MS Access VBA equivalent to Ctrl+'? - vba

Question

I am having a difficult time how to properly copy specific field data from previous records on my user form. I don't have a code sample to show but my request is very simplistic.
Currently, out of 12 fields, I have 6 that I often repeat data. I can click on and press Ctrl+' ("Insert the value from the same field in the previous record") and it performs the task I want. However, it adds a lot of time to the task. I simply want to write VBA code to perform that command to those specific fields.
I haven't been able to get SendKeys to work. DLast appears to provide random data at times. I feel like this should be a very simple request but for some reason I am not finding a functional solution for it.

Answer 1

Don't fiddle with arrays or queries - use the power of DAO:
Private Sub CopyButton_Click()
CopyRecord
End Sub
If a record is selected, copy this.
If a new record is selected, copy the last (previous) record.
Private Sub CopyRecord()
Dim Source As DAO.Recordset
Dim Insert As DAO.Recordset
Dim Field As DAO.Field
' Live recordset.
Set Insert = Me.RecordsetClone
' Source recordset.
Set Source = Insert.Clone
If Me.NewRecord Then
' Copy the last record.
Source.MoveLast
Else
' Copy the current record.
Source.Bookmark = Me.Bookmark
End If
Insert.AddNew
For Each Field In Source.Fields
With Field
If .Attributes And dbAutoIncrField Then
' Skip Autonumber or GUID field.
Else
Select Case .Name
' List names of fields to copy.
Case "FirstField", "AnotherField", "YetAField" ' etc.
' Copy field content.
Insert.Fields(.Name).Value = Source.Fields(.Name).Value
End Select
End If
End With
Next
Insert.Update
Insert.Close
Source.Close
End Sub
This also, by the way, is an excellent example of the difference between the RecordsetClone and the Clone of a recordset - the first being "the records of the form", while the second is an independant copy.
This also means, that the form will update automatically and immediately.

Answer 2

Provided that it's a simple form to edit a simple table, and that the bound data field names match the control names, you may get away with
If Me.Recordset.AbsolutePosition > 0 Then
With Me.Recordset.Clone()
.AbsolutePosition = Me.Recordset.AbsolutePosition - 1
Dim control_name As Variant
For Each control_name In Array("field1", "field2", "field3", "field4", "field5", "field6")
Me.Controls(control_name).Value = .Fields(control_name).Value
Next
End With
End If
which you assign to a separate button on the same form.

Answer 3

You have a good idea post here already.
You could also say place a function in the before insert event. This event ONLY fires when you start typing into a NEW reocrd, and it becomes dirty.
So, maybe this:
Private Sub Form_BeforeInsert(Cancel As Integer)
Dim rstPrevious As DAO.Recordset
Dim strSQL As String
strSQL = "SELECT TOP 1 * FROM tblPeople ORDER BY ID DESC"
Set rstPrevious = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset(strSQL)
' auto file out some previous values
If rstPrevious.RecordCount > 0 Then
Me.Firstname = rstPrevious!Firstname
Me.LastName = rstPrevious!LastName
End If
End Sub
And some good ideas in say having a "list" or "array" of controls/fields to setup, so you don't have to write a lot of code. (as suggested in the other post/answer here)