Problem editing a value list in a related file

[Tom T]

Hello,

I

[-Queue-]

Is 'New Author' your key field for the relationship to the main file? And is it an auto-entered serial number or a name? If the former, then good; if the latter, then you need to change it to the former, and do it quickly.

[Tom T]

Dear Queue,

I'm not sure I understand your suggestion above. However, I have decided on another route. Instead of a related database, I have a button in the main database that gets me to a one-field database: a list of authors. From there I can add, edit or delete records. The records are the value list. Then in the main database, the value list for authors is the value list from this author list database.

This appears seemless to the user, which is what I want.

Thanks.

Tom

[-Queue-]

What I meant was are you using a name for your key field, and if you are, DON'T! Key fields should be gobbledygook compared to the data a record contains. That way they won't change if, say, a marriage occurs or company changes phone numbers. Your second idea sounds good; just be careful that if you ever need to relate this 'one-field' db to another, you'll need to create a unique key field for it.

The reason you were receiving the error is that you had the author name as the key field. And a new record could not be created until the key field was entered. This is why it would be a good idea to make your key field an auto-entered serial number.