Entering data into tables - need a better way...

[Chodbag]

Hi there, another newbie here, trying to move from Excel to Access to control my antique shop. My (current) problem is how best to provide a means to enter data about new stock into the db? If I buy an item, I want to record several pieces of information about it (where purchased, date purchased, price etc.). I'm using combo boxes to populate each column in my stock table which is OK for individual items but if I buy 10 items from one place on the same day then I have to select that place name etc. 10 times….. Is there an easier way?



Thanks
Nick

[June7]

Review:
http://allenbrowne.com/ser-24.html
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/210236

[Chodbag]

Thanks for the info June7. My laptop failed the day after your message - have just got the new one going. Access looks intimidating again...

[June7]

Access itself is not that difficult. It's when you want to customize to make more 'user friendly' as you sought to do for your situation that things get complicated. The more 'user friendly' the more code is needed.

Another solution to your situation is a table/child table relationship and form/subform arrangement for data entry. This would mean a table for Orders (OrderNum, vendor, date etc) and another table for OrderDetails (OrderNum (as foreign key), ItemID, Price). This is called 'data normalization'. You might want to look at the Inventory database template offered when you create a new db file. A commonly used example db is Northwind.

Good luck with your project.