general design question

[Madmax]

Good Afternoon,

General Question here.



I have a table named AInfo it has all the information about a person i need to do my job (firstN, Lastn, MiddleI, rank, Clearance, office)

Now I have more info to go under this record but not everyone will have the info loaded at all times. Task 1 fields(review 1 thru 3, paper sent here, paper rec'd there)

If I loaded a table for task 1, 2, 3, and 4, and relationshiped it to the AInfo Table, will it auto add a record to task 1 if I switch to that tab on a main form?

If not would it be easier just to put all the fields for each tasks under the first table or is there a easy way to the end of the design? I would rather not waste space but will if I have too.(I.E. 650 records with 250 fields versus 650 records with 7 fields and 4 other tables with various requirements per tasks).

thoughts?

edited because it didnt make sense

[dblife]

My first thought was, if you're using 250 fields in a table, you're nearly at the limit- is your structure sound?
But if you're asking if it is better to have one massive table or multiple smaller tables linked correctly in a relative way, I would recommend the second way.
In fact, it is the way to go with Access as it is relational database software.
If you are using tabbed forms to split up tables with too many fields, unless you use Vicual Basic, the other 'open' forms will not automatically refresh. This has to be done through code.
Might I suggest you post your ER diagram, so we can ensure you are not storing up problems for the future through bad table structure?

[Madmax]

sorry the 250 was a guestimate. I agreed and figured that the second way was the best way.

my biggest concern is if the table is accessed in a tab it will auto create a record for that person

Something like this
Main form is on record 25 of Ainfo Table.

When you switch to task 2 Tab if you start to enter info on the tab it will auto create a record on the task 2 table. basically will it or will I have to program it to?

[dblife]

haven't a clue what you're on about...