Query shows ID not text description

[CW]

I have seen posts on this before but cannot find the solution now that I need
it - I think John Vinson gave an explanation to somebody previously?

I have some queries where the numeric ID is displayed, rather than the text
description of a value from a table. I believe this is caused by using a
look-up e.g. a combo for entry of the data in a form?

Example - I have a table for Credit Terms that consists of several values
like these:
ID Terms
1 Prepaid
2 On Account
3 Cash on delivery

On an Orders form I have a combo where users select the appropriate option,
and that control then shows the text value.

In the Orders table however, it is stored as 1,2,3 etc and when I run a
Query that's what I get of course. How do I get the Query to show Prepaid, On
Account, etc??

Many thanks
CW

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Open the query in design view.

Add the 'lookup' table.

Join on the field.

Display the looked-up value instead of the ID.

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[John W. Vinson]

In the Orders table however, it is stored as 1,2,3 etc and when I run a
Query that's what I get of course. How do I get the Query to show Prepaid, On
Account, etc??

First off... don't ever use query (or table) datasheets for interaction with
your data. That's not what they're for.

Instead, if you want to interact with the data onscreen, use a Form with a
combo as you're now doing; if you want to print it out, use a Report based on
a query joining the Orders table to the lookup table. Pull the text
description from the lookup table and the other order fields from the orders
table.