Join two tables and show distinct records - ms-access

Question

I have two tables in MS Access 2010:
PART LOG-OUT TABLE:
PART_ID DRAWN_DATE LOCATION_ID
C0001 07/29/2013 501
C0002 07/29/2013 604
C0003 08/01/2013 703
C0004 08/01/2013 807
C0005 08/02/2013 505
C0006 08/02/2013 602
C0007 08/02/2013 707
C0008 08/03/2013 802
C0009 08/03/2013 803
C0001 10/01/2013 605
C0002 10/02/2013 704
C0004 10/05/2013 806
PART RETURN TABLE:
PART_ID RETURN_DATE LOCATION_ID
C0001 09/04/2013 STORE
C0002 09/05/2013 STORE
C0004 09/10/2013 STORE
C0007 09/12/2013 STORE
C0008 09/13/2013 STORE
C0002 10/03/2013 STORE
This is the result I want:
PART_ID DRAWN_DATE LOG-OUT LOCATION RETURN_DATE RETURN LOCATION
C0001 07/29/2013 501 09/04/2013 STORE
C0001 10/01/2013 605
C0002 07/29/2013 604 09/05/2013 STORE
C0002 10/02/2013 704 10/03/2013 STORE
C0003 08/01/2013 703
C0004 08/01/2013 807 09/10/2013 STORE
C0004 10/05/2013 806
C0005 08/02/2013 505
C0006 08/02/2013 602
C0007 08/02/2013 707 09/13/2013 STORE
C0008 08/03/2013 802 10/03/2013 STORE
C0009 08/03/2013 803
But I can only get this:
PART_ID DRAWN_DATE LOG-OUT LOCATION RETURN_DATE RETURN LOCATION
C0001 07/29/2013 501 09/04/2013 STORE
C0001 10/01/2013 605 `09/04/2013 STORE`
C0002 07/29/2013 604 09/05/2013 STORE
`C0002 07/29/2013 604` 10/03/2013 STORE
C0002 10/02/2013 704 `09/05/2013 STORE`
`C0002 10/02/2013 704 10/03/2013 STORE`
C0003 08/01/2013 703
C0004 08/01/2013 807 09/10/2013 STORE
C0004 10/05/2013 806 `09/10/2013 STORE`
C0005 08/02/2013 505
C0006 08/02/2013 602
C0007 08/02/2013 707 09/13/2013 STORE
C0008 08/03/2013 802 10/03/2013 STORE
C0009 08/03/2013 803
after I wrote:
SELECT L.PART_ID, L.DRAWN_DATE, L.LOCATION_ID AS [LOG-OUT LOCATION], R.RETURN_DATE, R.LOCATION_ID AS RETURN_LOCATION FROM (SELECT * FROM [PART LOG-OUT] ORDER BY PART_ID) AS L LEFT JOIN (SELECT * FROM [PART RETURN] ORDER BY PART_ID) AS R ON L.PART_ID = R.PART_ID ORDER BY L.PART_ID, L.DRAWN_DATE, R.RETURN_DATE;
Can somebody correct me? Thanks!

Answer 1

Your requirements are a bit vague so I may be off, but you seem to want to pair returns with times that are before the return only, something like this?
SELECT L.PART_ID, L.DRAWN_DATE, L.LOCATION_ID AS [LOG-OUT LOCATION],
MIN(R.RETURN_DATE), MIN(R.LOCATION_ID) AS RETURN_LOCATION
FROM (SELECT * FROM [LOG_OUT LOCATION]) AS L
LEFT JOIN (SELECT * FROM [PART_RETURN]) AS R
ON L.PART_ID = R.PART_ID AND L.DRAWN_DATE < R.RETURN_DATE
GROUP BY L.LOCATION_ID,L.PART_ID,L.DRAWN_DATE
ORDER BY L.PART_ID, L.DRAWN_DATE, MIN(R.RETURN_DATE)
An SQLfiddle to test with.
Note that since there's nothing pairing a single purchase with a single return (and no such sample in your question), the logic is very basic for pairing them up.

Answer 2

As you are joining on the PART_ID column, the result you are getting is what you would expect to get.
For example, there are two C0001 in the LOG-OUT table and these will join to the same C0001 in the PART RETURN table as there is nothing to distringuish the rows in the return table from each other:
PART LOG-OUT TABLE -> PART RETURN TABLE
C0001 07/29/2013 501 -> C0001 09/04/2013 STORE
C0001 10/01/2013 605 -> C0001 09/04/2013 STORE
You need another criteria to join on, or you need to join on some more unique identifier in order to achieve the results you are looking for.

Answer 3

SELECT L.PART_ID, L.DRAWN_DATE, L.LOCATION_ID AS [LOG-OUT LOCATION], R.RETURN_DATE, R.LOCATION_ID AS RETURN_LOCATION FROM (SELECT * FROM [PART LOG-OUT] ORDER BY PART_ID) AS L LEFT OUTER JOIN (SELECT * FROM [PART RETURN] ORDER BY PART_ID) AS R ON L.PART_ID = R.PART_ID ORDER BY L.PART_ID, L.DRAWN_DATE, R.RETURN_DATE;