Connected drop down boxes

I'm new to Access 2007 and am trying to create a simple database for the
library at my work. Right now I have only one table. I created a drop-down
box for one of the fields, "Topic," which allows one to select "Education;"
"Housing;" "Environment," etc. What I want is to link another field,
"Sub-Topic," to it so that when someone selects "Education" the only options
they will be able to select under "Sub-Topic" will relate to education. Can
anyone explain to me how to do that in the simplist way possible? Thanks.

Do an on-line search for "cascading comboboxes", or check at mvps.org/access
for this topic. Pick the explanation that works best for you...

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP



"applecarrotbeetjuice"
wrote in message ...
I'm new to Access 2007 and am trying to create a simple database for the
library at my work. Right now I have only one table. I created a
drop-down
box for one of the fields, "Topic," which allows one to select
"Education;"
"Housing;" "Environment," etc. What I want is to link another field,
"Sub-Topic," to it so that when someone selects "Education" the only
options
they will be able to select under "Sub-Topic" will relate to education.
Can
anyone explain to me how to do that in the simplist way possible? Thanks.

On Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:58:01 -0700, applecarrotbeetjuice
wrote:

I'm new to Access 2007 and am trying to create a simple database for the
library at my work. Right now I have only one table. I created a drop-down
box for one of the fields, "Topic," which allows one to select "Education;"
"Housing;" "Environment," etc. What I want is to link another field,
"Sub-Topic," to it so that when someone selects "Education" the only options
they will be able to select under "Sub-Topic" will relate to education. Can
anyone explain to me how to do that in the simplist way possible? Thanks.

You cannot do this with a Lookup Field in a table (just one of the *MANY*
limitations of this misfeature) but you can easily do so on a Form. Base the
subtopic combo box on a Query referencing the Topic combo. You would use a
Query with a criterion like

=Forms!YourFormName!cboTopic

on the Topic field in the table of subtopics.

You will need to Requery the subtopic combo box in the AfterUpdate event of
the Topic combo. Post back if you have trouble doing so.
--

John W. Vinson [MVP]