ADO - MoveFirst and MoveLast

  MoveFirst and MoveLast methods are used to navigate within a Recordset. They move the record pointer to the first or last record, respectively.

1. MoveFirst

• Purpose: Moves the record pointer to the first record in the Recordset.

• Syntax:

  rs.MoveFirst
  

• Usage Notes:

  • Used when you want to start reading from the beginning of the Recordset.

  • Will cause an error if the Recordset does not support backward movement (for example, if the cursor type is adForwardOnly).

  • Before using, it’s a good practice to check that the Recordset is not empty:

    If Not (rs.BOF And rs.EOF) Then
        rs.MoveFirst
    End If
    

2. MoveLast

• Purpose: Moves the record pointer to the last record in the Recordset.

• Syntax:

  rs.MoveLast
  

• Usage Notes:

  • Useful when you need to access the most recent record or display the total count of records.

  • Like MoveFirst, it can only be used if the Recordset supports backward navigation.

  • Example:

    If Not (rs.BOF And rs.EOF) Then
        rs.MoveLast
        MsgBox "Last record: " & rs("EmployeeName")
    End If
    

3. Cursor Type Requirement

To use MoveFirst, MoveLast, MovePrevious, etc., the Recordset must have a scrollable cursor type.
For example:

rs.Open "SELECT * FROM Employees", conn, adOpenStatic, adLockReadOnly

Here, adOpenStatic supports both forward and backward navigation.

4. Summary Table