Ghosted Edit Keys (Access 2000 Sr1)

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Has anyone seen a problem with large Access databases(the one concerned was converted from Access 97) where you edit them once e.g. perform a copy command and paste and then find that you cant perform any more edit functions because they grey out. I have reinstalled with no luck. The only help I can find on Technet is something to do with the Office clipboard but I cant recall how to manipulate it.

The PC is a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4320 800Mhz with Windows 2000 installed.

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I’m not sure I completely understand your question. Are you trying to copy blocks of information from one table to another? Or are you having trouble while in design mode of a form? And the commands that are greyed, are they in the menu that pops-up when you right click, or on the main menu bar?

And if you are trying to copy blocks of information, why are you doing that? Generally that’s not needed in a relational database.

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Mark

This is in a completed database not in design view. It is not a block of data but a single line of entry. The database is a list of contact details with name, address, email etc over about 10 columns with 100ish entries. If you select a single row and copy, you get a paste option. As soon as you select a second copy after that, the edit options in the edit menu and on the button bar grey out.

I have read that there is something in the Office 2000 clipboard that tries to hold multiple selections but this does not actually allow this, but could be a bug linked to it.

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I’m not sure this is what your problem is, but after copying lines to clipboard, you must select the recordselector for the line starting where you want to paste. If the cursor is in 1 of the data columns, you can’t paste.

Beyond that, I’m still curious as to why you are copying blocks of information in a relational database. It sounds like you are using Access like Excel.

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Mark

I dont think you are getting the point. I am well aware how to copy and paste. My point is that when you have activated one copy and paste function, if you attempt to do a further one immediately the options are greyed out.

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Have you tried using the keystrokes for copy and paste instead of selecting from the menu? Ctrl + C to copy and Ctrl + V to paste.

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Yep. No luck with that either.

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OK, you select a record and copy it then paste it. Then you go to another record, select that and find that the edit–>copy menu is grayed out, right?

This is extremely *abnormal* behavior, so we need to do some troubleshooting. First, what’s in the record you’re trying to copy and paste? Is it straight data, or does it include BLOBS or memo fields or anything exotic? Second, can you edit the record itself at this point–in other words, is it only the copy and paste that don’t work right then? Third, does this happen everywhere or just in a particular table?

Is the backend in Access also, or is it a database server like SQL Server? How are you connected to your data, ODBC links, ADO connections, or what? Did this just start or has it been that way all along? Is it only this database or does it happen in others as well? This is an mdb, right, and not an adp?

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Ok here goes.

“OK, you select a record and copy it then paste it. Then you go to another record, select that and find that the edit–copy menu is grayed out, right? ”

Correct.

Details:

Records are just contact details – Name, address, email address, contact details, telphone nos. etc. No unusual fields at all.

As far as I recall, you can still edit the fields.

This is the only table that this particular user uses and I’ve never seen it elsewhere.

It is solely Access ie no add-ons, links or other front ends. All in Access 2000 and only since the database was upgraded from 97 to 2000.

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I didn’t miss the point. The only situation in which I got the greyed selections was when the cursor was sitting on a field, not the record selector button. Therefore, you must have some problem with your data, or there is some situation in the data you are copying that Access doesn’t want to copy it.

And my other point still stands, why are you copying and pasting data in a relational database?

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Mark

I was just trying to explain the situation. The reason for copying/pasting in the database was, as explained, because it is a contacts database and there are occasions when the only difference between two entries will be the Name or the address.

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I think Mark’s point is that relational databases are designed around the concept of data occurring in one place. That means that if you have two addresses for the same person, you don’t just copy the record and change the address. Instead, you have a table that holds addresses and you have two records in that table that relate to a single person. Under those circumstances, you don’t copy and paste a record.

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Just to make this clear, because perhaps I havent, the database consists of a single table with rows of information. Each row contains about 10-15 column fields containing contact information. Therefore the notion of copying and pasting rows is not unusual to maintain information about the same person in two different rows. Sorry for any confusion.

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In other words, you’re using Access like a spreadsheet. That means you don’t get any of the benefits of a relational database and it’s next to impossible to keep the data clean because it lives in multiple records. I would highly recommend that you rethink your design in the future because, over time, this will bite you.

For your current problem, are you copying and pasting in a form or in the table itself? In a form you use the record selector to select an entire record. In a table you have to select the whole row to copy the record. If you select only a field or a part of a field, then that’s all you’re copying. If you just click in a field without selecting anything, the edit and past commands are grayed out. If you’re seeing behavior other than this, then it’s probably time to build a new database and try importing the objects from the current one to see if that will cure the problem.

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May I make one point clear – I am not using the database, this is one of the users I support.

The database could be better stored as a spreadsheet except that being a databse makes it far easier to pull out records for mail purposes by field.

It is a single table to my knowledge and is updated using copy and paste of the whole row and not just a single field.

I mentioned that there was an upgrade from Access 97 and it is possible this did not convert it well but this copy and paste anomaly is the only thing that ceases to work and then only after one or two times.

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