Thanks. Excellent point -- I couldn't go back re-sort the list (especially
add an item between two existing items) if I were using AutoNum and letting
Access set the PK for me.

The SortOrder works great. Next question, though, is that on a *Report* I
can't seem to sort my categories with out also including / printing the
SortOrder field. I guess I could set the column width to zero, but that
seems sort of... whatever.

BTW, what I'm doing is extracting hundreds of transactions for a given
project, sorting them into several categories and subcategories (two
levels), and totalling up the transaction amounts for each cat/subcat. --
ie,

Phase 1 Engineering....$
Phase 1 Materials....$
Phase 1 Labor....$
Phase 2 Engineering....$
Phase 2 Materials....$

and so on. And I want the categories to appear in a certain
(non-alphabetical!) order, hence the original question.

Thanks



"tina" wrote in message
...
comments inline.

"Debris" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hello,

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I can feel myself wandering off
into the deep end of the pool, so to speak, so bear with me if these
questions are a bit simplistic.

First, a tactical question: should I add a "SortBy" number field, or
should
I just let Access create a primary key for me using AutoNum? Or, should
I
add the SortBy number field, populate it manually, and make *it* the PK?

at some point in the future, you may add more selections to this list.
whether you use an Autonumber primary key, or manually populate a numeric
primary key, you're "locked in" to that number sequence - which may not
return the order you want, on either an ascending or descending sort. with
a
separate SortBy field, you can change the sort order of the records at any
time, any way you choose, giving you complete control, and complete
flexibility to meet changing needs.


Next, a philosophical one: totally agree w/ the use of forms and a combo
box. But, I guess I'm confused -- shouldn't the combo box be looking up
values stored in a table?

yes.

I define a relationship between tables using the
Lookup Wizard, then modify it (i.e. enforce referential integrity) using
the
Edit Relationships box.

you don't need a Lookup Wizard to link your tables - just open the
Relationships window and do it manually, including enforcing referential
integrity. note: be careful about setting the CascadeDelete option. it
definitely has its' uses, but many times you will *not* want an automatic
deletion of "child" records; what you'll want, instead, is to disallow
deletion of a "parent" record when one or more child records exist. this
is
accomplished by enforcing referential integrity and *not* checkmarking the
CascadeDelete option.

hth

Am I totally off base here? Again, stepping off
into the the deep end...

Thanks,

D Bris


"John Vinson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 05 Aug 2006 00:34:23 GMT, "Debris"
wrote:

Hello,

Hope I'm using my database design terms correctly, and that this make
sense.

In a secondary table, I'm using the Lookup Wizard to look up a values
in
a
primary table. In the primary table, there is only one field, and that
field is the primary key (i.e, I'm not using AutoNum to create a
numerical
primary key, I'm using the text itself as the key).

I entered my records in the primary table a specific order, but Access
keeps
rearranging them in alphabetical order, and I don't want that. The
Remove
Filter/Sort command doesn't seem to do the trick.

A Table is displayed sorted in primary key order. It's actually STORED
in whatever order Access finds convenient. If you want the records in
a particular order, you must - no choice! - add another field to the
table as a sort key, and base your combo box on a query sorting by
this field.

Note that the Lookup Wizard is really limited and many developers
recommend against ever using it. See
http://www.mvps.org/access/lookupfields.htm for a critique. You can
use a Form with a combo box; table datasheets are *not* ideal for data
entry or editing.


John W. Vinson[MVP]