Too many table fields for a single form in Access - fix?

L

LG

I just created a large data table with about 350 elements, and I want to make
a data entry form. The fields won't all fit on one form, so I was wondering
what the standard procedure was in this situation
 
A

Alicia

Can you group the fields in some way and put some of the groups into subforms
that open when you click a button?
 
J

John Vinson

I just created a large data table with about 350 elements, and I want to make
a data entry form. The fields won't all fit on one form, so I was wondering
what the standard procedure was in this situation
Click to expand...

The limit to the number of fields in a TABLE is 255 - you can get 750
odd controls on a form, so that's not where you'll hit the limit.

I very much doubt that your table can be correctly normalized. 60
fields is a VERY wide relational table; 350 is almost certainly an
example of "committing spreadsheet" - either storing data in
fieldnames, or storing one-to-many relationships in a single record.

Could you describe the data you're trying to store? I suspect there is
a better solution!

John W. Vinson[MVP]
Join the online Access Chats
Tuesday 11am EDT - Thursday 3:30pm EDT
http://community.compuserve.com/msdevapps
 
T

Tom Lake

Could you describe the data you're trying to store? I suspect there is
a better solution!
Click to expand...

Here's an example of tables I need in a one-to-one relationship: I have a
survey of 300-400 questions.
How would you keep all the answers together?

Tom Lake
 
J

John Vinson

Here's an example of tables I need in a one-to-one relationship: I have a
survey of 300-400 questions.
How would you keep all the answers together?
Click to expand...

With three tables:

Questions
QuestionID <autonumber, primary key>
Question <text>

Surveys
SurveyID
<name of person answering>
<date answered>
<other info about this instance of the survey>

Answers
SurveyID <link to Surveys>
QuestionID <link to Questions>
Answer

If you have 400 questions, there will be 400 rows in Answers for that
survey. They're "kept together" by having a common SurveyID. If you
assume that the entire survey must be stored in one record... revise
that assumption, it's NOT necessary!

For a fully worked-out example, and a nice collection of neat tricks
as well, see Duane Hookum's "At Your Survey" sample:

http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/Otherdownload.asp?SampleName='At Your Survey 2000'

John W. Vinson[MVP]
Join the online Access Chats
Tuesday 11am EDT - Thursday 3:30pm EDT
http://community.compuserve.com/msdevapps
 
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