A note on my first MS-related post (AKA,my employer is forcing me to use M$ Access.)
 

I have posted like 50 other places and no one seems to get my Access question. Those were mostly ASP/VB/Access forums. I have also Googled to hell and back. Check out the sickening design at this site: tek-tips.com Yuck!

I'm turning to LQ commnuity because I know we have the most well-read, smartest board on the 'net and with the faith that y'all won't flame me for using Microsoft, since I am forced to do so by an employer who has forsaken mysql for Access due to the fact that "we are worried about redundancy."

Ok. That's fine and good, but I can't stand the thought of having to learn this backward, chastity-belt software. Here I am, though. Stumped and angry. If there are people on this board with Access success stories, more power to you but I'm just pissed. Let me explain why.

Ok, I have a .mdb file with tables and forms. I want to output some table data into a "combo box" (the name dropdown boxes take on in Access) and then when someone clicks on that, to have the selection appear in full in an adjacent text box.

Simple request, right?

Well, Microsoft is sooo stupid that they won't allow anyone to pipe string variables that contain more than 255 characters from table >> form. I have spent eight hours under my boss's watchful eye today, all the while having to explain to him every 20 minutes or so why I haven't figured out how to make Access do something it just won't do. Finally he set a deadline, which I met, but he didn't like the form produced by Access's form wizard, which DID produce the contents of the table in full, in a text box.

But when creating forms with the form wizard, there are these little boxes at the bottom with <- | -> arrows that say "Record." They advance through the table by index, and display THE FULL TEXT WITH NO TRUNCATING! No 255 character limit!

And so it goes:

"But you can't make it a drop-down box like you had before?"
"Not unless you make your table messages less than 255 characters."
"So you're saying we need to change it back to HTML?"

JESUS H. CHRIST!

This situatin sucks, and I'm just realizing it. I'm in a room full of Solaris boxes, trying to make the choice of whether to use M$ table-wizard, or code my own VB script buttons. That pretty much sums up the state of computer affairs in my corporate world.

This has just become such a pointless situation, and it's frustrating when people just "decide" that an application like Access would be better- (and easier- !) implemented. I'm willing to learn Access for a project, but I'm NOT willing/able to learn VB.

Fack!

[edited: bad grammar/spelling removed, now that I'm in a somewhat cooler state though still unable to solve this problem]

Re: A note on my first MS-related post (AKA,my employer is forcing me to use M$ Acces
 

I'm sorry but ... i didn't either.
You didn't actually ask a question.
What is it really you're expecting from us now?

Sorry... I am like, distraught or something.

Access Table Query, Not Displaying Full Table Cell


I was able to get this to work earlier with a list box going to a textbox by using the following structure:

Listbox row source:
SELECT uncanny.Messages FROM uncanny ORDER BY ID;

Textbox control source:
=[ListBox111].[Column](0)

That works, but only returns 255 characters. I have created my tables with Memo types, so I didn't think that limit would be an issue. Is there a way to make that structure return the entire database field, and not just the first few characters?

So are you trying to make a webpage using data from the access DB? Or are you trying to make a form for accessing the database within access? Access is the worst db ever the only way ive ever gotten it to work is to just create a blank database and use phpsql to do the design the way i want it.

Access is a db?

Ok, guys. I'm just trying to make a combo box that displays table fields, that can be selected, and will subsequently appear (in full, not truncated to 255 character length) in an adjacent textbox.

No html, no php, no apache, no fun allowed. Just that first sentence :]

Access is somewhat of a turd, methinks.

Bizzump
 

...bump?

Anybody?? :)

Microsoft calls it one.

You can't. Period. I've tried that one, too.

Access is full of such stupid limitations. For instance, you can't have an Access DB > 2 Gb. Why ? Go figure. I used Access, in this context, to work locally on tables so as to not put too much load on the already overworked server. I started getting weird errors as my DB grew and at some point I could not do anything. As in : not even a simple "SELECT * FROM some_db;". It turned out Access was getting epileptic episodes when the DB weighed 2 gigs. I had to compress it first and then make some cleanup. I swear I spent as much time doing size management than doing actual work. And there are loads more weird, unexplained and unjustified quirks in it.

I can understand your pain.