Tabular Form with Common Header Information

[baymar]

Hi everyone. I'm trying to find a way to create a form that has common header information and tabular input for many values and both feed back to a database. For instance, consider a part inspection form. I want to have a header that has part number, date, inspector, etc that is common to many entries. In the table below that, I want to have row entry for each inspection dimension. So I have dimension ID, nominal value, tolerance, etc. I will enter many inspection points for the same part number, inspector, date, etc and don't want to have to re-enter the common data from the header section for every dimension I inspect. So within that single form entry I want that header info to be applied to each row of the tabular entry. Back in the database, this would look like all of this info as part of each record so each entry will have the header information that I only enter once on the form (part number, date, inspector, etc) as well as the specific dimension information that I have many entries for on the same form (dimension ID, nominal value, tolerance, etc).

I have several applications with a very similar requirement and need to figure this out. Please let me know your thoughts on how to do this. Thanks in advance.

[ItsMe]

One approach is to use default values in controls. If it is common for an answer to be "yes", you could have a Boolean default to = True

This can be tricky because a User may become lazy or get distracted and not change a default value to match the reality.

Your description of tabular input does not create a clear picture in my head. Perhaps you should remember and stay focused on the fact that data is stored in tables. Data is not stored on forms. You can hold data in memory and display that in a form. This can get confusing at times. Just remember that the data you need to manage is the data in the tables.

If you think about placing an order online, say for car parts or a new computer, you may have an option to use a default billing address or use information that you typed as the shipping address.

An online store may use the User's input that is stored in memory or in a table/list and apply it to the Shipping Details. You could do something similar in your forms. A little bit of code could do this when you create an additional record.

[baymar]

Hi ItsMe.

So let's take your example to try to make my request more clear. Let's say you have an order entry form for car parts and you want to enter the customer information once and add several lines for different parts. So at the top of your form, you have all the customer information, name, address, phone number etc. On the bottom of the form you have a table entry of what that customer is ordering. Part 1 with it's description, part number, quantity, price, etc. Then enter part 2 with it's description, part number, quantity, price, etc. Then part 3 and 4 and 5 and so on to complete the order. My hangup is how to connect the customer information entered once to each part ordered.

[ItsMe]

If I am just to consider your post in post #3, I would suggest you use the table's existing relationships. To do what you are describing, you use Primary Key and Foreign Key fields.

If a customer creates an order, that action (creating an order) should be logged in a table. Let's name this table tblOrders. This tblOrders should have a PK and several FK fields. The FK fields are Foreign Key fields and they store values from other tables. FK fields store values from PK fields. When a new record is created in tblOrders, a PK for tblOrders is automatically generated with an AutoNumber type.

Now, with your new record, you can add values from other tables. In the Customer FK field, you will use the value from the PK field in the Customers table. In other FK fields, like an FK field for a part, you would reference the value from the Parts table PK field.

This is oversimplifying things. But, it is a basic intro to how you Normalize your data structure.