Repeating Function

[Code5OnYou]

I apologize if this has been answered as I searched through the threads and did not see this specific issue.



I have an input form for tracking personnel assigned to service calls. The input for the personnel is a drop down selection list. Right now I have 6 separate, but identical, fields to select up to 6 personnel. I though that would be enough but it is not. Plus it makes my form look cluttered with 6 selections when I only have 2 personnel to track for a service call, leaving me with 4 blank fields in my form.

Does Access 2010 have a function where I can create a button called "Add Personnel" so that I can have 2 personnel drop downs on the input form, but should I end up with 7 personnel, I can just click the button to add additional drop downs containing the same personnel data.

Thanks in advance for your insight!

[pbaldy]

This is not a direct answer to your question, but I think your design is incorrect. If you have 6 fields for personnel in your table, it is not normalized. The normalized design would be a second table, related one-to-many to the existing table by your service call ID. If 2 people went on a call, there would be 2 records in that table (you'd have fields for the service call ID and a personnel ID). If 7 went, 7 records. That makes your database much more dynamic; you can handle 1 person going or 100. The standard way of presenting the two tables would be a form based on the service call table and a subform based on this new table, with master/child links keeping them in sync with each other.

[Code5OnYou]

pbaldy - Thank you for the reply... I am a true novice to Access and some of what you read makes sense to me, but some of it loses me..

What do you mean by "normalized"? And I have it set up with 6 tables titled "Personnel_1. Personnel_2", etc... Each of those tables is in the "master record form" table. And I draw the names of my personnel for my drop downs from an outside table called "Personnel"..

I apologize for my ignorance, but I think if you explain that, I will better understand the rest of your reply...

TY

[pbaldy]

6 tables is also an issue (any time you have tables or fields with a number in them, like Personnel_1, you've likely got a problem). Normalization is a key concept in database design. Start here:

http://www.r937.com/Relational.html

I have to run out for a bit, but if that doesn't help either post your db or a description of what you're trying to accomplish, and one of us here will try to suggest a design.

[Code5OnYou]

I will check that out and get back to you... Thank you!