Editing Hyperlink Address Manually

Editing Hyperlink Address Manually.

Hyperlinks are everywhere on the Internet, and Microsoft Access supports them, too. In Access, hyperlinks open objects—such as Tables, Forms, Reports, or Queries—with a simple click, without writing a single line of VBA code or creating a Macro. We can create Hyperlinks in Tables or Forms to build menus that open database objects. Beyond Access, hyperlinks can launch external files such as Word documents, Excel worksheets, PDFs, and text files.

In Access, you can create or edit hyperlinks manually by entering their segments in the correct order, either in a table field or on form controls. More commonly, editing is done through the Edit Hyperlink dialog box, which appears when you right-click on a hyperlink control. There are 4 different Hyperlink-Address Segments in MS Access.

The Hyperlink address line is divided into four segments:

1. Display Text: the text that appears in a field or control, indicating the hidden link's purpose
2. Address: the external file's full path name
3. Sub-Address: Internal Object Name, to open Form, Report, etc.
4. Screen-tip: the text displays as a tooltip.

Hyperlink syntax is as follows:

Display Text#Address#Sub-Address#Tool-tip text

The Hyperlink Data type field size is 2048 characters.

You can find more details and usage of Hyperlinks in the earlier Post: Open Forms with Hyperlinks in Listbox.

Editing Hyperlink Manually.

Let us get into the manual editing of the Hyperlink topic:

We will create a sample table with a Hyperlink field to try out the manual editing exercise.

1. Create a table with a single field and data type Hyperlink.
2. Save the table with a name.
3. Open the table in datasheet view.

   If you know how to enter Hyperlink data into the field manually, you may do so by following the hyperlink syntax shown below.

   Example: My Excel File#C:\\\My Documents\Workbook1.xls##Click

4. After entering the sample hyperlink in the field, open the table in the datasheet view.

   You will see that the hyperlink field is active, and the only text showing is the Display Text (My Excel File) part of the hyperlink information.

5. Move the mouse over the hyperlink field; it changes to a hyperlink pointer (a Hand with the index finger extended).

   If you click on the field to edit the hyperlink information, it will only open the document specified in the second segment.

   If you right-click on the field, the shortcut menu, which carries the hyperlink editing options in a dialog box, is displayed.  You can key in text in different segments to change the full hyperlink values.  You cannot type values directly into the hyperlink field.

   Simple Trick to Edit Hyperlink Manually.

   But we can edit the field manually with a simple trick.

6. Close the Table for now.
   • Click the Office Button.
   • Select Access Options.
   • Select Advanced.
   • Find the Behavior Entering Field options.
   • Select the Go to end of the field Option.
   • Click OK to close the Access Options control.
7. Open the Table after completing the above steps.

Notice that the insertion point is positioned at the end of the field value, exposing the hyperlink information. Move the insertion point back to the location where you want to edit the field.

If you have more than one record to edit, then change them and reset the Behavior Entering Field option to Select Entire Field.

TIP:

If you would like to show the full File Pathname as display text, copy the Second segment hyperlink value and paste it into the display text position too.

Stand-alone Label Controls Have Hyperlink Properties.

The Label control on the Form can be used as a hyperlink control.  The label control has Hyperlink Address & Hyperlink Sub-Address properties; use the Caption property to set the Hyperlink Display Text. Set the Special Effect property value to Raised to make it look like a Command Button.

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• Double Action Command Button