Recordset.AbsolutePosition Property

Sets or returns the relative record number of a Recordset object's current record.

Syntax

expression.AbsolutePosition

expression   A variable that represents a Recordset object.

Remarks

You can use the AbsolutePosition property to position the current record pointer to a specific record based on its ordinal position in a dynaset- or snapshot-type Recordset object. You can also determine the current record number by checking the AbsolutePosition property setting.

Because the AbsolutePosition property value is zero-based (that is, a setting of 0 refers to the first record in the Recordset object), you cannot set it to a value greater than or equal to the number of populated records; doing so causes a trappable error. You can determine the number of populated records in the Recordset object by checking the RecordCount property setting. The maximum allowable setting for the AbsolutePosition property is the value of the RecordCount property minus 1.

If there is no current record, as when there are no records in the Recordset object, AbsolutePosition returns –1. If the current record is deleted, the AbsolutePosition property value isn't defined, and a trappable error occurs if it's referenced. New records are added to the end of the sequence.

You shouldn't use this property as a surrogate record number. Bookmarks are still the recommended way of retaining and returning to a given position and are the only way to position the current record across all types of Recordset objects. In particular, the position of a record changes when one or more records preceding it are deleted. There is also no assurance that a record will have the same absolute position if the Recordset object is re-created again because the order of individual records within a Recordset object isn't guaranteed unless it's created with an SQL statement by using an ORDER BY clause.

Notes

• Setting the AbsolutePosition property to a value greater than zero on a newly opened but unpopulated Recordset object causes a trappable error. Populate the Recordset object first with the MoveLast method.
• The AbsolutePosition property isn't available on forward–only–type Recordset objects, or on Recordset objects opened from pass-through queries against Microsoft Access database engine-connected ODBC databases.

Example

This example uses the AbsolutePosition property to track the progress of a loop that enumerates all the records of a Recordset.

  Sub AbsolutePositionX()
Dim dbsNorthwind As Database
Dim rstEmployees As Recordset
Dim strMessage As String
Set dbsNorthwind = OpenDatabase("Northwind.mdb")
' AbsolutePosition only works with dynasets or snapshots.
Set rstEmployees = _
dbsNorthwind.OpenRecordset("Employees", _
dbOpenSnapshot)
With rstEmployees
' Populate Recordset.
.MoveLast
.MoveFirst
  ' Enumerate Recordset.
  Do While Not .EOF
     ' Display current record information. Add 1 to 
     ' AbsolutePosition value because it is zero-based.
     strMessage = "Employee: " & !LastName & vbCr & _
        "(record " &amp; (.<strong class="bterm">AbsolutePosition</strong> + 1) &amp; _
        " of " &amp; .RecordCount &amp; ")"
     If MsgBox(strMessage, vbOKCancel) = vbCancel _
        Then Exit Do
     .MoveNext
  Loop

  .Close

End With
dbsNorthwind.Close
End Sub

See Also

• How to: Find the Current Position in a DAO Recordset