It's okay if it's blank . . .

[hrenee]

Thank you again. I really appreciate you taking the time, to explain it all to me! I am so bookmarking this page.

[Dal Jeanis]

And, just for general reference, an INNER JOIN can be coded without the JOIN keyword. These two queries are equivalent:

SELECT 
   TS.StaffKey, 
   TS.StaffName, 
   TK.KidKey, 
   TK.Kidname 
FROM 
   tblStaffnames AS TS
   INNER JOIN 
   tblStaffkids AS TK
   ON TS.StaffKey = TK.KidParent;

SELECT 
   TS.StaffKey, 
   TS.StaffName, 
   TK.KidKey, 
   TK.Kidname 
FROM 
   tblStaffnames AS TS,
   tblStaffkids AS TK
WHERE
   TS.StaffKey = TK.KidParent;

StaffKey StaffName  KidKey KidName
1    George Hamilton  102  Whoopi
2    Linda Smith      100  Jamie
2    Linda Smith      101  Kate 
4    Ernest Borgnine  104  Ernie

The INNER JOIN syntax is preferred, since it is more explicit, and since the JOIN fields can't accidentally get lost inside a complicated selection criteria.

If that happens, and someone deletes that join condition from the WHERE, you end up with a CROSS JOIN like this:

SELECT 
   TS.StaffKey, 
   TS.StaffName, 
   TK.KidKey, 
   TK.Kidname 
FROM 
   tblStaffnames AS TS,
   tblStaffkids AS TK;
 
StaffKey StaffName  KidKey KidName
1    George Hamilton  100  Jamie   
1    George Hamilton  101  Kate    
1    George Hamilton  102  Whoopi  
1    George Hamilton  104  Ernie   
2    Linda Smith      100  Jamie   
2    Linda Smith      101  Kate    
2    Linda Smith      102  Whoopi  
2    Linda Smith      104  Ernie   
3    Babe Ruth        100  Jamie   
3    Babe Ruth        101  Kate    
3    Babe Ruth        102  Whoopi  
3    Babe Ruth        104  Ernie   
4    Ernest Borgnine  100  Jamie   
4    Ernest Borgnine  101  Kate    
4    Ernest Borgnine  102  Whoopi  
4    Ernest Borgnine  104  Ernie   
5    Jane Doe         100  Jamie   
5    Jane Doe         101  Kate    
5    Jane Doe         102  Whoopi  
5    Jane Doe         104  Ernie

For a parent/kid database, a cross join doesn't have any meaning. On the other hand, a cross join might be useful for some other combination of tables. Say, if you wanted a checklist to make sure that every coach had spent one-on-one time with every player on the team.

[hrenee]

Thanks again. I'm filing this away for future reference.