Looking for suggestions for Multiple Selections

[DefinitelyMaybe]

Hi All,



I have a field that could be a combination of 5 different options. They could select only one or all five and anything in between. What has been your experience with the most successful way to capture this? A checkbox for each option?

Thanks in advance,

Eric

[ranman256]

how about a single pick list in a listbox. User dbl-clicks from the list, which runs an append query, and puts this option in a 'pick list' table.


Items to pick FROM are in a source table,
items the user picks are put in the TARGET tPicked table
The query joins the tPicked table to the Data table.


NO CODING, just a few queries.
1 append query to add the user's pick
1 del query to erase only 1 selected item in the list
1 del query to erase all items in the list

[Micron]

Are you talking about selecting from 5 options in a combo box? So in one record, the field might contain "dog, cat, bird, mouse" in one record? That is ill advised so I'd deal with that by not having it. I guess this is not about a listbox?
The answer might be as simple as 'use a combo box'. Hard to tell what you're asking.

[Missinglinq]

An important question, I think, is what do you plan on doing with this data after it is selected? As Micron suggested...having multiple pieces of data in a single Control is generally considered to be poor design.

Linq ;0)>

[DefinitelyMaybe]

Thanks for the responses... So this is for payment processing options for projects. There are 5 options. They may use one source or two, three, etc... I did not think to have this as a combo thinking they should be tracked as separate fields as yes/no using check boxes. I was just curious what in your collective experiences has worked the best from an accuracy (input) perspective. I won't be doing any heavy querying based on this. It is primarily to know if they use certain options, they need to provide different information on the form.

Hope this clarifies.

[Micron]

There are 5 options. They may use one source or two, three, etc... I did not think to have this as a combo thinking they should be tracked as separate fields as yes/no using check boxes

You don't put values for the same thing in fields/columns. That is committing spreadsheet. Such values go in records in the same field (perhaps PaymentType). The list values can come from a lookup table (not a lookup field) or a value list but the value list has issues so I'd stay away from that method. You can show the list values in a listbox or combo. I think you'd benefit from reading up on db normalization because you are asking about putting 'like' data in fields rather than records.

[DefinitelyMaybe]

Thanks Micron. I would be happy to have all the data in one column but how would it work in one field if one project has Option 2 and Option 4 and the next project has Option 2, 4 and 5? One project can have one payment type or could have multiple (up to 5). I would understand if each project had only one option but that is not the case.

[Micron]

I repeat

I think you'd benefit from reading up on db normalization because you are asking about putting 'like' data in fields rather than records.

Do that research and post back with questions if the answer still alludes you. You are asking about a concept - there is no short answer for this IMO, and it has been covered umpteen thousand times already. If you don't like these, find ones that make sense to you.
Normalization Parts I, II, III, IV, and V
http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.com...on-part-i.html
and/or
http://holowczak.com/database-normalization/