Jim said:
Trying to create a database in which I would
like to have data e.g. address, phone, etc.,
separate from the main design but available
by clicking on a category. Not sure whether
this is expanding the main database or
creating subdata sheets.
Hope this is clear. Thanks in advance.
Alas, I don't understand what you mean in regards to either what data you
want to have, nor as to what your question is.
An Access MDB is a Database, which can contain one or multiple Tables,
Queries, Forms, Reports, Macros, and Modules, the Tables store the
information about the entities you are dealing with, Queries are used to
update, manipulate, and retrieve the data, Forms and Reports display the
data and allow user interaction, and Macros and Modules are for automating
operations. That is unlike some desktop database products which call their
tables "Databases".
If by "expanding the main database", you mean expanding the main Table, and
if the addresses, phones, etc., are related to Records in the main Table
(e.g., a main Table for People, or for Companies) then it's simply a matter
of creating additional Tables with a means of determining the related main
Table Record. And, it does seem unlikely to me that you'd be gathering
unrelated, random addresses or telephone numbers.
If a related Table, say Addresses, is related one-to-many from the main
Table, e.g., for example, one company can have multiple addresses, but no
address is shared by two or more companies, then the Addresses Table should
contain a foreign key Field (in the same Field format as the Field in the
Companies that uniquely identifies the Record). On the other hand, if the
main Table is the People Table, and a person can have more than one address,
but more than one person can share the same address, then you have a
many-to-many relationship, and you will need a junction or intersection
table, with two foreign key Fields, one identifying the Record for the
person, and the other identifying the Record for the address.
In neither case would you be "expanding the main Table". And, in my
not-so-humble opinion, "subdatasheets" are a violation of relational
database design principles, only useful to novice users who view their data
in datasheet view, and to be avoided -- they are never necessary, and, again
IMNSHO, always to be avoided.
Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP
