Setting the Ribbon Name in Code

Mike Wolfe -

The typical way to choose a custom ribbon in an Access application is via File > Options > Current Database > Ribbon Name.

But what if you want to assign that ribbon name in code?  It's quite easy once you know where the information is stored: in a database property named CustomRibbonID:

So, if we wanted to set the application-level ribbon to our Print Preview ribbon, we could use the following code:

CurrentDB.Properties("CustomRibbonID").Value = "gbRibbonPrintPreview"

Handling the "Property not found" Error

Now, let's say you haven't set a custom Ribbon Name through the Options dialog yet–or you set it at one time but then cleared it out:

If your "Ribbon and Toolbar Options" look like the above screenshot, then you won't be able to assign a value to the CustomRibbonID database property because it doesn't exist:

In this situation, you would need to create the property itself and then append it to the database properties collection.  You can do this in a single line of code if you wanted to:

CurrentDB.Properties.Append CurrentDB.CreateProperty("CustomRibbonID", dbText, "gbRibbonTaxColl2k")

The problem is that if you run the above code and the property already exists, then you'll get a different error message:

The SetProp() Routine

Rather than worrying about whether the property exists or not, you can just use my SetProp() routine which will handle either scenario gracefully:

SetProp "CustomRibbonID", "gbRibbonTaxColl2k"

Referenced articles

Database Properties for Thee
The DAO Database object has a Properties collection. You can read through the list of properties to extract saved database options. You can also add your own properties to the object.
No Longer SetMike Wolfe

External references

Apply a custom ribbon when starting Access
How to apply customized ribbons when opening a database in Access 2013.
Microsoft Docso365devx

Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay