Animated Floating Calendar

Introduction.

The Calendar ActiveX Control is a convenient tool for quickly inserting date values into fields with a simple click, eliminating the need for manual typing.

The only drawback of the Calendar ActiveX Control is its large size—it occupies considerable space on the form, especially when multiple date fields are involved. This can interfere with the placement of other controls and compromise the overall layout. As a result, despite its convenience, developers may hesitate to include it in their design and instead fall back on the traditional approach of manually typing the Date value—after all, it’s the user, not the developer, who will be doing the typing.

We’re going to use the Calendar Control—because we don’t accept defeat. The concerns mentioned earlier won’t stop us from using this powerful tool wisely. The method we’ll implement here may seem a bit complex at first, but once set up, it becomes very easy to reuse across other forms within the same project.

Microsoft Access Floating Calendar Project.

Open your database and select a form you've already designed, or create a new one with at least two Date Fields. Let’s begin with the easy part of our project. Copy and paste the following VBA code into a standard (global) module, then save it:

Option Compare DatabaseOption Explicit
'Global Declarations
Public Const twips As Long = 1440
Dim mm_actctl As Control

Public Function Calendar()
Dim sngStart As Single, CalCtrl As Control
Dim ctl As Control, frm As Form, t_height As Long
Dim m_left As Long, m_top As Long, i As Double
Dim w As Long, h As Long, y As Double
Dim caltop As Long, calheight As Long
Dim secHeight As Long
Dim frmWidth As Long, t_width As Long

On Error GoTo Calendar_Err

Set ctl = Screen.ActiveControl
Set mm_actctl = ctl
Set CalCtrl = Screen.ActiveForm.Controls("Cal1")
Set frm = Screen.ActiveForm

CalCtrl.Width = 0.1458 * twips ' 0.1458"
CalCtrl.Height = 0.1563 * twips ' 0.1563"
m_left = ctl.Left + ctl.Width
m_top = ctl.Top + ctl.Height
caltop = m_top
calheight = ctl.Height + (15 * twips * 0.106) '0.105"

secHeight = frm.Section(acDetail).Height
frmWidth = frm.Width
t_height = caltop + calheight
t_width = m_left + (15 * twips * 0.17) '0.17"

If t_height > secHeight Then
    m_top = secHeight - (calheight + (0.106 * twips))
End If

If t_width > frmWidth Then
   m_left = frmWidth - (15 * twips * 0.17) ' 0.17"
End If

CalCtrl.Left = m_left
CalCtrl.Top = m_top
CalCtrl.Visible = True

sngStart = Timer
i = 0.05: y = i
Do While Timer < (sngStart + 0.75)

If Timer >= sngStart + y Then
    y = y + i
    w = CalCtrl.Width + (0.17 * twips) ' 0.17"
    CalCtrl.Width = w
    h = CalCtrl.Height + (0.106 * twips) ' 0.105"
    CalCtrl.Height = h
    DoEvents
End If
Loop

Calendar_Exit:
Exit Function

Calendar_Err:
MsgBox Err.Description, , "Calendar"
Resume Calendar_Exit
End Function

'Insert Date into the active Field

Public Function Cal1Click()
Dim m_cal As Control, m_ctl As Control

On Error GoTo Cal1Click_Err

Set m_cal = Screen.ActiveForm.Controls("Cal1")
mm_actctl.Value = m_cal.Value
m_cal.Width = 0.1458 * twips ' 0.1458"
m_cal.Height = 0.1563 * twips ' 0.1563"
mm_actctl.SetFocus
DoEvents
m_cal.Visible = False

Cal1Click_Exit:
Exit Function

Cal1Click_Err:
MsgBox Err.Description, , "Cal1Click"
Resume Cal1Click_Exit
End Function

Note: If you encounter any errors while running this code, please refer to my earlier post titled Command Button Animation. It explains how to link the necessary library references to your project—an essential step for this code to work correctly.

MS-Access Calendar Control.

1. Open the Form in Design View.
2. Select Microsoft Access ActiveX Control from the Insert Menu.
3. Scroll through the Displayed List and find Calendar Control as shown in the image below:
   
4. Select it and click OK. A Calendar Control is inserted into your Form.
   

   Click to Enlarge

5. Temporarily position the control anywhere on the form where it's convenient.
   Next, click on the control to select it, open its Property Sheet, and update the following property values as indicated below:

Ms-Access Calendar Control Properties

1. Name = Cal1
2. Visible = False
3. Special Effect = Raised
4. Border Color = 0
5. Back Color = 11139322
6. Month Length = System (Medium) - Access 2003, e.g.: Jul 2007
7. Grid Lines Color = 2147483632
8. Grid Font Color = 10485760
9. Title Font Color = 10485760
10. Width = .1458"
11. Height = .1563"

After adjusting the Width and Height properties, the Calendar control becomes a small rectangle that you can easily position anywhere on the form, wherever it's most convenient.

Next, we need to copy a few additional lines of code into the Form's code module. While the form is in Design View, either click the Code button on the toolbar or choose View → Code from the menu. Then, paste the following code into the form’s module:

Private Sub Cal1_Click()
   Cal1Click
End Sub

Private Sub Detail_Click()
   Me.Cal1.Visible = False
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
   Me.Cal1.Value = Date
End Sub

When you click on a date in the Calendar, the Cal1Click() routine is triggered, inserting the selected date into the currently active field and then hiding the Calendar.

However, if you decide not to select a date and simply want to hide the Calendar, clicking anywhere on the empty area of the form’s Detail section will do so. This behavior is handled by the Detail_Click() routine.

Additionally, when the form opens, the Calendar is automatically initialized with the system's current date, thanks to the Form_Load() event procedure. This ensures the Calendar always starts with today’s date selected.

If you're new to customizing Microsoft Access menus and toolbars, the next section might seem a bit unfamiliar. But don’t worry—we're just going to explore features that already exist within Access. It’s something every developer eventually needs to learn, and getting familiar with it now will save you time later.

Creating MS Access Toolbar Button.

We'll now create a new toolbar button and link it to the procedure you previously copied into the global module. For added convenience, we'll also place a copy of this toolbar button in a shortcut menu. This setup allows you to easily launch the animated floating Calendar control directly from your MS Access form.

Select the following Menu Option:

1. View - - > Toolbar - - > Customize. Click New to create a new Toolbar and name it as ToolCal, then click OK. A new small empty Toolbar will show up on top.
   

   Click to Enlarge

2. Select the Commands Tab. Click and drag the New button and place it on the new Toolbar.
3. Right-click on the new toolbar button, and point the cursor on the Change Button Image option on the displayed menu to show several Button Images. You may select one of the Images you prefer to use.
   

   Click to Enlarge

   If you'd like to create a custom button image, you can do so by choosing the Edit Button Image option from the menu. In this example, I selected a fish image, fitting, since it's for a Floating Calendar. After selecting the image, right-click the button again to bring up the menu and enter &Calendar the Name field. You can choose the button style as Image only, Text only, or Image and Text. The default style (Image and Text) is suitable for now, so you can keep that selected.

4. Next, we need to link our Calendar() program to the toolbar button. Right-click on the toolbar button and select Properties from the context menu. In the On Action field, type:

   =Calendar()
   

   (Be sure to include the equal sign at the beginning.)

   Click Close to save the changes.

   Our toolbar button is now ready and can be used to launch the calendar on the form. If that’s all you need, you can stop here. However, we’ll take it a step further by adding a copy of this button to the form view’s shortcut menu. This will allow users to simply right-click on a date field and select the calendar option from the shortcut menu, making it even more convenient. The calendar remains hidden until the button is clicked.

5. Select the Toolbars Tab on the Customize Dialogue Control and put a tick-mark for Shortcut Menus.

   Before copying the button, let’s first locate the target area where we’ll place it. In the Shortcut Menus options, locate and expand the Form section. You’ll see a long list of sub-menu groups—find and select Form View Control. This group contains standard options like Filter by Selection, Cut, Copy, Paste, and more. These are the default items that appear when you right-click on a text control in Form View. Refer to the image below for guidance.

   

   Click to Enlarge

   The shortcut menus vary depending on where you right-click—whether on an empty area of the form, the record selector, or a control. Therefore, it's essential to place a copy of the new button specifically on the Form View Control shortcut menu, which appears when you right-click on a text control in Form View.

   Be aware that this method has a few side effects. For instance, if you click the new toolbar button on a form that doesn’t contain the Calendar control, or if the control isn't named Cal1 You may encounter error messages.

   We have more articles that explore this topic in greater detail, including how to design custom Microsoft Access menubars, toolbars, and shortcut menus—and how to use them effectively on forms. Relevant links are provided at the end of this page for your reference.

6. Now, let’s proceed with placing the button. Hold down the Ctrl key with one hand, then click and drag the new toolbar button with the mouse. (Make sure to keep the Ctrl key pressed—otherwise, the button will be moved rather than copied.)

   While dragging, hover over the Form menu in the Shortcut Menu Bar to reveal its submenu groups. Then move the pointer to Form View Control to display its shortcut menu options. Drop the button at the left edge of the menu, aligning it with the existing icons for a clean look.

   Finally, click Close to exit the customization mode.

Trial Run.

We are ready to try out the Animated Floating Calendar. Open your Access Form in Form View and right-click on a Date Field. The new button on the Shortcut Menu, with the Fish Icon, and the Calendar Caption should be visible as shown below:

Click the Calendar button from the shortcut menu. The ActiveX Calendar control will unfold smoothly with a yellow background, appearing just below and to the right of the field you right-clicked. While it's typically used with date fields, you can activate it from any field on the form.

If we want to restrict calendar-based date selection to only date-type fields, we’ll need to validate the Control Source of the active control against the field type defined in the underlying table or query. Based on that, we can decide whether to display the calendar or show a warning and prevent it from appearing. While this refinement is possible, it requires additional code. For now, we’ll keep things simple and revisit those enhancements later.

Click on a date in the Calendar to insert it into the field you previously right-clicked. If you decide not to insert a date and simply want to close the Calendar instead, just click on any empty area in the detail section of the form. The Calendar will then disappear.

Normally, the Calendar appears to the right and below the control you right-clicked. If the Date field is located near the bottom or right edge of the form, the Calendar automatically repositions itself to fit within the visible area, typically as close as possible to the field. In such cases, it may slightly overlap the field, but you can still click on the Calendar to insert a date without any issue.

NB: The Program may not work correctly if you attempt to use this method on a Sub-form.

Download

Download AnimatedCalender.zip

1. Calendar and Toolbars
2. Custom Menus and Tool-Bars
3. Custom Menus and Tool-Bars2
4. Startup Screen Design