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  1. #1
    chriswrcg is offline Competent Performer
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    entering multiple values into the same field and separating later.


    In excel it is possible to enter multiple values into one cell separated by commas and then on another worksheet pull that information apart and place each individual value in i'ts own cell.

    I wanted to do it another way in access bu just giving each value it's own field from the start but I quickly ran out of space as I am getting you have exceeded the size of the database error messages. I solved this by creating multiple tables to hold the data but I got the same thing when I tried using the form wizard to combine the multiple tables into one data entry form. the form will not hold all the fields I need it to to work. The amount of field entries is just to high.

    Either I have to create two data entry forms (which I do not want to do for complexity issues) or combine a lot of the fields into one an break them up later in a report.

    What can I do or what should I do? Is it even possible for access to separate one field into many?

  2. #2
    pbaldy's Avatar
    pbaldy is offline Who is John Galt?
    Windows XP Access 2007
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    In general a field should hold a single piece of data. It sounds like your data isn't normalized. What are all these values? They may belong in a related table as records.
    Paul (wino moderator)
    MS Access MVP 2007-2019
    www.BaldyWeb.com

  3. #3
    chriswrcg is offline Competent Performer
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    I track associate performance in a warehouse. I need to enter the individual task they performed during the day which can be one or up to 15 (15 is the most I have seen someone do so I capped it at 15) How many trips it took them to complete the task and what exceptions they faced while performing the task. An exception in my world is something the associates has to stop "production" to handle. This could be lunch, break, bin issue, found damage product and so on. I can not limit the number of exceptions they can use but I found that 12 was a good cap for them .

    this means I need fields for each (task code, task start time, task stop time, task trips) X 15 and then 12 exception fields for each of the 15 task spaces. That is a grand total of 240 fields just for the task and exceptions that does not include the associate information of name, department, shift, clock in clock out and so on and so on.

    Access will not let me put all that information on one table let alone one form. so I ether combine or separate and separate adds relationships ( which I barley understand) complexity.

    I would upload the Database I am building but even without data in it yet it exceeds the file size limit of the forum.

  4. #4
    Micron is offline Virtually Inert Person
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    Your problem is that you are approaching this as one might with a spreadsheet. If you normalized your design, you could have unlimited exceptions or tasks for a person for any given day. You've indicated an issue about understanding relationships, but maybe a bit of reading would help you before we try to accurately grasp the nature of the business at hand.

    As long as I'm at it, I might as well throw in the kitchen sink so you can avoid common pitfalls as you go rather than have to fix things later.
    Normalization is paramount. Diagramming maybe not so much for some people.

    Normalization Parts I, II, III, IV, and V
    http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.ca/...on-part-i.html
    and/or
    http://holowczak.com/database-normalization/

    Entity-Relationship Diagramming: Part I, II, III and IV
    http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.ca/...ng-part-i.html

    How do I Create an Application in Microsoft Access?
    http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.ca/...cation-in.html

    Important for success:
    One source about how to name things - http://access.mvps.org/access/general/gen0012.htm
    What not to use in names - http://allenbrowne.com/AppIssueBadWord.html
    About Auto Numbers
    - http://www.utteraccess.com/wiki/Autonumbers
    - http://access.mvps.org/access/general/gen0025.htm

    The evils of lookup fields - http://access.mvps.org/access/lookupfields.htm
    Table and PK design tips - http://www.fmsinc.com/free/newtips/primarykey.asp
    About calculated table fields - http://allenbrowne.com/casu-14.html
    The more we hear silence, the more we begin to think about our value in this universe.
    Paraphrase of Professor Brian Cox.

  5. #5
    chriswrcg is offline Competent Performer
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    Yea your right, I am very versed in Excel Spreadsheets and spreadsheet design. I am actually trying to build a database to replace a spreadsheet I have built for this purpose since people tell me using a data base is better. I am using excel logic in access and its not working. Time to start reading.

  6. #6
    Micron is offline Virtually Inert Person
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    A database is better for storing and relating/mixing/mashing data. It's not really the tool for complex calculations or charts, or for some of the complex functions that Excel provides for working with numbers. Spreadsheet data is arranged horizontally; database data should be thought of as row based. As you will find when you read, a particular row (record) is related to other records in other tables by using common (related) data between them. I'd suggest you ensure you grasp normalization and the relational concept as it is pretty much the foundation upon which you will build. If those links don't do it for you, find some others. A key concept to grasp is that a table is an entity; the fields are attributes. Your table should only contain fields that are attributes of the entity, plus whatever fields are required to relate its data to another table. For example, tblOrders would likely have OrderDate and QuoteNumber but not QuoteDate. The latter is an attribute of the quote, not the order. QuoteNumber would be there only to relate the order to the quote record.

Please reply to this thread with any new information or opinions.

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