how to ensure correct entry?

[Guest]

how can I enable a pop-up box that will flag the user if
their entry in field "4" is not the correct concatenation
of fields 1,2,3. I was going to automate this, but was
told it would cause problems to concatenate 3 fields for
entry into another field in the same table. Thanks
Ex.
field 1 field 2 field 3 field 4
51780 408 0020 517804080020

 

[Gerald Stanley]

Why do you need to store field 4 on the table when you have
fields 1,2 & 3.

If you don't store it, you can still show the concatenation
in Field 4 by setting its ControlSource to Field 1 & Field
2 & Field 3.

Hope That Helps
Gerald Stanley MCSD

 

[Guest]

I need to store it because it is the field which links 6
seperate tables to one master table. How would I be able
to set the control source of a field to be 3 fields from
the very same table??? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

TIA

 

[Gerald Stanley]

The linkage would still be intact. Anyway, to answer your
original question, you can put code in the
Field3_AfterUpdate to set the value of Field4 to Field1 &
Field2 & Field3. You should probably set Field4.Enabled to
False to prevent your users typing in something else.

Hope That Helps
Gerald Stanley MCSD

 

[John Vinson]

I need to store it because it is the field which links 6
seperate tables to one master table. How would I be able
to set the control source of a field to be 3 fields from
the very same table??? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

No. You do NOT need to store a concatenated field to create this link.

You can link tables on up to TEN fields. Each table should contain all
three fields. Just create a query, join the first field to the first
field, the second field to the second, and so on.

 

[Guest]

My only concern is that I currently use the 12 digit
number as the link for icons which will open up the 6
seperate forms from the master based on this one common
number

 

[John Vinson]

My only concern is that I currently use the 12 digit
number as the link for icons which will open up the 6
seperate forms from the master based on this one common
number

I understand that.

I'm suggesting that this is an incorrect form and table design, and
that you change it.

If you want to continue using this "artificial key" then don't make
your users type it; concatenate it in your form instead (in the Form's
BeforeUpdate event say). The objection to concatenating fields and
storing data redundantly is NOT to using code to do it vs. making the
user do it; the objection is to storing the data redundantly *AT ALL*.