Form/SubForm/Combo Box

[April]

I have created a large access database that one part uses a form with a
subform. In the subform there is a field that references a combo box. One
user uses this (each user has their own database) and Access automatically
tries to put data in the field that does not match any of the data in the
table the combo box references and won't let her pick the correct data.
(example: when she enters that field (no there is no event logic) it wants
to automatically put in Maggie, however when she tries to change this to
Marguerite, Access won't let her either type it or pick it from the drop down
list.) I can not mimic this error but have watched her do and the problem
occur.

Thanks,
April

 

[Allen Browne]

April, I'm assuming that:
- the subform's recordsource is writable (i.e. it's not a read-only query),
- the are values in the combo to select, and
- most of the time it is possible to select a value in the combo (i.e. the
problem is intermittent).

Is there an error message when it fails? There is a weird error that occcurs
when the subform is based on a query that contains another table that has a
field that has a DefaultValue. When you try to add a new record to the main
table, Access tries to also create a new record in the lookup table, and you
then get some message that actually contains the pipe character - something
like "Could not create record in | because the key field does not match." If
this is what you are seeing, the solution is to remove the Default Value
from the field in the lookup table.

If that's not the issue, does the error message provide a clue?

If there is no error message, focus on the combo. Does the actual number of
fields named in its RowSource match the Column Count? Is the Bound Column
the correct one?

If it's none of the above, it is also possible that Name AutoCorrect has
confused Access. Details:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~allenbrowne/bug-03.html
Or it could be a bad index (should be fixed with a compact/repair).

Hope that's enough to give you a useful direction. One thing that can really
help is logging the error message, 'coz users never read them let alone
write down what it says. Details:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~allenbrowne/ser-23a.html