date stamp Can I add a date stamp in a Text or Memo Field

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Michael L - 05 Apr 2005 00:13 GMT

Can I add a date stamp (and or a User stamp) in a Text or Memo Field when a
user updates my notes field (Memo)

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Ken Snell [MVP] - 05 Apr 2005 00:31 GMT

If you are asking, "can I concatenate the value of the current date and time
into a text field's contents" (or memo field's contents), the answer is yes.

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Ken Snell
<MS ACCESS MVP>

> Can I add a date stamp (and or a User stamp) in a Text or Memo Field when
> a
> user updates my notes field (Memo)

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Michael L - 05 Apr 2005 01:23 GMT

Can you point me in the dircection of any examples or code that could help
me. Thanks,

> If you are asking, "can I concatenate the value of the current date and time
> into a text field's contents" (or memo field's contents), the answer is yes.
>
> > Can I add a date stamp (and or a User stamp) in a Text or Memo Field when
> > a
> > user updates my notes field (Memo)

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Ken Snell [MVP] - 05 Apr 2005 03:08 GMT

In which context would you be doing this?

As an example, the following code step would add the current date and time
to a control on a form:

Me.ControlName.Value = Me.ControlName.Value & vbCrLf & _
Format(Now(), "dd mmm yyyy at hh:nn:ss ampm")

Signature

Ken Snell
<MS ACCESS MVP>

> Can you point me in the dircection of any examples or code that could
> help
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>> > a
>> > user updates my notes field (Memo)

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Ken Snell [MVP] - 05 Apr 2005 04:27 GMT

Note that the vbCrLf that I put in the code is not a requirement - I
included it only as a "separator" for the date/time stamp. Also, the Format
"format" ("dd mmm yyyy at hh:nn:ss ampm") that I provided can be changed to
other options.

Signature

Ken Snell
<MS ACCESS MVP>

> In which context would you be doing this?
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>>> > a
>>> > user updates my notes field (Memo)

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John Vinson - 05 Apr 2005 05:37 GMT

>Can I add a date stamp (and or a User stamp) in a Text or Memo Field when a
>user updates my notes field (Memo)

As Ken says - you can; but you *shouldn't*. Fields should be atomic. A
text note and a timestamp are two different pieces of information!

Might you consider adding a Date/Time field (default value Now()) to
your table, so that when a record (including a note) is entered the
time that it was entered is automatically retained, just in a
different field?

John W. Vinson[MVP]

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mdavidjohnson - 08 Apr 2005 21:51 GMT

The Date/Time field with the Now() default works great for indicating when a
record is entered. But how would you implement a "Date Last Changed"
Date/Time field that would change to Now() whenever anything in the record is
changed? I suspect it might be based on the BeforeUpdate event but I can't
find anything on the actual mechanics of it.

> >Can I add a date stamp (and or a User stamp) in a Text or Memo Field when a
> >user updates my notes field (Memo)
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> John W. Vinson[MVP]

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John Vinson - 09 Apr 2005 00:12 GMT

>The Date/Time field with the Now() default works great for indicating when a
>record is entered. But how would you implement a "Date Last Changed"
>Date/Time field that would change to Now() whenever anything in the record is
>changed? I suspect it might be based on the BeforeUpdate event but I can't
>find anything on the actual mechanics of it.

Quite correct. Something like this in the Form's BeforeUpdate:

Private Sub Form_BeforeUpdate(Cancel as Integer)
<put any validation code here, set Cancel to True and exit if there is
a validation error>
<if all is well...>
Me!DateLastChanged = Now
End Sub

John W. Vinson[MVP]

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mdavidjohnson - 11 Apr 2005 01:03 GMT

That worked fine. Thank you.

But suppose I go in and change something directly in a table without using a
form. Is there any way to ensure that the "Date Last Changed" field gets
updated then too?

> >The Date/Time field with the Now() default works great for indicating when a
> >record is entered. But how would you implement a "Date Last Changed"
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> John W. Vinson[MVP]

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Rick Brandt - 11 Apr 2005 02:17 GMT

> That worked fine. Thank you.
>
> But suppose I go in and change something directly in a table without
> using a form. Is there any way to ensure that the "Date Last Changed"
> field gets updated then too?

Nope. Not unless you use a server database that supports triggers for the back
end.

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RBrandt at Hunter dot com

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John Vinson - 11 Apr 2005 02:29 GMT

>But suppose I go in and change something directly in a table without using a
>form. Is there any way to ensure that the "Date Last Changed" field gets
>updated then too?

No.

John W. Vinson[MVP]

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