"Nested" data - Value list dependent upon field entry?

[iwasnevy]

Hi All

Looking for some newbie help here. I'm trying to figure out how to deal with "nested" data...

That probably didn't make sense because I have yet to see the term 'nested' used in databasing, so I'll try to explain...

I'll put this example out there: in a table for cars, I've got a field called "car maker" (can you see where this is going?)

So attributes of a field for car maker would be Chevy, Ford, Honda

But under each make are several models:

Chevy

-silverado

-lumina

-cavalier

Ford

-Focus

-Crown Vic

Honda

-Accord

-Element

etc etc....

So I can see how this would be set up in the table - a field for make, another field for model, each with values chosen from a value list for consistency. That's the easy part.

But in the layout, I can't figure out how to present this for data entry. What I'd like to do is to have a drop down list for make, and a second drop down list for model, it's value list dependent upon the entry in the 'make' field. So there's two drop down menus in layout view, make and model.

Here's what I'm trying:

a value list for carmaker which include the values:

-chevy

-honda

And a value list for each carmaker's models:

-chevycars

--which include the values: tahoe, silverado, etc

-hondacars

--which include the values accord, civic, etc

I've looked around and can't figure out how to make the 'models' value list dependent upon the entry in the 'make' field.

make any sense? I'm sure it's a calculated value of some sort, but I can't figure it out. This seems like it should be a basic thing to do. What am I missing or am I going about it wrong?

To throw another monkey wrench in there, this example allows for only one entry per auto maker. Now I have a second problem where I need to be able to choose multiples of each value. I know my example breaks down with what I'm about to propose, (it's just an example, but let's go with it anyway) but in my specific instance, In the 'car maker' field, I need to be able to select ford AND chevy, and in the 'model' field, I need to be able to select silverado AND tahoe. I think I understand that multiple items can be entered into a field, seperated by carriage returns...

Well, I haven't gotten that far yet - I'm sure that's an entirely different discussion, so my main question is about the example shown here, but if anyone can also point me in the right direction for multiple entires, I'd appreciate it. Heck, ANY insight would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[Lee Smith]

Here is an example file that might help.

Link

[iwasnevy]

Thank you! That was exactly what I was looking for. Now to reverse engineer it...

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