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  1. #1
    Beanie_d83 is offline Advanced Beginner
    Windows 8 Access 2013 64bit
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    May 2016
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    Post Combo Box Grayed Out

    Hi everyone,



    I am using combo boxes on a form with tab control but when I drag the fields I want onto the tab sheet, the combo boxes won't work and are grayed out. What have I done wrong?

    Any help will be greatly appreciated!

    Kind regards,

  2. #2
    ranman256's Avatar
    ranman256 is offline VIP
    Windows Vista Access 2010 32bit
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    Apr 2014
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    9,521
    are the combos disabled?
    is the tab control they are in, enabled?

  3. #3
    Beanie_d83 is offline Advanced Beginner
    Windows 8 Access 2013 64bit
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    Not entirely sure, I ended recreating the form as I hadn't done a lot to it and this seemed to resolve the problem. I was using the combo box to look up stored information from a field in another table but as I understand it this seems to be bad practice when creating a database.....though for my application I couldn't see an alternative way around it.

  4. #4
    John_G is offline VIP
    Windows 7 32bit Access 2010 32bit
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    Actually, using a combo box to look up values from another table is commonly done and is good database practice. What you might be thinking is bad practice is the use of lookup fields as part of a table. A lookup field (used only by Access) is not the same as using an integer field as a FK to another table, and lookup fields cause no end of grief when used in searching, sorting and queries.

  5. #5
    Beanie_d83 is offline Advanced Beginner
    Windows 8 Access 2013 64bit
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    So by creating a lookup from an existing tables field is ok, but selecting to enter your own choice of values is what causes the problems? Am I understanding this correctly?

  6. #6
    John_G is offline VIP
    Windows 7 32bit Access 2010 32bit
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    I'm not sure quite what you mean by "selecting to enter your own choice of values". A combo box can be set to allow users to enter values that do not appear in the initial list (it's in the Limit to List property), but I don't use that option. I prefer to add new values to the combo box's source table myself.

    If you mean you just entering data values into a form field without using a combo box, there's nothing wrong with that either. Just be sure that if the data is a FK to another table you have a way of ensuring the data is valid, i.e. there is a matching record in the other table.

  7. #7
    Beanie_d83 is offline Advanced Beginner
    Windows 8 Access 2013 64bit
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    May 2016
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    I was referring to the lookup wizard option where it asks if you want to lookup using a table/query or to enter the values that you require.

    What I am trying to achieve here is so:

    we have number of dealers who sell our products, most dealers will have a "main office depot" and then various chain depots in other locations. I have created a table containing the main office details and then a secondary table containing the chain depot details so on a form I can select the dealer name in one combo box and then filters the locations of these in the next combo box. This information will then be saved in another table.

Please reply to this thread with any new information or opinions.

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