increase cell value as you tab

[mandc421]

As I scroll down rows in a table, and I enter numerical values that increase
by one digit in a field, after about 2 or three entries, the numbers will
begin to fill them selves in and increase in value just by arrowing downward.
Where is the setting that will allow this in Access 2007?

 

[Jeff Boyce]

That kind of behavior may be appropriate on a spreadsheet, but Access is a
relational database.

Access tables are great for storing data, but not well-suited to data entry.
I believe the "feature" you describe was added in an earlier release, but
removed in Access 2007.

If you need a table in Access (2007) with sequential numbering in a field,
consider doing the work in Excel first, then importing that data into
Access.

Good luck!

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[Lance]

Access doesn't have cells, that's excel. To do this in Access you need to
set your field type to "autonumber" Whenever you add another record Access
will automatically increment that field for you.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

**Caution**

Access Autonumbers are NOT guaranteed to be sequential. They are intended
to be used as unique row identifiers. They are generally unfit for human
consumption.

Do NOT count on getting sequentially numbered rows/records using an Access
Autonumber.

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[Clif McIrvin]

A2003 certainly does that, and I found it quite useful for one of my
data entry functions ... until I wanted to auto-increment A B C .... I
ended up writing some VBA code to do that.

I'm willing to share the code, but it'll take a few days for me to get
time to make sure it's cleaned up and presentable.

Post back under this thread if you'd like to see the code.

 

[Lance]

Actually autonumber fields ARE guaranteed to be sequential to the table
they're created in ( as opposed to the value in the field ). The first
record created will be 1, the fifth created will be 5 and the 150th created
will be 150. Every time, without fail.

They are certainly fit for "human consumption" they just cannot be used as a
counting mechanism, as deleted records do not reset the incrementation or
fill in "missing" numbers.

Their use depends entirely on what purpose you intend to make of the field.
For keys and order sequencing, they're the way to go. For purely counting
purposes.. they won't work, but frankly there are usually better ways of
doing that than storing a value in the table anyway.

 

[John W. Vinson]

Actually autonumber fields ARE guaranteed to be sequential to the table
they're created in ( as opposed to the value in the field ). The first
record created will be 1, the fifth created will be 5 and the 150th created
will be 150. Every time, without fail.

Try this:

Open a table with an autonumber field.
Add a record.
Add another record.
Hit the <ESC> key twice.
Add another record.

The autonumbers will be created in sequence, but the table may not actually
store them... you *will* have gaps in any real-world scenario.