Filter by Form

[Donna]

I have a table within a database that I want to filter. However, when I
choose Filter/Filter by Form and click the drop down menus in the fields I
want to use in the filter, the only options are IS NULL or IS NOT NULL.
EXCEPT for only one of the fields which gives me a list of the options that
match the values in that field.

How do I set up my table so that I can filter for data in ANY of the fields?

 

[DL]

I believe its a default action, simply do not use drop down menu, enter the
filter text directly.

I have a table within a database that I want to filter. However, when I
choose Filter/Filter by Form and click the drop down menus in the fields I
want to use in the filter, the only options are IS NULL or IS NOT NULL.
EXCEPT for only one of the fields which gives me a list of the options that
match the values in that field.

How do I set up my table so that I can filter for data in ANY of the

fields?

 

[Rick B]

Well, you should not be using the tables as an end-user tool. If you want
to filter data from a table, build a query. That is what they are for.

Rick B

I have a table within a database that I want to filter. However, when I
choose Filter/Filter by Form and click the drop down menus in the fields I
want to use in the filter, the only options are IS NULL or IS NOT NULL.
EXCEPT for only one of the fields which gives me a list of the options that
match the values in that field.

How do I set up my table so that I can filter for data in ANY of the

fields?

 

[Donna]

I know that I can enter the text directly so as for the other posting about
my problem, that didn't help.

As for this response, I am not trying to use it as a tool only in that there
is another table that I access that allows me to pull-down the menus, so why
isn't this one allowing me to do that as well? Just trying to duplicate so
that 50 people don't scream at me why they can't do something they've been
doing for months and months now.

Any other help greatly appreciated. If a query is better than I understand
that. BUT if I can understand how the pull-down lists get set up, then I can
explain why its better to use a query.

 

[Ken Snell [MVP]]

Perhaps we are not understanding your terminology... what do you mean by
"pull-down list" in a table?

 

[Rick Brandt]

I have a table within a database that I want to filter. However,
when I choose Filter/Filter by Form and click the drop down menus in
the fields I want to use in the filter, the only options are IS NULL
or IS NOT NULL. EXCEPT for only one of the fields which gives me a
list of the options that match the values in that field.

How do I set up my table so that I can filter for data in ANY of the
fields?

Tools
- Options
- Filter By Form Defaults
"Don't display lists where more than this number of records exists"

 

[Donna]

If you click Filter by Form, and then click into any of the fields, there is
a drop down arrow allowing you to view the values as options with which to
filter the data.

However, the new table I created only shows IS NULL, IS NOT NULL as the two
options in the drop down list. The values within that field are not showing.

 

[Ken Snell [MVP]]

The "Is Null" / "Is Not Null" are the only choices for a memo field. To get
the actual values to show in the dropdown list, the field must be a number
or text (<= 255 characters long) or date or other field type (just cannot be
memo).

 

[Ken Snell [MVP]]

And, as Rick Brandt notes in a separate thread, the table must be a local
table. If it's a linked table, then you'll see just the "Is Null" / "Is Not
Null" choices, no matter what type the field is.

 

[Donna]

The fields are all text fields, so not sure why this is happening. According
to your reply it should be. This is what is frustrating the daylights out of
me!

 

[Donna]

I seem to be running out of luck since this is a new table that is not linked
with other tables. The only other thing I can mention is that the data is
exported from another software program into this table. But the fields are
all set up as text fields, or date/time field.

 

[Ken Snell [MVP]]

Linking does not mean "linked with other tables". Linking means that the
table is in a different ACCESS file, and you're gaining access to the data
through an ACCESS database file that links to that different ACCESS file.

Go to the database window for the file that you're using to try to do this
filtering. Next to the table name (the table that you're trying to filter),
is there a right-pointing black arrow? If yes, then the table is a linked
table -- meaning that your database file is linked to the table, and that
the table is not physically located within the database file that you have
open.
--

Ken Snell
<MS ACCESS MVP>

 

[Donna]

The table is not linked. I believe I figured out how to get the values
however.

When you said the fields needed to be text, date, etc. (OTHER than Memo) I
looked at the other options in the type of field I could apply. At the
bottom of the list was a Lookup Wizard option.

Upon going through the Lookup Wizard I realized I could create other tables
that could hold many of the values that could be options in each field for
filtering. Some of these tables are already created if not all of them, so
the previous table must have been created using the same Lookup Wizard.

When the Lookup Wizard is opted, there is no indication in the Design View
that is was used as part of the design.

Hope that helps anyone else attempting to do the same thing. And I hope
that truly is my answer to my problem. Just thought I'd share what I found.