Hi,
I have been tasked to create a database that will be accessed through a dial-up connection to our server.
What I want to know is which is faster
1 Using a seperate table for dropdowns or
2 Using the lookup facility of a table.
cheers

Gordon :confused:

You are talking apples and oranges since #2 can be implimented as a value list or as a separate table. If it gets its values from a table, it is identical to option #1. And as far as the difference between a value list and a table I don't think you will see a difference in speed unless the combo contains a huge number of rows and in that case, you would never want to use a value list.

In any event, I strongly recommend that you avoid using the lookup feature in a table. It will cause you problems with virtually everything else you do with the table. It is a "feature" that is targeted at novices who do not understand how to make queries but it is implemented in such as was that it will cause problems if you actually use queries. Since in a properly designed application the user NEVER has access to tables or queries because all interactions happen with forms, there is simply no need to encumber yourself with this problem causing "feature". Create a query that joins the main table to the lookup table if you want to see the text value in a query. Otherwise, just use combos on your forms, preferably with queries as RowSources rather than Value Lists.

Thank you for that. It was very interseting.
Gordon