Fill field in form from two other fields matching

[Kirk Thomas]

I have a table called "Machines", in that table is a field called "Description" which tells what the machines function is.
I also have a form, that the technician fills out daily at the end of the shift. In that form the source is a table called "Call Log". I would like to add the description field to the call log form/table and have it populated from the "Machines" table where the "Production line/Area" field and "OP Number" match. "Production line/Area" and "OP Number" are in both tables, but the machine description is only in the "Machines" table.
I am quite a novice at Access, and would appreciate any guidance from the gurus.
Thanks for your time and patience.

 

[dhookom]

Hi Kirk and welcome to Tek-Tips.

The machine description should be stored in only one table. This is a basic database rule. One of the cases for storing information in more than one table is if the description will change over time and you want to maintain the old value for historical reasons. This is more prevalent when referring to prices of sales items.

You would store only the primary key value from the machine table and the description can be displayed by using a query with the machine table or a combo box.

Please come back with more questions if this is not clear.

Duane
Minnesota
Hook'D on Access
MS Access MVP 2001-2016