[AccessD] A Design Opinion, Please

Gustav Brock Gustav at cactus.dk
Tue Feb 24 08:40:00 CST 2009


Hi Stuart

OK, thanks for the warning. 
In my case I had nothing to sort, just some users and properties to add or change.

/gustav

>>> stuart at lexacorp.com.pg 24-02-2009 14:29 >>>
The only problem with that approach is that you can't sort/filter the data on the lookup fields 
properly.  

-- 
Stuart

On 24 Feb 2009 at 14:07, Gustav Brock wrote:

> Hi John, Stuart et al
> 
> Can't see a purpose for them at the table level. 
> 
> However, I've found one area where they can be smart and provide a
> quick tool: In a query. This way you can design - for example for some
> admin application - some select queries to view in data table view
> where the IDs are hidden and you have nice combo- or listboxes for the
> lookup fields. Very easy and at zero code and no forms. 
> 
> /gustav
> 
> 
> >>> jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com 24-02-2009 13:38 >>>
> They are definitely a mixed blessing.  On the one hand they automatically design combo boxes for you 
> as you drag and drop a FK out onto a form.  Thus they can make said combo consistent throughout your 
> application, including sort fields and orders.
> 
> Likewise you can see the FK text values in a query without pulling in the FK table and specifically 
> using that text field.
> 
> OTOH it is now difficult to see the actual PK values of that FK table without specifically including 
> the table in the query.  And if the FK table ever goes away or changes field names the application 
> starts to break.
> 
> I think they are of more use to the neophyte and more a pain to the experienced developer.
> 
> John W. Colby
> www.ColbyConsulting.com 
> 
> 
> Stuart McLachlan wrote:
> > I've just been bitten by Lookup fields in a table.
> > 
> > I've got an old application, originally written in Access 97 and subsequently 
> > upgraded to Ak2. 
> > 
> > Using A2K3, I was trying to clean out all of the data to set up a new clean 
> > version. Every time I tried to open one particular table to delete the 
> > records, Access froze solid. 
> > 
> > I finally opened the table in Design view and found that a couple of fields 
> > had lookups defined.  Once I removed the lookups and saved the table, I 
> > could open it and delete the data.  
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > Stuart
> > 
> > On 22 Feb 2009 at 12:19, Tina Norris Fields wrote:
> > 
> >> William, you said you learned the hard way never to set a lookup field 
> >> in a table.  Please tell me why - that sounds like just exactly the 
> >> lesson I need.






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