That’s right, another MAJOR bug has reared its ugly head for MS Access 2016 users in which the combo box to assign a Field Size no longer displays any values!

For the past couple of days now, we have been seeing an increasing number of reports of the above problem in various forums.

Firstly, the MVP group have already notified the Access Dev Team, so they are looking into the matter.  Now, how long it will take to see a patch, your guess is as good as mine.  It took months for them to patch the missing image issue.

Also, in their defense:

One needs to remember that the problem was caused by a change made outside the Access codebase. But its Access that needs to be recoded. And that means making sure there isn’t a domino effect from any code changes. – Scott Gem (MS Access MVP)

As for potential solution to the current problem, there are 3 workarounds (taken from MS Access 2016 No Longer Displays Field Size Options).

 

Workaround 1 – Change Default Property

Select: File->Options->Object DesignersIn the Table design view section use the Default number Field Size ComboBox to select one of the following:

Byte, Integer, Long Integer, Sing, Double, Decimal, Replication ID

Then click “OK” to save your options

When you return to the Table designer and create a new Number field it will now default to your selected Field Size.

Every time you wish to change Number Field Sizes you will need to return to Options and re-select the appropriate default Field Size.

This workaround will not allow you to change the Field Size for existing number fields.

 

Workaround 2 – Use SQL

It is also possible to use SQL DDL to create a new table using commands.

If you are interested in learning more regarding the DDL language, below are a few links to brush up on the subject.

Microsoft Access: DDL Code Examples (Allen Browne)
Access Data Definition Language (DDL): Creating and Altering Tables On The Fly (Danny Lesandrini – Database Journal)
How to use common Data Definition Language (DDL) SQL statements for the Jet database engine (Microsoft)

Update 2016-06-19

Ken Sheridan was kind enough to post some sample code for everyone.

Simply execute a DDL statement, e.g.

 ALTER TABLE MyTable
 ALTER COLUMN MyNumber Double;

Do this in the query designer in SQL view.

 

Workaround 3 – Copy/Paste

Another workaround that, fellow MVP, Joe Anderson mentioned in a recent forum discussion is that you can still copy/paste fields from an existing table to another one.  So if you already have a table with the Field type, size, … you need to create, then you can simply copy/paste it.  Or if you have an existing table close to what you need, you can copy/paste it and then rename the table/fields as required.

Update 2016-06-21

Tom van Stiphout, Access MVP, was kind enough to put together a table with each number data type to copy/paste from.  This is probably the easiest solution to the current dilemma until MS comes out with an official fix.  Taken from one of many Forum threads he has contributed to:

Here is a simple workaround:
Download this file I posted: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AnmKsZFxs8_KhoEukCFECeXiwA-fvA
It has a single table, with a number field of each type. This will allow you to copy/paste while designing your table.

Can’t get any easier than this!  Thank you Tom.

 

Let’s keep our fingers crossed the Dev Team come out with a fix promptly for all our sakes!

Update 2016-06-19

From what we have been told a fix will be available soon. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess within this week. Which would mean just 2 weeks after it was reported. – Scott Gem (MS Access MVP)

Let’s hope Scott is right!

Update 2016-07-04  A Fix has Finally been Released

Over the course of the weekend we have seen a update start getting rolled out through Office365 and Windows Update.

For office365 there are multiple update channels so some people may get it sooner than others.  The Access team doesn’t control the release of Office updates … – Scott Gem (MS Access MVP)

George Hepworth confirmed the update for the MSI versions both 32 and 64 bit versions.

So make sure to perform an update of your systems and this problem should be a thing of the past.

So, for MSI installation you simply run Windows Update.
For, Office365 CTR installations, File -> Account -> Update Options -> Update