I am missing a very basic concept

[David Sanderson]

To experienced database developers, this is going to be a really silly
question. I've been going through the process of normalizing my data.
Now I have several tables that have been created and forms that I need
to create. It sounds really stupid, but I can't figure out how to do a
lookup for an existing contact in my tables and then populate all the
contact info into the form. I have several forms that need to be
filled out for various purposes and I want to be able to look up an
individual in the contact table and populate all the information and
then save that information as a record.

I know I'm missing something so basic it would be like touching my
nose. But, It just isn't getting through to me.

Thanks in advance for any help you can send my way.

Cheers!

David

 

[PC Datasheet]

David,

<<...and populate all the information and then save that information as a
record.>>

The problem is in what you are trying to do! Your tables should look like:
TblContact
ContactID
FirstName
LastName
Address
City
State
Zip
etc

TblWhatever
WhateverID
ContactID
WhateverField1
WhateverField2
etc

In your form based on TblWhatever, you shouldn't be trying to save a Contact's
name, address, city, state, zip etc. All you should save is the ContactID either
through the LinkMaster/LinkChild properties of a form/subform with TblContact or
singularly with a combobox or listbox whose rowsource is TblContact.

Then on forms to display the data in your database or reports, they should be
based on a query that joins both tables on ContactID. This will allow you to
pull the data you need from both tables.