Auto suggest answer

[Guest]

I'm creating a database of information of historical people related to the
museum I work at. several of the fields will have the same value for multiple
records. I want to get Access to suggest the value the same way that Exel
does. As you type it suggests the rest in highlited text. Can I do this and
if so how? Thanks

 

[ginnyk]

Yes, you can get Access to do that. First, create a separate table of
the possible values for that field. After that, it depends a little on
what version of Access you're using and whether you're entering/editing
your records directly into a table or using a form.
If you're using a form, use a combo box control for the field. Set the
RowSource property of the combo box to point to the list (table) of
appropriate values.

 

[John Welch]

I agree with ginnyk - a combobox is probably the best answer for you. But,
instead of creating a separate table for the possible values, you can just
make the combo box row source be all the values that are currently in your
existing table, like this:

rowsource: select distinct artist from tblArtists order by artist
limit to list: no

 

[Guest]

I could do that, but wouldn't I then have to enter a value before I could use
it? I want to be able to both add new vlaues and be able to select others.

 

[John Welch]

You said you wanted it to act like Excel, where if you start typing
something that it has seen before, it will try to finish it for you. If you
set the limit to list property of the combo box to "no" , then you will be
able to add new values, but it will autofill a choice if it recognizes
something you've entered previously.