Query Joins

[Abacus1234]

I have a question about normalization which I am going to ask in layman's terms.



Table 1 has data about an "event", and is connected to one of many cities. So Table 1 has a foreign key for city which links to the ID of Table 2. In a query I connect this data by saying Include all records from Table 1 and only those records from Table 2 where the joined fields are equal. (I use criteria I Table1 ID to return I row of data for one record from Table 1.)

I also have Table 3, Table 4a and 4b (I have a query which includes 4a and 4b) and Table 5 which are also event Data as Table 1, but I cannot get it all in Table 1, so I put it in Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5.

How would I link Tables 3,4 and 5 to Table 1in a query so that I could add new records via a form based on the query.

[orange]

I suggest you give us some indication of what the table(s) is/are about.
I see Event and City, but table 3, 4a etc may be useful to theorists, but don't add context to your post.

A clear description of your "business" in simple English will go a long way to getting focused responses --quickly.

[Abacus1234]

Table 3, 4a and 4b and 5 also contain event data, too much to add to Table 1 (or handle in a query for data entry purposes.

[orange]

OK, step back and in simple, clear terms (plain English) how would you describe your set up to someone in a line at McDonalds that doesn't know you, doesn't now database and has never heard of Access. But for some unknown reason the person asks what is it you're working on?

Readers do not know your setup; your skill set/experience; nor your business. To get a meaningful response, add some context to your post.

Good luck with your project.

[Abacus1234]

I have a traditional application developed many years ago, with data entry screens, a multitude of underlying calculations which mean I can calculate many bits of information for the user so they don't have to, and then many hundreds of documents as output based on queries and mail merge.

I'm trying to revolutionize the interface, so that the first thing the user sees is an output screen that intuitively centers them on what they want from the system, not all the possible variations. I'm trying to use an existing query normally used to output a document, and although I can make this work quite well for an existing record, I cannot set it up to accept a new record.

The way I get it to accept new records in the normal data entry, is to rig the ID numbers of Table 3, 4a 4b and 5 to accept the same ID number as Table 1. I also have a foreign key in Table 1 that points to Table 3, 4 and 5. I pull 4a and 4b together with a query when I need to use them another query. But I am no longer sure whether the foreign keys make it all work, or the rigged ID numbers.

So I don't have a simple question, nor do I really expect a simple answer. I wish I knew all the theory from the ground up, but what I mainly do is trial and error until it does what I need.

[Abacus1234]

I finally linked tables 3, 4 and 5 to table 1 so I can use the form to enter new records into the tables.

I connecting 3 to 1 via the record id's of the 2 tables, so 3 on the left and 1 on the right and used option 3

and did the same with 4 and 5.

Thanks for the response, it is very helpful to have a forum to pose questions to.