Updating MS Access Query? - ms-access

I'm working an Access Database for my church's local cemetery. They wanted something free, and low-to-no-maintenance, and I didn't want to go with anything online.
So I've made a sample Access Database with the fields and a simple query, checking if the field is filled out, and searching for the field if it contains something. My only problem is that, since these people want something user-friendly and easy, I can't have them right-click, close, then double click on the query every time they update the search form and click the button. What's the best way to fix this?
Again, I want to not have to quit out of and re-open the query every time I update the search form
Example Search (using random names): Every first name contains "o": https://i.imgur.com/2t5B9lK.png
Example output: https://i.imgur.com/JqZ8f7v.png

Do the search in the form header and show the results in the form details.

Related

MS Access "Write Conflict" error when adding new field to record source

I want to preface this by saying I don't have any real programming background, I'm just trying to update an existing database at work.
We have an access database and I want to add an additional Y/N checkbox to an existing form. The form updates a SQL table. Currently the record source is a SQL statement.
I can go to the SQL table, add a new field and make it Yes/No data type. There are other Yes/No fields in the table and the default settings for the new field are identical to the others. I next go and update the linked table through External Data in the ribbon. I can go into the table in Access and see the new field - so far, so good.
Next, go to the form design view and form properties, go to the record source, update the SQL statement to include the new field. (I've also tried this thru query builder, same result.) From here, I start to get the error.
If I go back to form view and change any data in the form and hit the next record button or save button, I get the Write Conflict error. "This record has been changed by another user since you started editing it..." The 'Save Record' button is greyed out. I am the only person accessing the database or SQL server.
I've tried to finish building the new button and linking it to the new field in control source (that went fine), but it didn't make any difference. If I go in to edit the record source and remove the new field, everything works again (but of course, the new field isn't in the control source list, so isn't linked to the check box).
Any ideas? Thanks.
A strong contender for the reason for your problem is the form itself.
Most likely the form is setup with a specific query as the Record Source. Its not to say that that is inherently incorrect, but it makes adding new columns to the source significantly more difficult.
The problem would likely be solved if you just changed the Record Source to reference the table itself, rather than a query, if that is in fact how it is referenced.
If Ms Access tries to pull data from a table using a query through a form it will inherently Pessimistically Lock the table in question, making it unable to be modified. However, you can usually still modify the table through the query itself, but you would need to add the column changes into that query first.
I'm not quite sure if I am making sense here, but something like this (for a table called "Table1"):
In theory, if the form is the problem... then if you closed it and tried to make modifications to the table, then the changes should work when the form is closed.
Someone else fixed it for me, but from what I understand, it was a communication issue between SQL and Access. Something with the setting of the null value in SQL not being set the way that Access could understand.
We had the issue narrowed down. When the new field was added to the table, you couldn't change any info directly in the table, but you could with the form.
If you added the new field to the form's record source, you couldn't edit any info at all.
Thanks for everyone's input.

MS Access Form Debugging

Hello I have a pretty intricate Access database. I just jumped on this project and have never used Access. I have a form that is generating a value entry popup when I try to run it and it shouldn't be. The problem is the form is trying to access a column of a table which has been changed recently. I just have no idea where to find the query or what exactly is trying to access that column. Any help greatly appreciated. I am using Access 2016 also.
Sounds to me like the problem inst actually your form but the query your form is based upon.
This may be a separate query or a query built in your forms record source.
Go to your form in design view. Open up the property sheet. (Under design tab) make sure the dropdown box has Form Selected and look at the Record Source.
The record source may state a query name, In which case you should remove the field/replace the field with another in that query.
Or if it says something along the lines of "Select ......" then just alter that query to not have the field you have removed/renamed and the problem should go away.
However it is worth noting that if you have sub forms it could be the record source of one of those.

MS Access - Form tries to create new record on open and record jumps about a continuous form

So I have two issues with my database, which I think are linked together.
Firstly if tblDeliveries is empty and frmMainView is opened it comes up with "You must enter a value in the 'tblDeliveries.deliverySlot' field" but the form shouldn't be trying to create a record and I can't see any reason why it would. Opening frmDailyView (which is a subform of frmMainView) doesn't show this behaviour but it is the one with the continuous form on...
Secondly if tblDeliveries has one (or more) rows the first row of the table will jump about... For example in frmMainView if the date of the first record is set to 23/01/2015 and you navigate to the 24/01/2015 and click anywhere on the subform and then press F5 to refresh the record will have jumped to that date, the date even changes in tblDeliveries.
I have no idea why it's doing it, I even removed all of the VBA code for the form to stop it, but it happens anyway.
If anyone has come across anything like this before, please let me know how you fixed it, or any suggestions would be very welcome. Thanks!
EDIT: If you download the database, add your computer login name to tblUsers. Also the date is UK formatted, so might need tweaking to work with US dates.
The offending database (1.5MB)
Taking a look at your database, several issues are occurring.
You first issue can be resolved by going into the Design View of the table tblDeliveries, select the deliverySlot field and change Required (in bottom panel) from Yes to No.
Your second issue is multi-faceted with many issues but a critical problem is that the parent-child link field, deliveryDate, between the main form and subform is missing in the recordsource of the sub form and the field's table origin is not in the query's join statements. For me, I can't even update anything in subform (all boxes are grayed out).
Essentially, you are trying to normalize Delivery Dates and Delivery Times (one-to-many) but the left join query (qryDeliveryIncBlanks) setup is not aligned to this effect. You user login also does not integrate smoothly into frmMainView. My ultimate advice is revamp your database design relational model then use forms as the visual representation of those related tables.
I am not re-iterating the points of #Parfait.
Access Forms have a property DataEntry. If it is set to Yes (or True in VBA), then the form will open itself pointing to a new empty data record. Set this property to No (False in VBA).
If you want to give the user the possibility to manually enter a new record, set the property AllowAdditions to Yes and to No otherwise. Yes displays an empty record marked with a star * and the end of the data sheet or continuous form.
I've resolved the issue, thanks to some of the comments I realised I could just give the deliverySlot field a default value with a number outside of the range it would look for, I set it to 99, but it only looks for 1-20. The date still jumps around but since it's not in the range of the query it's hidden. It's resolved both issues.

Microsoft Access Form To Query for Multi Value Field

I am trying to write an Microsoft Access query from a form with a multi value field being the criteria. The field I am trying to use is called Population and the field is represented in my database as a List Box that allows multiple values and it is in the Building table. The values it allows are the following:
"Singles";"Familes";"Families with Children";"Youth/Young Adults";"Veterans";
The form that I am creating is called HousingSearch.
I am trying to create a form which uses this field, so someone could use the list box and check off the values they want and click on the button which would open a query. I know having done this with single value fields the criteria in the query looks something like
[forms]![HousingSearch]![Building]![Population]
but if you try the same thing for a multi value field nothing is returned for the query. Any help would be appreciated.
From the information you have provided it seems that the phrase [Forms]![HousingSearch]![Building]![Population] are combining a request that starts with a form and then jumps to a table.
You are asking access to find data in a form but the information you're most likely trying to access is in a table. I don't quite understand what you're end result is but I think that you most likely want to refer to your information this way [Building]![Population]. Referring to your data this way makes access look at the table of [Building] and then into the field of [Population].
It's been a while since you posted, if you haven't cleared things up already I hope this helps.

How to look up values from a table in Access

I have an Access database that is used to store basic info in a table such as first and last name. How would I go about adding the functionality to lookup by last name?
Is there a way to type in the last name and then hit like F12 or something like this? Can someone please point me in the right direction or provide me a link?
SELECT tblPatient.LName AS [Last], tblPatient.FName AS [First]
FROM tblPatient
WHERE (((tblPatient.LName)=[Enter Last Name]));
How do I tie this into my form now?
I'd suggest you create a form, with a textbox 'search' at the top, then either a listbox or subform below to display results.
The listbox record source would be:
SELECT tblPatient.LName, tblPatient.FName
FROM tblPatient
WHERE tblPatient.LName LIKE Forms!myForm!search & '*';
You can either add a Search button, which requeries the listbox, or do the requery via the Change event of the search textbox. The later may be slow if you have a large number of records; if that's the case, you could check that at least 3 (?) characters have been entered before calling the requery.
You just need to create a query in which you put =[?] as the "last name" value.
When you open that view, you'll be asked to type in a lookup value for that field.
Not sure if this is what you are trying to archieve, though...
This is probably a bit overkill for what you want to do, but I assume that you want to perform a search by last name. You should be able to glean the information you need from this article:
Build a search criteria form
http://www.everythingaccess.com/tutorials.asp?ID=Build-a-search-criteria-form
You can create queries in Access if the user you're targeting with the searchability has Access themselves.
From the main Access UI (assuming Access 2007), go to the Create tab and then select the "Query Wizard." Here is an article on the subject.
Otherwise you can create a program and connect to the MDB/ACCDB file running the query programmatically.
Seeing you wish to look up a name and populate the form based on the name selected, I suggest you need a combobox. There is even a wizard for doing exactly what you want. To start, you will need a form bound to a table or query, that is a form with a Record Source.
Add a combobox to your form
Select :
Find a record on my form based on the value I select in my combobox
Select the ID (primary key), Last and First name fields.
Access will display an example, suggesting that you hide the Key (id) column. Accept this.
Choose a name and finish.
There are a few other small things that could be done for neatness, but you will end up with a form that find the record you want. In addition, the combo will autocomplete if you type in a few letter.
If this is an mde, which your subsequent post seems to suggest it is, there is little you can do wuth out the original file. However, you could try opening the database while keeping the shift key held down and see if that allows you to edit. If you cannot get the original and the shift does not work, you could try rescuing the data, if it, too, is stored in this file.