Lookup column value from Contacts

[SilentMule]

OK, I think this should be easy but for the life of me I'm unable to work it out, so would appreciate any help anyone can give me. I do hope I'm not being a total plonker but here goes...

I would like to create a lookup field on a new list that references unique Company values from my Contacts list.

I don't think it should be too hard to do but whilst I can find heaps of information on viewing a list from another site or creating lists from two sources, there seems to be nothing on how something of this nature might be achieved.

The bit I have worked out is how to create a list of unique Company values from Contacts, which is saved in as an aspx file (companies.aspx). However, unless I put it in 'Shared Documents' nothing can see the aspx page except Sharepoin Designer. Even then, if I try to create a new column in a list of type Lookup, I am unable to select the Companies.aspx as a source for the values to lookup.

Help!?!? very much appreciated) - it seems to me that this must be something that many people would have wanted to achieve so either I'm being thick (very possible) or... or, I don't know really.

SM

 

[BoulderBum]

What is wrong with:

1. Creating a SharePoint list called "Companies".
2. Adding a lookup field to your contacts list that cross-references "Companies".
3. Adding other lookup fields and/or reading writing to the "Companies" list from different forms.

?

MCP, MCTS - .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications

 

[SilentMule]

First of all, thanks for the reply. I was begining to think I must be a complete klutz!
What you've suggested is certainly one solution but it requires someone to manually maintain the list of Companies.
The Contacts list, on the other hand, has a 'Company' field on it, which my users always fill in (becuase they're good users ).
So, my idea is that a list, called 'Companies' gets auto-populated with unique values based on the entries that people enter in Contacts. This list is then used as a lookup field in an bespoke list where we record details of conversations and other contacts that we've had with companies - so, the Company name has to be recoded.
I can create the list of unique Company names as an aspx page. Fab, but when I create a lookup field in my custom list, it doesn't appear in the available lists from which to choose columns.
Hopefully I've explained this clearly enough, though I can quite see that it could be that I haven't. If that's the case, sorry.
It seems to me that this kind of thing would be useful to be able to do for many applications.
SM