Add Field Description to a Form 2

[MattGreer]

In Access 365 I import data from a CSV file into a table "tblImport". I took the defaults when setting this up so tblImport fields match the column headers in the CSV file exactly. The fields are somewhat cryptic so I added text to the 'Description' field in the Table Design. I would like to show that Description text in a form based off of the table. I've searched this website and the Internet and haven't found anything that pertains to what I'm trying to do. Obviously there's a very good chance I used the wrong search terms!

So the question is:
Can a Description for a given Field Name be added to a Form? If so, how is that done?

(As an alternative, I know I could write a VBA procedure to import the CSV into the table and then use better field names, but for the moment I'd rather not reinvent the wheel as this database is already pretty well set up. I have noticed that Access 365 will update field names in queries if you change the table field names but, like I said, I'd rather not muck with things for the moment.)

Thank you for your help!

Thanks!!


Matt

 

[Andrzejek]

“tblImport fields match the column headers in the CSV file exactly. The fields are somewhat cryptic”

Bad idea, in my opinion.
I have seen it many, many times: original DB had some ‘cryptic’ fields: PRTPT1, PRTPT2, SBTAT, XYZ, etc. which mean nothing when you look at them. You need to have additional documentation to know what you are looking for.

“I could write a VBA procedure to import the CSV into the table and then use better field names” with already better (read: meaningful) fields' names established.
If you think: “I will do my minimum now and fix it/make it better later”, that almost never happens. :-( And requires a lot more work.

Just my $0.02


---- Andy

"Hmm...they have the internet on computers now"--Homer Simpson

 

[SkipVought]

@Andy, Ya oughta see SAP field headings!

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my OLD subtlety...
for a NUance![/sub]
"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible" A. Einstein

You Matter...
unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared, then...
You Energy!

 

[Andrzejek]

I am afraid this will start a bigger, long conversation about properly designed DB, which is not what Matt is asking for. But that’s what I see way too often: mainframe setup from when memory was very limited and that’s why the names were very short and cryptic. Then it was re-written, but the fields’ names were ‘preserved’ for the sake of … (laziness?). Then it was re-written again in Access, SQL Server, Oracle, whatever, with the ‘original’ names. Hard to read, impossible to understand.
And eventually, these days, everybody involved in the application is doing

---- Andy

"Hmm...they have the internet on computers now"--Homer Simpson

 

[MattGreer]

I appreciate the feedback guys. I'll go the VBA route. I like programming better anyway. I feel like I have more control over what's going on, not to mention understanding it better!

I wish Access had a way to rename columns when importing from CSV tho. Now, when that data gets filtered/cleaned/massaged and brought into it's final resting place/table, the query handles the 'translation'. The reason I wanted to create a form based off tblImport was to be able to bring the data in and do a quick check on it. In this case, a form would be easiest to use as there are a few thousand rows and about 50 columns.

OK, enough typing. Y'all have a good day!

Thanks!!


Matt

 

[Andrzejek]

Based on what you just said here, I would write my own “importing from CSV” into a table logic/code/tool so I would “have more control over what's going on, not to mention understanding it better!”. This way I would have a full control over “a way to rename columns when importing from CSV”, not to mention the order of columns (not that it matters), validate data types, etc. So I don’t have to “do a quick check on it.”. I would do a ‘full check’ on the data in my code.

---- Andy

"Hmm...they have the internet on computers now"--Homer Simpson