT TOP 25 [Department] FROM tblStaff ORDER
BY [Department];", _
cnn, adOpenStatic
rst.MoveFirst
With ActiveDocument.FormFields("Dropdown1").DropDown.ListEntries
.Clear
Do
.Add rst![Department]
rst.MoveNext
Loop Until rst.EOF
End With
Document_Open_Exit:
On Error Resume Next
rst.Close
cnn.Close
Set rst = Nothing
Set cnn = Nothing
Exit Sub
Document_Open_Err:
MsgBox Err.Number & vbCrLf & Err.Description, vbCritical, "Error!"
Resume Document_Open_Exit
End Sub

How it Works

The code starts by connecting to the named database and opening a recordset in the computer's
memory. The recordset is defined by the SQL statement which creates a list of unique items (here
it is Department names) from a named table (here called tblStaff). Note that the SQL statement
includes the instruction TOP 25 to ensure that it returns no more than 25 items. A form field
Dropdown can have a maximum of only 25 items on its list.
After moving to the first record in the recordset the procedure first clears any existing items from
the form field list. Then a loop moves through the recordset, adding an item to the form field list
for each record it visits.
Finally, the exit procedure ensures that the recordset and database connection are closed and their
object variables set to Nothing to clear the memory before it exits.

^ top
2007 Martin Green. All rights reserved. martin@fontstuff.com