Aliases

[Infinite]

Hey, I have had NO luck with doing those Aliases so far, and I need them to be working. It is starting to become a HUGE hassle now that the shows have started for this year. In the attached data base I have the item, and the show sales were I would import or put in the show sales manually. I just need some one to take it, make it so I can import a 22 pistol has a 22 pistol or a 22 cowboy pistol. If some one can do that, and explain so I can use that in the future, it would be a HUGE help to me.

 

[JHB]

Aliases???
Could you explain what you're trying to do and where you're trying to do it + what problem you've!
And for the problem, how to reproduce it!

 

[Infinite]

http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=276643

That is what im trying to do, im just not getting any answer's.
I cant figure out how to do it, I just need some one to give me a date base (mine) that has that in it.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

This can be solved one of several ways, so we have to know your data sources.

However, in general, if you have text that you believe contains something like what you wanted, the key is "LIKE" - as a comparator operator.

You might be able to find something that you wanted with this approach, where strX is your data source and perhaps has been converted from HTML or XML to simple text.

WHERE ( strX LIKE "*.22* ) AND ( strX LIKE "*pistol*" ) ...

Of course, plus whatever else you wanted to see. If strX is an entire paragraph, you might get some confusing answers, but it is a start. You can do a lot more than this, so I recommend looking up the LIKE operator to see what your text-match choices are.

 

[Infinite]

Can I use that in a table? Because I import (Or im trying to) my sales to a table, and that is were I have a drop down list (I know there evil, but I still use it there) for the items. But if I try to import, I get lots of errors because the names dont match up.

 

[Infinite]

so we have to know your data sources.

Whada mean by that?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

You mention IMPORTING your data. From what type of data source? Web pages? Some sort of digital catalog? Optical scan of newspaper ads? What data source?

The reason is that the format of that import can affect how you do the search I mentioned.

If your data is already in a table and you still can't find what you want, your problem is immediately clear: Data layout issues. Nicklaus Wirth (father of the Pascal language) is quoted as saying that 80% of all programming issues originate from bad data layout.

Show us a few diverse rows of your table populated. (I know you posted a ZIP but when I answer from my office system, I cannot download anything that is a ZIP container file.)

Knowing what you are trying to find and what it looks like when you are searching are important elements to solving this problem. We might be able to guide you to a data layout that can help you find what you want.

 

[Infinite]

You mention IMPORTING your data. From what type of data source? Web pages? Some sort of digital catalog? Optical scan of newspaper ads? What data source?

What you see in the tblshowsales is the same format of the data that I import it from. I import it from a .xlsx file, that will always have the same formatting as the tblShowSales.

I know you posted a ZIP but when I answer from my office system, I cannot download anything that is a ZIP container file.

I posted a .accdb file instead of zip, can you work with that?

And if/when your off of work I also posted (in zip format, cant do a .xlsx) a single rowed .xlsx file. The .xlsx file is exactly what I would import from, so you can use that for reference.

FYI: Import.zip is the .xlsx file and Database1.accdb is the data base.

 

[Solo712]

FYI: Import.zip is the .xlsx file and Database1.accdb is, go figure , the data base.

Bud, your attitude sucks big time !

J.

 

[Infinite]

Bud, your attitude sucks big time !

What do you mean?

 

[Infinite]

Hey, I got (I think) the aliases working. I just need to know how to tie them all to the item ID. in the Picture 1, you can see what I have for the query, but in picture 2, nothing is working.

 

[Infinite]

Ok, back to square 1. The problem I have now is, I have a 22 cowboy Pistol. And I can see I have sold 200 of them. Now, if I change the 22 Cowboy Pistol to a 22 Pistol, access (and me) have no idea how many 22 Pistols I sold. So I (And I hate this to) for the time being, have to have a drop down box for the items. If any one has any ideas on how to make it so if item changes names all of the items in the database changes names, that would help...Maybe a Giant Ctrl+Replace? So if you change it replaces all of those names with that name? Might work....then I could have any name imported, but I would just have it replace all of 22 Cowboy Pistols with 22 Pistol. Any one think that would work?

 

[jdraw]

In very general terms, in relational database with normalized tables, you would have a
Product table with
ProductId unique PK
ProductName text
other Product specific info.

It appears that your problem is rooted in table design/structure.
Throughout your database you would use ProductID to relate tables.
When changing the ProductName you change it in 1 place. You do your querying based on the ProductID and retrieve the ProductName when needed.

 

[Infinite]

It appears that your problem is rooted in table design/structure.
Throughout your database you would use ProductID to relate tables.
When changing the ProductName you change it in 1 place. You do your querying based on the ProductID and retrieve the ProductName when needed.

I do have that, in all the tables that I can use a ModelID I have it being used. BUT, in the table that I am referring to, I cant have a ModelID because I have to import data into that table, and what im importing from has just a name of the model, and other date, but none of it useful to what im talking about.

Product table with
ProductId unique PK
ProductName text
other Product specific info.

That is exactly what I have as you can see in the picture.

 

[jdraw]

Why would you change?

22 Cowboy Pistol to a 22 Pistol

And why would you not know how many based on the unique ProductID?

 

[Infinite]

Why would you change?

Not sure why we do, but when we create a new product, we dont know the name till we think of one, so we just have random product till we name it, but we still sell random product.

And why would you not know how many based on the unique ProductID?

Because, like I said, I import the product sales, and they only have the product name.

 

[jdraw]

So, quite frankly, your problems/opportunities are directly related to your business practices.
Somewhere between database, product development and product sales there is a major gap. One would think Products are assigned unique identifier to reduce confusion in your business. You could assign a temp name or several and finalize the name via marketing/sales. But you would do all of your processes based on the unique ProductID.
That's the only thing that is constant in your scenario.

If you and the business don't work with the constant, and continue to play catch up with a varying variable that can be changed "seemingly anywhere in the process", you have your current situation.

A change in process is necessary, if you plan on some consistency in reporting and financials.

 

[Infinite]

OK, guess there is nothing that you can do on your end to help me. No problem, either we will have to change those names, or im on for a lot of replacing Either way, thank you for helping me so far! Thanks!