noob - help automatically populating field

[kmike82]

Hi, I have two tables that contain the field "employee ID". I'd like to have a field on one of my tables that tells me if the employee ID exists in the other table.

So, if "employee ID" on table1 matches an "employee ID" on table2, change the "exists" field on table1 to yes.

Thanks,

 

[jjturner]

Hello and Welcome!

Be forewarned, it's likely that a few other folks may add some thoughts on this subject. I can imagine that you're knee (or neck) deep in some sort of reconciliation process between a couple different source files.

I would recommend against actually storing an Employee "exists" 'indicator' in your table. The set of Employees you're attempting to identify is, as you've obviously deduced, obtainable through a query.

By simply adding table1 and table2 to the Query design and joining on the [employee ID] field, your results will yield the set of Employees you're looking for. Anything you need to do further with that set of Employees can be built from this saved Query - not the table.

Hope this makes some sense. The main point is that you want to get out of the habit of storing data/information derived from pre-existing data.

Cheers,
John

 

[namliam]

The main point is that you want to get out of the habit of storing data/information derived from pre-existing data.

Seconded, this is a database not a bloody spreadsheet!