Field Properties (4)

Add Lookup Column
A “lookup column” allows us to choose a value for a field from a drop-down list, which is based on values we enter or from an existing table. By selecting the field in “Design View”, click the downward pointing arrow in the “Data Type” column and choose “Lookup Wizard …”

This opens the “Lookup Wizard” dialog. Choose the first option if the drop-down list is based on a table or a query. Choose the second option if the list must be manually typed.

In this example choose the second option, and click the “Next” button. This opens the second window of the wizard, where you can type in the different options for the drop-down list .

Click “Next”.
In the third and final screen of the “Wizard” you can find a title for the “lookup column”. I entered “Type” as the column title, but you can change it.

Click the “Finish” button.
Now select the “Lookup” tab in the “Field Properties”, then you see the options entered in the newly created drop-down list are listed in the “Row Source”.

You could have directly typed these values in this box without going through the entire “Wizard”.
If you do this directly in the “Row Source” in the “Lookup” tab, do not forget to type the quotation marks and semicolons.
Now when we add new records in our table, you see that there is a drop-down menu available for the “Type” field.

If we had chosen “I want the lookup field to get the values from another table or query” in the first step of the “Wizard”, then we would:

• In the first window, choose the table or query.
• in the second window, the fields that we wish to add to the “Lookup column” must be decided.
• In the third window the sort order of the field selected.
• in the fourth window, where applicable, the width of the “Lookup column”.
• and in the fifth and last step, give a title to the “Lookup column”.

We can take this example when we have our different “types” in a separate table.

Featured Courses

• Downloading iPad Apps
• Lesson 1: Introduction to Publisher
• Lesson 65: File Formats