D
dfowler-engineer
Hi, I'm new to the boards and also a fairly new Access user. I am building a
database that will be used to store process equipment information for clients
that we work with. I have come across two issues that I need advice on.
The first issue has to do with a Lookup table. I have read that lookup
tables are generally not the best practice to use, but I believe it would be
the best thing to use in this particular situation. I have a form where I
wish for the user to enter general Physical and Performance data such as
"Length", "Weight", "Output Pressure", etc.. For each attribute, there is a
text box to enter the numerical value, and a pull down menu (combo box) to
select the units (for example, in the pull down for "Weight", the user could
select "Pounds", "Kilograms", "Tons", etc.). The combo box for the units is
pulling the selections from a table I created called "Units_Lookup". The
"Units_Lookup" table has an autonumbered Primary Key field (which is
essentially useless in this instance), and a field/column each for the unit
classifications ("Weight", "Length", "Pressure", and so on) has a list of the
units that could be used in the various units selection combo boxes back on
the Performance Data form. I did this so users could potentially add a new
unit to the list ("I wish this pull down had 'Grams'") and it would update
any combo box referencing the Weight field on the "Units_Lookup" table. Well,
once I set it up, the pull downs work exactly the way I want them to - they
show the units from my lookup table. The problem is this - when it writes
the information that the user inputs in the Performance data form back to the
Performance data table, it doesn't write back "Pounds" that the user selected
in the combo box, it writes back the autonumbered Primary Key to the table.
So when the user views a report, it will say "2" for Weight Units instead of
"Pounds". I cannot understand why the actual selection in the combo box
isn't being written back to the table correctly. Any insight would be
appreciated.
My second issue is as follows... The database and forms that I have setup
for this equipment information is basically a template. I want each of our
engineers to use this template that I have created instead of maintaining the
information in Excel. We are an engineering firm that works with several
clients, and I want to keep the data for each client completely separate. Is
the best way to do this to keep a master template with no records, and create
a copy and rename it to use for each client? Or is there a way to store all
of the recorded tables for a client in a separate file, stow it away, and
start a new set of tables for another client? I'm kind of ignorant on the
best approach here, so any advice would be most appreaciated.
Thank you in advance for any help,
David
database that will be used to store process equipment information for clients
that we work with. I have come across two issues that I need advice on.
The first issue has to do with a Lookup table. I have read that lookup
tables are generally not the best practice to use, but I believe it would be
the best thing to use in this particular situation. I have a form where I
wish for the user to enter general Physical and Performance data such as
"Length", "Weight", "Output Pressure", etc.. For each attribute, there is a
text box to enter the numerical value, and a pull down menu (combo box) to
select the units (for example, in the pull down for "Weight", the user could
select "Pounds", "Kilograms", "Tons", etc.). The combo box for the units is
pulling the selections from a table I created called "Units_Lookup". The
"Units_Lookup" table has an autonumbered Primary Key field (which is
essentially useless in this instance), and a field/column each for the unit
classifications ("Weight", "Length", "Pressure", and so on) has a list of the
units that could be used in the various units selection combo boxes back on
the Performance Data form. I did this so users could potentially add a new
unit to the list ("I wish this pull down had 'Grams'") and it would update
any combo box referencing the Weight field on the "Units_Lookup" table. Well,
once I set it up, the pull downs work exactly the way I want them to - they
show the units from my lookup table. The problem is this - when it writes
the information that the user inputs in the Performance data form back to the
Performance data table, it doesn't write back "Pounds" that the user selected
in the combo box, it writes back the autonumbered Primary Key to the table.
So when the user views a report, it will say "2" for Weight Units instead of
"Pounds". I cannot understand why the actual selection in the combo box
isn't being written back to the table correctly. Any insight would be
appreciated.
My second issue is as follows... The database and forms that I have setup
for this equipment information is basically a template. I want each of our
engineers to use this template that I have created instead of maintaining the
information in Excel. We are an engineering firm that works with several
clients, and I want to keep the data for each client completely separate. Is
the best way to do this to keep a master template with no records, and create
a copy and rename it to use for each client? Or is there a way to store all
of the recorded tables for a client in a separate file, stow it away, and
start a new set of tables for another client? I'm kind of ignorant on the
best approach here, so any advice would be most appreaciated.
Thank you in advance for any help,
David