New field concatenated automatically from 2 other field in form 1

[cafulford]

Hi, I am new in Access and coming along fairly nicely but I am trying to figure out how to take 2 fields in an existing form, named "carrier_name" and "trailer_number" (both text fields), and:

1) concatenate them into a new field called carrier_trailer automatically maybe when you enter the form??
2) The new field, "carrier_trailer" is displayed as reference only and not editable (not sure where this is done)
3) make sure the new field is trimmed so the data is together. For example:
Field "carrier_name" is 50 characters = "Freightway"
Field "trailer_number" is 35 characters = "12345"
New field "carrier_trailer" = "Freightway12345" w/no spaces or anything in between

Also, how could I add a time date stamp to a field so when the form is exited, a time stamp is added?

In another form, this new field will be used as an index to print only those bill of ladings from carrier/trailer # that the user enters.

Thanks in advance

 

[missinglinq]

(1)
In the Control Source Property for the carrier_trailer textbox place this:

=[carrier_name] & [trailer_number]

Despite the field being set to X number of characters, no trimming of spaces is needed because in Access this is a limit, not an allotment. In other words, Access doesn't by default use Fixed Width Strings.

(2)
In the Form_BeforeUpdate event use this code

Me.TimeStampField = Now()

TimeStampField will, of course, have to be bound to a field in the underlying table.

(3)
You should not store the combined carrier & trailer field, but rather re-concatenate it whenever (as in the 2nd form) it is needed again.

The Missinglinq

Richmond, Virginia

There's ALWAYS more than one way to skin a cat!

 

[cafulford]

Missinglinq, thank you so much! I really appreciate the response.

Charlie

 

[dhookom]

Charlie,
Missinglinq gave you a great answer which deserves a star. You should click the link "Thank Missinglinq for this valueable post"

Duane
Hook'D on Access
MS Access MVP