Table vs. query in forms

[Jill]

I've seen the practice of using queries in forms. Is this recommended? Why?

That is... I am pretty much making data entry forms and am basing them off
of the tables. Should I be making queries of these tables and basing the
forms off of these instead?

If so, should this practice include "look up tables" (tables that I'm using
in multiple combo boxes for multiple fields on the form - they just have an
ID (primary key) and a field for categories such as "0-25%", "26-50%", etc.)?

Thanks,

Jill

 

[Lynn Trapp]

Jill,

As long as your record source for your form is a single table, then it won't
matter a lot. If you need more than one table in the record source, then you
will need to use a query.

 

[KARL DEWEY]

I prefer queries as I can change and test a query without saving where as you
have to save changes to the form.
Also the query can be used for other things like a report or as source for
other queries.

 

[BruceM via AccessMonster.com]

I tend to use queries because they have a lot more flexibility for sorting
and filtering, and they can contain calculated fields, including doing things
such as combining first name and last name, or combining City, State, Zip
into a single line of text. There are other ways to combine fields and
perform calculations, but I usually find queries to be the most convenient.

With lookup tables it depends on what you want to display. If you are using
a combo box, with the ID field the bound column and the text the displayed
column, there is no need to include the lookup table in the form's Record
Source query, but in some cases you will want to include the table.
Sometimes when using several tables in a Record Source query you may find the
query is not updatable for one or more of several reasons.