Form

[TaylorLeigh]

I am able to create tables, and they work ok. If I input the data using the
tables, everything feeds down as I want it to. The same does not work for my
forms. I want to be able to use the form for input. The controls show up on
the forms, but they do not work. i.e. I see Customer Name and a down arrow
but the information is blank or I see the information but cannot get it to
fill in the blank. Can someone give me an idea as to what I am doing wrong.
I have looked at different examples but still cannot figure out whether to
use a query or a table and why and which table to pull the info from when it
is tied together. Should be simple, but it does not work for me.

Thanks

 

[BruceM]

Some instruction of the fundamentals of database design may be in order.
This is a good place to start:
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

If you are going to store the information input into a form the form should
be bound, which is to say a table or query should be selected as its Record
Source. There are other ways, but that is the most straightforward. Either
a table or query will work, but there are advantages to using a query, such
as the ability to limit the number of records you load, performi
calculations, and so forth.

If you want to store data in the table by way of a form (which should always
be the procedure, rather than entering data directly in the table), the
fields from the table need to be available to the form. Select the table or
query as the form's Record Source, and select a field from the Record Source
as the Control Sources for each text box, combo box, etc. that is to serve
as a "portal" to the table. For instance, if you need to store the field
[City], select the City field as the Control Source for a text box or combo
box.

You can get a quick idea of how this works by selecting the table from the
database window (which is the window with tabs for Tables, Queries, etc.
that you see when you first open the database) and click AutoForm on the
toolbar. You can use this version of the form as a starting point, if you
like.

If a combo box (drop-down box) or list box shows nothing when you click the
arrow it is most likely because it does not have a Row Source, which is the
list of values you want to have available to the user.