MS Access questions

[The Borg]

Hi all,

Not sure if there is a better place to post this, but let me try.

Q1. I am upgrading a standard MS Access DB template file to be used in my work environment. It works well, just trying to tweek and customise it a bit.

I want to present a list (dropdown) of Business Units (5 - 8) and then a list of related plant areas within the BU's (3 - 5):

BU1, Area 11
BU1, Area 12
BU1, Area 13
BU2, Area 21
BU2, Area 22
Bu3, Area 31 etc

What I need to do is have the BU saved in a column in the DB and the Area saved in a column - to report on BU later.

There are a number of things I think I can do, just got no idea how to implement:

1. Have a single table as above (2 columns and a Prim key). Just don't know how to get both entires into the main table. I tried it and all I got was the PK.
2. Have a query run on the above table to show BU. The query then shows all repeats.
3. Somehow (???) have the Area show dependent on the BU selected. I did this years ago in Excel and it worked very well, just a mission to do.
4. Just have two seperate tables and let the selected item appear in the main table. Problem here is mis-entry and the Areas are not related to the different BU's.
5. Have the full text (in one column) saved in the main table and somehow run the query to report on BU later.

Any suggestions please?

Q2. How do I get to learn how to use the Expression Builder? I get the feeling it is rather powerful, but it seem to be the same difficult thing to use since Access of Office 4.3 (pre Win 95!!!). I have a book from then and it looks the same. Very little help. I just cannot figure out the sintax required and what the limitations are. Compared to current VB and VBA context sensitive help, this is ancient.

Thanks in anticipation of any suggestions.

 

[Vogel515]

Hi Borg, you're going to have to give us more information to get the help you need.

What do your tables look like? How are they structured?

What are you using the expression builder for? Otherwise you might want to invest in an Access book, expression builder can be a useful tool.

 

[The Borg]

There is a main table with all the information input via the Issues form. I have created a few supprt tables for selections to ensure the correct input of items like person's name, title, type of work, status of job and of course the above BU and Area. They are fairly straight froward. Not sure if that anwsers your question. THe template was the 'Issues' template from the MS website.

I am not using the expression builder yet, but seeing the expressions in various areas indicates that you can do mre than just select and filter. But I am finiding it difficult to understand how to put them together.