How do I change a column's Format to Percent using a SQL in VBA?

Question

I have a query in VBA that Adds a few columns to a table. How can I change the format of the PercentSuccess column to Percent using SQL in VBA?

Here is the code I'm using to add the columns.

strSql5 = " Alter Table analyzedCopy3 " & _   
   "Add Column PercentSuccess Number, Success Number, prem_addr1 TEXT(50) "

DoCmd.SetWarnings False   
DoCmd.RunSQL strSql5   
DoCmd.SetWarnings True

I've tried to use Format() but I can't get it to work for changing what I need to change. It only seems to change the things like Number, Text and so on.

Answer 1

You cannot set the Format property using SQL but you can do it through additional VBA code. Also you should know that certain field properties do not actually exist until they are assigned a value of which the Format property is one of them. The code below first gets a reference to the field in question, creates a new Format property with the desired value, and then appends it to the fields definition. The Microsoft Access UI is misleading because it makes you think the property already exists.

  Dim db   As Database
  Dim tdef As TableDef
  Dim fdef As Field
  Dim pdef As Property

  Set db = CurrentDb()
  Set tdef = db.TableDefs("analyzedCopy3")
  Set fdef = tdef.Fields("PercentSuccess")

  Set pdef = fdef.CreateProperty("Format", dbText, "Percent")
  fdef.Properties.Append pdef

Finally this code only works if you use the DAO objects; you cannot set this property using ADO.

Answer 2

This answer is not closely related to your question...but the following link shows how to create a PERCENT BAR in an Access query. One of my all time favorite Access tips. Thought maybe you could increase the cool factor on your query by using this.

http://www.datapigtechnologies.com/flashfiles/percenttotal.html

Seth