Display values from one table in another

[jaw_nee_g]

Hi,

I'm new to Access and have what would seem to be a simple question:

I'm looking to organize dates, tests, serial numbers and results.

On some given date, a series of 16 tests are run on anywhere from one
to 40+ serial numbers, so each serial number gets 16 tests.

The results for each test are either "pass", "fail", or "out of range",
so each serial number has one of these results associated with each
test.

I started by assigning the results an ID such as "pass" =1, "fail" = 2,
and "out of range" = 3 and put them in a "Results" table. I then
created a "Tests" table with a date field, serial number field, and 16
fields labeled Test1 - Test16. I now have a "Tests" table full of 1s,
2s, and 3s and am having problems tying each of them to the "Results"
table and displaying the results.

Thanks for any help,
-Johnny-

[Tim Dunne]

ja*******@yahoo.com wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to Access and have what would seem to be a simple question:

I'm looking to organize dates, tests, serial numbers and results.

On some given date, a series of 16 tests are run on anywhere from one
to 40+ serial numbers, so each serial number gets 16 tests.

The results for each test are either "pass", "fail", or "out of range",
so each serial number has one of these results associated with each
test.

I started by assigning the results an ID such as "pass" =1, "fail" = 2,
and "out of range" = 3 and put them in a "Results" table. I then
created a "Tests" table with a date field, serial number field, and 16
fields labeled Test1 - Test16. I now have a "Tests" table full of 1s,
2s, and 3s and am having problems tying each of them to the "Results"
table and displaying the results.

Thanks for any help,
-Johnny-

Hello Johnny -- I am new to Access as well but I would like to put my
two cents in to test my knowledge. It sounds like you need to make
some adjustments to your table design. It sounds like you are creating
a lot of Null values which I try to avoid. Perhaps in your tests table
you can reduce the 16 Test fields down to one Test field which
identifies the test number in the same manner you have assigned the
results an ID. Then you could make a separate TestInfo table, or
something to that effect, which lists each test number as a primary key
with a description field or any other fields that might be pertinent to
that particular test alone.

I might be misunderstanding your application though. What are the
serial numbers associated with -- students or test machines? Does each
serial number have all 16 tests run on it each time tests are run?

If the full series of tests are run on one machine in the same series
then I would say your table layout is correct. Displaying them on a
form may simply be a matter of assigning the Results to an option group
relating to your ID's.

Again, I am new to this just like you so I might be way off base, but I
hope this helps.