Should be an easy answer but I’m lost

[ramrags]

I’m working on a doctor’s data base and what I’m trying to do is. I have a form named frmVISIT this form has a tab control on it and there are 4 tabs and the four sub forms are forms built from queries with the PROCEDURE_ID as the criteria. These forms are continuous Forms so a visit can have more than one procedure and could have more that one type of procedure. Each of these forms has a calculated field on the footer that keeps the sum for that type of procedure. What I would like it to do is take the values of the sum fields and update a field on the main form for the sum for the visit; then on the click of a command button pass the value to a payment form, as the total for the visit. I would appreciate any help that you can give pointing me in the right direction. Tom

 

[jrbarnett]

Tom

Storing the values of calculations within a database where the values can easily be recalculated is not a good idea, because it is too easy for the total to get out of sync with the actual items.
The only time that this is acceptable is where there is a likelihood of initial prices changing, and so you need a historical record of the total price of what the patient paid.
This removal of calculated values is part of the procedure known as normalisation, where dependencies between tables and fields within tables are sorted out.
If you would like to know more, there is an excellent document available from

http://www.abcdataworks.com/

in the Programmers section called "Fundamentals of Relational database design" and it is written in a non technical way.

John