closed comboboxes only showing the first of two fields being pulled to identify an FK

  • Thread starter Thread starter dan.neely
  • Start date Start date
D

dan.neely

I have some FKs configured to pull two fields of a table (item name,
and item version). Both the name and version fields display in the
dropdown but only the first is shown for the selection when the
combobox is closed.
 
That's correct: combo boxes only show a single column when closed.

To refer to any specific column of the selected row of a combo box, use the
Column collection. For example, to refer to the value in the second column
of the currently selected row, use Forms!NameOfForm!NameOfComboBox.Column(1)

(The Column collection starts numbering at 0)
 
That's correct: combo boxes only show a single column when closed.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to override the default behavior or to have the form
load custom text in place of the column value that would otherwise be
displayed? I really need to be able to show the data in both and
would prefer not to add a DisplayData column to the table to do so.

For an example of the sort of situation I'm dealing with Word03 and
Word07 both save "Word Documents", but the version (2003 vs 2007) is
very relevant to what the file is. (The fact that 07 saves using
the .docx extension is a limitation of the example I choose that
doesn't apply to my actual data/)
 
I have some FKs configured to pull two fields of a table (item name,
and item version). Both the name and version fields display in the
dropdown but only the first is shown for the selection when the
combobox is closed.
Click to expand...


Combo boxes only display the first "visible" column. It's
also the column that's used with the AutoExpand feature so
displaying multiple values would be ambiguous.

Normally, if you want to display another field, you can add
a text box near the combo box and set its ControlSource to
this kind of expression =combo1.Column(N)
where N is the 0 based column number.
 
You can put logic in the control's AfterUpdate event to populate text boxes
on your form. You can't, however, change what's displayed in the combo box.

Another option, of course, is to added a computed field to the query that
makes up the RowSource for the combo box. Concatenate the two fields of
interest, and make that computed field the visible field in your combo box.
 
-Create & save a query that includes your 2 fields.
-Add a 3rd field that is a concatenation of field 1 & field 2. (e.g.,
[ProdID] & " - " & [ProdName])
-Base your combo box on this query.
-Display only the new "combined" field in your combo.

(in other words, don't add a DisplayData field to your table <shiver>, just
toss it into a query)

HTH
 
Another option, of course, is to added a computed field to the query that
makes up the RowSource for the combo box. Concatenate the two fields of
interest, and make that computed field the visible field in your combo box.
Click to expand...

Ok, this is better than what I had before, but is there a way to do
this and keep the text of what was the second column for each row
left justified when the length of the string from the first column
varies in length?
 
Dan Neely said:
Ok, this is better than what I had before, but is there a way to do
this and keep the text of what was the second column for each row
left justified when the length of the string from the first column
varies in length?
Click to expand...

I don't believe so.
 
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