Is any additional info saved when using a combobox in a form?

[MedMos]

Very new access user, largely selftaught, so please excuse any obvious errors or misuse of terminology.

I've created a database (tbl1) and a form for dataentry. In this form I have a combobox getting options from a seperate table (tbl2). The row source for the combobox is both the primary key (ID) and a descriptive term from tbl2, with only the descriptive term being displayed in the box and in tbl1. My question is, is the ID from tbl2 saved along with the descriptive term somewhere, or if not, is there some way to refer the entries in tbl1 back to the corresponding ID in tbl2?


I would like to use info from tbl2 to create a search form for my database, and it would be a lot easier if it is possible to link the descriptive term to the corresponding values in tbl2.
Many thanks

[amrut]

I've created a database (tbl1)

You have created a table and not a database.

The row source for the combobox is both the primary key (ID) and a descriptive term from tbl2, with only the descriptive term being displayed in the box and in tbl1

You need to learn about table relationships. Read here https://support.office.com/en-za/art...2-2f6fb812b58f

The value in the bound column (See the bound column property on Data tab in property sheet of the form in design view when the combo box is selected)will be stored in the table and the column widths property governs which columns are displayed. Typically, you should save the primary key of tbl2 in the tbl1. The tbl2 is the ONE side of One-To-Many Relationship between tbl1 and tbl2. The related fields should be of same type (Number/Text/Date)

[MedMos]

I only wanted the combobox to display the descriptive term, so bound the coloumn to that. So I guess that is what is saved in tbl1, exclusively. Too bad.

As for my added question: is there any way now to retrieve information from tbl2, based on the information in tbl1, having not wanted to create a relationship between the two?

[amrut]

I only wanted the combobox to display the descriptive term, so bound the column to that. So I guess that is what is saved in tbl1, exclusively. Too bad.

The data in a bound column is saved in the table.Other columns are for display only.

As for my added question: is there any way now to retrieve information from tbl2, based on the information in tbl1, having not wanted to create a relationship between the two?

Yes you can but you have to join the two tables on the common field so that the query can pull related rows from both tables where data based on it.

[MedMos]

Ok, thanks. I'll make a backup and give it a try, the relations might get complicated as I actually have a couple of comboboxes pulling info from the same table.

[orange]

See this link for a number of tutorials related to Access comboboxes
http://www.techonthenet.com/access/comboboxes/

For a good tutorial on tables and relationships work through this exercise from RogersAccessLibrary

Good luck with your project