Convert text to Combo

[Mickey]

Hi,
I have some 20,000 entires populating a text filed that ideally should
be a combo box. I'm looking for the best way forwards with this and
wonder if there is any alternatives for what I need to do. The data in
the text field needs to be restricted to a small number of options, I'm
thinking that I need a combo box for this but then the original data
will be in a different field.

Is it possible to create a new combo box and then populate it with the
data from the text field retrospectively or is there some other way
forward for this problem?

I would be very grateful for any advice as i am new to Access and may
be barking up the wrong tree so to speak!

Regards,
Mickey

 

[Allen Browne]

If the combo's bound column is NOT hidden, you can restrict the combo's
RowSource so it only provides the options the user is likely to need, set
its Limit To List property to No, and it will show/allow any valid value
(perhaps limited by a relationship to a lookup table where you used
enforced Referential Integrity.)

If the combo's bound column is not the display value, you can place your
text box on top of the combo (so it shows the values that are not in its
list.) Use the text box's Got Focus event to SetFocus to the combo.