Hi,

I'm very new to Access, having used it for the first time today :)

I've got a database to write for a media database as a learning example and I've run into my first real problem...

I've got a table for users and I've got to allow users to be able to own one or more media types, e.g. CD, DVD, video, record, etc. Of these types, there are sub-categories for most of them. For example, a DVD may be a horror film, action film or music video, and a CD may be hip-hop, rock or blues, etc.

I thought I could have a reference data table containing a category ID and category value, together with a reference data category table which simply listed the categories. This would work fine if a user could only have one type of media but of course they can have several. So, I thought about having a "composite category" instead which would contain a category, whether it contained a sub-category and a sub-category ID. I'm trying to get my head round this and wondered if this must surely be a fairly common issue to solve. Does anyone know of any pointers or any examples I could do with looking at?

Sorry if I haven't explained it too well :o

p,

You're right it is common. Look in the sample database forum here and use
the search facility and look for "cascading". As in Cascading combo-boxes.

Wayne

This would work fine if a user could only have one type of media but of course they can have several. You need to step back and rethink your table schema. Media type isn't an attribute of a person. It is an attribute of a recording. A recording may exist on a CD, DVD, Record, or various types of tapes including 8-track, cassette, and VHS. The recording type may be movie, music, or audio book, etc.