Alias to a field value

[HansBades]

I have a field call SKU names. These SKUs sometimes have very long and technical names. Additionally, they are sometimes known more generally by personnel as a shortened or abbreviated name. For instance, think of the analogy of DNA being an abbreviated name for deoxyribonucleic acid . Still, for other reasons, I have to keep the full name in the database. But when it comes to forms and personnel entering in information, I would like the abbreviated name to show and not the long name. I am thinking what I should do is add a field in my table for the abbreviated name and allow personnel to choose the name they are looking for from a drop down. Then, for reporting I will query it against the long formal name and provide that where it is required on reports. Are there any easier ways of doing this? Thanks for your help.

[June7]

Short answer: No - there is no easier way. A field in table is appropriate approach.

Should also have an ID field and save that value to records. Do filtering on the ID, not the long name string.