Display value in combo box

[jjmclell]

I have two combo boxes, both unbound. One serves as a filter for the other. For example, the first one lists different 'partner groups'; based on the user's selection, the second combo box is filtered to only show 'partners' that fall into that group...this is done by updating the rowsource of the second combo box after updating the first.

I would like the second combo box to display "---Select partner---" after updating the first combo box but can't get it to show anything. "---Select partner---" shows on form load, but after doing one filter and selection of the second combo box, "---Select partner---" fails to show after updating the first combo box again.

I added an AfterUpdate event to the first combo box, but it doesn't do what I'd like:

me.cmb_Partner.value = "---Select to add---"

Any ideas?

[ranman256]

"---Select partner---" is not a choice in the list, so it may not show up.
LIMITTOLIST = yes

or the KEY field wont allow it.
(i dont think you need it, people know how it works)

[jjmclell]

That was it. I wasn't aware of the LimitToList property.

One follow-up question - should I be setting the value property or the text property to "---Select partner---"? I know it seems redundant to show this text in a combobox, but I do have a reason...

[ranman256]

You could make it part of the list and/or set it to DEFAULT VALUE.

[jjmclell]

It became too complicated trying to account for all the instances in which I needed the combobox to show a default value of "---Select partner---", especially after changing its rowsource based on a selection made in the first combobox (this confounded the idea of simply adding "---Select a partner---" as a record to the Partners table).

What I ended up doing is simply making the text in the combobox white until the user puts the focus on it. Since the combobox was unbound, it would retain the selection from the last record when I moved to subsequent records and the info it showed wouldn't necessarily make sense. By just making the text white in certain instances, and then turning it back to black in other instances, I was easily able to ensure it didn't show anything irrelevant to any particular record. I can live without the common sense display value of "---Select partner---"