Concatenating two text boxes on a form and writing to table

[lcg001]

I have a database which uses a form for data entry into an Employees table.
I would like to concatenate the [First Name] and [Last Name] fields from this form into a [EmployeeID] field, and have this information written to the Employees table when saving and closing the form.




I've tried setting the default value for the [EmployeeID] field on the form to = [First Name] & " " & [Last Name] but this appears to do nothing to the form or the table.
The only way I've gotten it to fill in the concatenated info as desired is when I put the expression as the Control Source, but then I get an error that reads "You must enter a value in the Employees.ID field". I can't figure out how to populate the text box and then have it save the information to the table.


Thanks in advance, I'm a beginner!

[Micron]

I would like to concatenate the [First Name] and [Last Name] fields from this form into a [EmployeeID] field, and have this information written to the Employees table when saving and closing the form.

Do NOT do that. Your form/report recordsource should include both fields whether or not you have controls for those fields (and if you do, you can hide them). A calculated control would show the concatenated values. If you persist you will likely have problems in the future. Also if your table has FName and LName fields, having a field for the combined value is redundant.
EDIT - an employee ID field should probably be an autonumber pk field anyway. You might want to consider posting a pic of your table relationships if you've created them.

[lcg001]

I fudged the table and field names a bit in my original post for simplicity's sake, but I'm using the Lending Library template to manage inventory of employee keys. I've used the Contacts table for employees. I don't think I ever messed around with the relationships of this db. Here's what I've got. Thanks!

[June7]

I agree with Micron, no reason to do this.

Calculate concatenation in table or query or textbox.

[Micron]

I dunno, but I think I'd stop there and forget the template unless you can adequately modify it. The table and field names aren't great and the use of attachment fields is ill advised (and seems unnecessary for tracking keys, but I don't really know). You'd have to provide a good synopsis in order to get any focused advice (e.g. wondering if keys are lent out to employees who belong to other companies, because that's seems to be the case). Due Date is a calculation, which is something you should not store (actually, already suggested this by saying don't concatenate the names). I'm just going to throw all my links at you and get that over with. Ignore them at your own peril! Lots could be said about what you posted but I don't see the point right now if you might review the material and start over. That's what I'd advise.

Normalization Parts I, II, III, IV, and V
http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.com...on-part-i.html
and/or
http://holowczak.com/database-normalization/

Entity-Relationship Diagramming: Part I, II, III and IV
http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.com...ng-part-i.html

How do I Create an Application in Microsoft Access?
http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.com...cation-in.html

Important for success:
Naming conventions - http://access.mvps.org/access/general/gen0012.htm
https://www.access-programmers.co.uk...d.php?t=225837

What not to use in names
- http://allenbrowne.com/AppIssueBadWord.html

About Auto Numbers
- http://access.mvps.org/access/general/gen0025.htm

The evils of lookup fields - http://access.mvps.org/access/lookupfields.htm
Table and PK design tips - http://www.fmsinc.com/free/newtips/primarykey.asp
About calculated table fields - http://allenbrowne.com/casu-14.html
About Multi Value Fields - https://www.isladogs.co.uk/multivalu...lds/index.html

[davegri]

LendingLibraryMod-davegri-v01.zip

Here's a somewhat cleaned up version of the template. I've renamed the keys, removed table lookups, fixed most of the macros to convert references from ID to the new key names. Inexplicibly, some of the combo boxes had their column widths set to zero, meaning the combo could never display anything. I never use attachments, but you might, so I left them in.
It's a better starting point than the virgin template from Microsoft.

[June7]

Recommend removing spaces and slashes and hyphens from naming convention.