Foreign Key Query - Outputting the Information, Not the Foreign Key #

[SeaTigr]

Hi all,

I'm querying a table that has multiple foreign keys in it. It's an inventory table. Instead of giving users the opportunity to misspell everything under the sun, I created other tables with brand names, equipment types, etc., and users pick from combo boxes. Their choices are stored in the main inventory table as the foreign keys from the other tables, if I'm using my terminology correctly.

I designed a query that outputs a lot of those fields from the inventory table - meaning I output a lot of foreign keys. I would like to output the actual information (brand name, etc.). The only way I've figured out is to go into the query design and set lookup properties for each field, but as far as I can tell the only way to do that is through combo boxes and list boxes. Is there some way to design the query to output the readable text without creating combo and list boxes in the resulting query datasheet view?

Also, I run into the same problem when creating reports. The foreign keys show up instead of the clear text. How do I fix this?




All help is greatly appreciated.

[Bob Fitz]

Add the other tables (brand names, equipment types, etc) to your query. If you have already set up your relationships in the Relationships window, they will be joined to the inventory table automatically, other wise you will need to create the joins yourself. Then drag the description field from each table to create a column for each.

[SeaTigr]

Thank you kindly. I also figured out that my foreign keys were being stored as text, not numbers - giving me a type mismatch error.