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S

starling

i am creating a database (in access 2000) for mailouts among other things. i
found a tutorial in the knowledge base to allow 2 addressees at the same
address using 3 queries. one uses 'first' function on names, one uses 'last'
and the other links the two queries to give only 1 address with 2 names (see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/207753/en-us).
my problem is that if there are two people at the same address with
different last names, the last step doesn't work and 4 entries are created (1
for each combination of the names). how can i stop this?
i thought of running a filter to get only 1 of each address at the last step
but i'm not that cleaver :(.

another thing, is it easy to make fields take the values of the previous
record by defult? this would make data entry for same addresses a bit easier.

thanks!
 
N

NetworkTrade

well this isn't the answer you seek; but we had the same situation and in
our case we decided was that duplicates needed to be identified upon data
entry and not via a query at the time of printing labels....

so we added a new column where we entered 1 if it was a unique address;
then 2 if a duplicate address, or a 3 if the third entry, and so on.....

this obviously takes more time upfront at the time of data entry....not alot
- one does a search on the street address...but a few more seconds....

it also helped sort out missing POBoxes from apartment buildings....

but the benefit of seeing multiple entries for the same address was very
helpful...and for the query for labels it was of course very simple to
require only "1" be returned....
 
S

starling

surely there's a way to delete all but 1 duplicate of each address from the
last query.
the person entering the data has never used a database b4. i don't want to
confuse her with extra fields.
 
N

NetworkTrade

yes there is a 'Find Duplicates Query'.

It doesn't automaticly eliminate the duplicate - which I think you are
looking for....but it might be something for you to consider to at least
identify them upfront.

Click Queries
In the Objects bar displa the Queries List, and then click 'New'
Click the 'Find Duplicates Query Wizard'....and go from there....
 
S

starling

yeah sure, and i could probably use that to remove all duplicates but i want
to remove all but one.

Perhaps i'm approaching this from the wrong side. what if i had a record per
address with multiple names under each. is there a way to then go backwards
from there to get individual names with addresses in seperate entries in a
query?
could i somehow use a subform maybe.
i'm a bit over my head here and don't know if im digging my way out, or
further in :S

NetworkTrade said:
yes there is a 'Find Duplicates Query'.

It doesn't automaticly eliminate the duplicate - which I think you are
looking for....but it might be something for you to consider to at least
identify them upfront.

Click Queries
In the Objects bar displa the Queries List, and then click 'New'
Click the 'Find Duplicates Query Wizard'....and go from there....
Click to expand...
 
N

NetworkTrade

your thinking is correct in terms of normalized db theory.

if there were lots of duplicates ; then in normal db organization, one
never re-enters the same data twice.

so you would enter full address once - but also assign a unique ID# to it.
then you would have a second table that would be made up of nothing but ID#s
(that points to the other table's full address) and names.

however; if duplicates is more the exception than the rule....then you
really might consider my first advice - rather than going down this road.
Adding simply another column now and populating it with a 1 or 2
(occasionally maybe a 3) is pretty simple and makes for a very simple query
method too....

as a db purist - it is not the perfect solution but in terms of pragmatics -
it is feasible unless you existing db already has a great amount of
records....
 
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