Combo Box value shows in all records

(see comments in line below)

"Hughie" wrote in message
...
Actually I do have matching ID fields. The testing agency gets its data
from
our school database at the beginning of each year and they receive from us
a
field containing an "exchange ID" which then resides in both theirs and
our
databases.

If every list you receive includes an ID, you should be able to join
together tables in Access and see all the list data.


When I build tables for my databases, I print reports into text files and
open them and save them into Excel format documents.

I don't understand. What tables? Where? Reports into text files?

When the text files
open in Excel they are automatically parsed into unique columns and I
delete
most of the columns that won't be used. Not every table contains the
exchange ID field but can be related so the data in all tables is
relatable.

I thought every table/list contained the ID.


Here's a part I don't understand. Your replys suggest that the data
imported from Excel won't fit nicely into Access.

You can import Excel data into Access, no worries. But that doesn't mean
the data is well-normalized (in Excel).

But Access appears to be
fine during the import process and the resulting tables appear to
accurately
represent the Excel files.

Again, the structure of the data in Excel is necessary for Excel. But Excel
is a spreadsheet, and Access is a relational database. Different tools.

And, except for the lack of a marker field, all
the queries seem work perfectly. I wish I could attach a screen shot of
the
relationship view to send to you. Then you could tell me if I've gone
astray
in relating the tables and queries.

It is physically possible to import Excel lists, relate them together, and
create/run queries. None of this ensures that the data is well-normalized
in Access. It is also possible to drive nails with a chain saw... not a
good use of the tool, and potentially dangerous!


It seems like I'm hearing that, as a tenacious newbie, I've managed to put
together something that seems to work but may be fundamentally flawed. If
that were true, I don't currently have a way to detect it.

If the terms "relational" and "well-normalized" don't mean anything to you,
then there's an excellent chance you are not getting as much out of Access
as you could. And you may be doing your work the hard way.

And because
others are using the info, of course, the database needs to be unflawed.

"Flawed" may mean something different to you and to me -- if you can
successfully report on the data you've brought over from Excel, and the
reports are accurate, I don't see a flaw. However, you may be working much
harder to make things happen than you need to ... but hey! if it's
working...

I've done numerous data comparisons from the queries to the original data
sources and have found no problems. And, again the queries seem to work
exactly as intended except for the lack of a field to use as a marker.

Can you re-describe your idea of a "marker field", in light of the thread so
far?

Will continue to appreciate your sticking with me. Seems like there's a
big
lesson for me. Thanks, H

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Office/Access MVP