Lookups - helpful or evil?

[Guest]

I have been using Access for about 10 years. I was taught that "lookup"
fields were helpful and desired when designing a database because they
simplified data entry and kept the data consistent.
I was reading Building Microsoft Access Applications by John L Viescas and
was stunned to see the reference about the evils of lookup properties.
I went to the referenced web site and it does not provide detail as to WHY a
lookup is evil.
I am trying to get this straight in my head. Would a lookup be OK if I
created it by hand instead of using the wizard and if it actually pulled in
the real value that belongs in the field instead of some number?
Does that make sense?
Thanks,
Lynn

 

[Duane Hookom]

Lookup tables are great and should be used all over the place.

Defining lookup fields in table designs is what most of us "mature"
developers scorn.

Don't define the lookups in your field properties in table design. Use combo
boxes on forms for your data entry.

 

[Pat Hartman\(MVP\)]

The problems revolve entirely around using lookups in your tables. There
can be problems when searching - do you supply the numeric value or the text
value as criteria? There can be problems with VBA, are you referencing a
numeric item or a text one? Earlier versions of Access didn't propagate the
lookups to reports so reports ended up showing the numeric value rather than
the text value which always confused people. In general, they cause more
problems than they solve once you get to working with queries and code and
since users should NEVER be working with tables or queries, the lookup
doesn't benefit them at all. Its only real use is as a crutch for
developers who don't know how to use queries with joins.