Can "criteria" be an entered parameter?

[lpkorn423]

I have a query to populate all orders that include a specified PartNumber.

Right now I have the criteria set on PartNumber to only include values equal to the value selected in a corresponding form. For example: [Forms]![Form 2 "Parts"]![PartNumber]. This suits my purpose, but I'd rather not have to manually enter the [PartNumber] value or have the corresponding form opened to the record of the [PartNumber]. Is it possible to have a drop down menu in the dialogue box when the query is run?

The issue is that we have a lot of part numbers that don't have a standard format.
For example: One part ID is GTM-99999-B. This part is also sometimes identified as GTM99999-B or GTM-99999 Mk-B by our customers in PO's. This can cause error when manually entering the text as opposed to typing the first few characters "GTM" and then finding the corresponding PartNumber GTM-99999-B.

Any help you experts want to give to a newbie will be greatly appreciated.

[JoeM]

Create a query of all your possible part numbers. This can be done pretty easily from the table holding all your data, i.e. something like

SELECT DISTINCT PartNumber
FROM MyTable
ORDER BY 1

You will obviously need to change the field and table names to match your database, but this will list each part you have exactly once and place it in alphabetical order.

Then, if you make your Part Number field on your Form a Combo Box, you can use the Query created above as the Control Source of this Combo Box. So then your users can just select the value in your Part Number field from a list instead of having to type it in.