Long Descriptions for Fields

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kaylen
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Kaylen

I just want to know if anyone can help me figure out how to incoroparte long
descriptions for the fields in the table. The field description I have are
over 500 characters long and I want to be able to show the whole description
when that field is selected in a form or else I will run out of space on the
form to fit everything. Help please.
 
Kaylen

?A field description more than 500 characters long?

Is there a chance you are trying to embed data/information in the "field
description" rather than directly in other fields?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP
 
What I have is a databse of questions and for every questions, there is a
quite lengthy description of the different ways one answer the question and
how to answer the question. I am struggling to find out what is the best way
to design a form so that the users can answer each question, and if they want
more detail on how to answer the question, they can see it somewhere on the
form or click a link or something that display the whole description for that
particular question.

I tried using label for the descriptions but I ran out of space on the form
to fit everything in. Is there another effective way? Thank you.
 
Kaylen

If I'm understanding correctly, you have a (potentially-lengthy)
description/explanation that accompanies specific items. Have you looked
into using the memo datatype? It can store up to 65K +/- characters.

If you are working with surveys and/or questionnaires and/or tests, have you
looked into Duane H's AtYourSurvey? If not, check:

http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/OtherLibraries.asp#Hookom,Duane

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP
 
What I have is a databse of questions and for every questions, there is a
quite lengthy description of the different ways one answer the question and
how to answer the question. I am struggling to find out what is the best way
to design a form so that the users can answer each question, and if they want
more detail on how to answer the question, they can see it somewhere on the
form or click a link or something that display the whole description for that
particular question.

I tried using label for the descriptions but I ran out of space on the form
to fit everything in. Is there another effective way? Thank you.
Click to expand...

In another thread it appears that you're storing the question itself in the
fieldname, and now you're trying to store yet more information in the field's
Description?

You're missing the point I fear! You should store information *IN YOUR TABLE*,
in Text or Memo fields in the table - not in the table's structure.

Consider a structure like

Questions
QuestionNo <Primary Key>
Question <Text>
QuestionDescription <Memo>

You could have ten, or a hundred, or a thousand questions, each with 255 bytes
for the question text, and 65536 for the description of the question; you
could display the question and the description on a Form (single form if you
want to see one question at a time, or Continuous if you want to see multiple
questions on screen). The user's answers should be stored in a different
table:

Answers
AnswerID <autonumber primary key>
UserID <link to a table of Users, who is answering>
QuestionNo <link to Questions, which question they're answering>
Answer <whatever datatype is appropriate>


Repeating: Look at At Your Survey. It addresses the questions you're
struggling with, is a good teaching tool, and can often be used "out of the
box" to record questionnaire type data.
 
Maybe a hyperlink would work? Is there a way to have a hyperlink that opens
to show a specific record on a form?
 
It seems like you are focused on the "how" (i.e., "which button do I
press"), rather than the "why" ("what business need will be satisfied if
this is accomplished").

Take a look over the AtYourSurvey sample, if you haven't already done so.

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP
 
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