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Use the
DMax
function to determine the maximum value in a specified set of records (a domain).
Syntax
expression
.
DMax
(
Expr
,
Domain
,
Criteria
)
expression
A variable that represents an
Application
object.
Parameters
Required/Optional
Data type
Description
Required
String
An expression that identifies the field for which you want to find the minimum or maximum value. It can be a string expression identifying a field in a table or query, or it can be an expression that performs
calculation on data in that field
. In
expr
, you can include the name of a field in a table, a control on a form, a constant, or a function. If
expr
includes a function, it can be either built-in or user-defined, but not another domain aggregate or SQL aggregate function.
Domain
Required
String
A string expression identifying the set of records that constitutes the domain. It can be a table name or a query name for a query that does not require a parameter.
Criteria
Optional
Variant
An optional string expression used to restrict the range of data on which the
DMax
function is performed. For example,
criteria
is often equivalent to the WHERE clause in an SQL expression, without the word WHERE. If
criteria
is omitted, the
DMax
function evaluates
expr
against the entire domain. Any field that is included in
criteria
must also be a field in
domain
; otherwise, the
DMax
function returns a
Null
.
Return value
Variant
For example, you could use the
DMax
function in calculated controls on a report to display the largest order amount for a particular customer.
The
DMax
function returns the maximum value that satisfies
criteria
. If
expr
identifies numeric data, the
DMax
function returns numeric values. If
expr
identifies string data, they return the string that is first or last alphabetically.
The
DMax
function ignores
Null
values in the field referenced by
expr
. However, if no record satisfies
criteria
, or if
domain
contains no records, the
DMax
function returns a
Null
.
Use the
DMax
function to specify criteria in the
Criteria
row of a query, in a calculated field expression in a query, or in the
Update To
row of an update query.
Use the
DMax
function or the
Max
function in a calculated field expression of a totals query. If you use the
DMax
function, values are evaluated before the data is grouped. If you use the
Max
function, the data is grouped before values in the field expression are evaluated.
Use the
DMax
function in a calculated control when you need to specify criteria to restrict the range of data on which the function is performed. For example, to display the maximum freight charged for an order shipped to California, set the
ControlSource
property of a text box to the following expression:
=DMax("[Freight]", "Orders", "[ShipRegion] = 'CA'")
If you simply want to find the minimum or maximum value of all records in domain, use the Min or Max function.
Although you can use the DMin or DMax function to find the minimum or maximum value from a field in a foreign table, it may be more efficient to create a query that contains the fields that you need from both tables and base your form or report on that query.
Example
The following example returns the lowest and highest values from the Freight field for orders shipped to the United Kingdom. The domain is an Orders table. The criteria argument restricts the resulting set of records to those for which ShipCountry equals UK.
Dim curX As Currency
Dim curY As Currency
curX = DMin("[Freight]", "Orders", "[ShipCountry] = 'UK'")
curY = DMax("[Freight]", "Orders", "[ShipCountry] = 'UK'")
In the next example, the criteria argument includes the current value of a text box called OrderDate. The text box is bound to an OrderDate field in an Orders table. Note that the reference to the control isn't included in the double quotation marks (") that denote the strings. This ensures that each time the DMax function is called, Microsoft Access obtains the current value from the control.
Dim curX As Currency
curX = DMax("[Freight]", "Orders", "[OrderDate] = #" _
& Forms!Orders!OrderDate & "#")
The following examples show how to use various types of criteria with the DMax function.
' ***************************
' Typical Use
' Numerical values. Replace "number" with the number to use.
variable = DMax("[FieldName]", "TableName", "[Criteria] = number")
' Strings.
' Numerical values. Replace "string" with the string to use.
variable = DMax("[FieldName]", "TableName", "[Criteria]= 'string'")
' Dates. Replace "date" with the string to use.
variable = DMax("[FieldName]", "TableName", "[Criteria]= #date#")
' ***************************
' ***************************
' Referring to a control on a form
' Numerical values
variable = DMax("[FieldName]", "TableName", "[Criteria] = " & Forms!FormName!ControlName)
' Strings
variable = DMax("[FieldName]", "TableName", "[Criteria] = '" & Forms!FormName!ControlName & "'")
' Dates
variable = DMax("[FieldName]", "TableName", "[Criteria] = #" & Forms!FormName!ControlName & "#")
' ***************************
' ***************************
' Combinations
' Multiple types of criteria
variable = DMax("[FieldName]", "TableName", "[Criteria1] = " & Forms![FormName]![Control1] _
& " AND [Criteria2] = '" & Forms![FormName]![Control2] & "'" _
& " AND [Criteria3] =#" & Forms![FormName]![Control3] & "#")
' Use two fields from a single record.
variable = DMax("[LastName] & ', ' & [FirstName]", "tblPeople", "[PrimaryKey] = 7")
' Expressions
variable = DMax("[Field1] + [Field2]", "tableName", "[PrimaryKey] = 7")
' Control Structures
variable = DMax("IIf([LastName] Like 'Smith', 'True', 'False')", "tableName", "[PrimaryKey] = 7")
' ***************************
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