A
ace36
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HI, i just wanted to know if it was possible to insert bullets in a table in order to separate ideas in one box.
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You are confusing Access with Word. Access does not want to share space like this.
The quick answer is "not very easily and certainly not very transportable."
If you have two different ideas in Word, it doesn't matter how you store them. Bulleted list, numbered list, all the same.
If you have two different (even if related) ideas in Access, they should be granted a single space for each item. Otherwise you are violating one of the normalization rules associated with databases in general.
Picture it this way:
In Access, one record is supposed to represent a SINGLE THING. The fields in the record are its attributes. If any field can be multi-valued, then the thing you are representing in that record isn't a SINGLE THING. (OK, purists, the right word is ATOMIC...)
The technically correct way to do this in Access involves a parent/child relationship between two tables where the Primary Key of the parent provides the linkage to the child Then you have one child record for each concept you originally wanted to have shared in that box that you were talking about.
The quick answer is "not very easily and certainly not very transportable."
If you have two different ideas in Word, it doesn't matter how you store them. Bulleted list, numbered list, all the same.
If you have two different (even if related) ideas in Access, they should be granted a single space for each item. Otherwise you are violating one of the normalization rules associated with databases in general.
Picture it this way:
In Access, one record is supposed to represent a SINGLE THING. The fields in the record are its attributes. If any field can be multi-valued, then the thing you are representing in that record isn't a SINGLE THING. (OK, purists, the right word is ATOMIC...)
The technically correct way to do this in Access involves a parent/child relationship between two tables where the Primary Key of the parent provides the linkage to the child Then you have one child record for each concept you originally wanted to have shared in that box that you were talking about.
A
ace36
Guest
ok, so basically, it's not possible.
what i was trying to do, was actually convert a work document (which was stored in a table form) into access and since the original table had multiple ideas separated by bullets, do the same thing in access.
but thanks for your help!
what i was trying to do, was actually convert a work document (which was stored in a table form) into access and since the original table had multiple ideas separated by bullets, do the same thing in access.
but thanks for your help!
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Hmmm.... my apologies, Ace. On re-reading my first response, I came off a bit harsh, which surely WASN'T what I wanted to do. Must have been tired when I wrote it. Here is the real problem with doing what you said...
Access doesn't store data the same way that a word processor does. And PARTICULARLY doesn't do it like Word does it.
If you examined the REAL contents of your Word table's cell, you would find that the cell contains several component objects. The text of the cell is stored separately from the formatting of the cell. In the component object model, the text is in
ActiveDocument.Table(number).Row(number).Cell(Number).Range.Text
or something like that. The formatting is in a separate property under ....Cell(Number). Formatting of the bullet marks is probably done using a Font reference to select a particular (symbol) character as the bullet. Again, kept in a separate place from the text. There is all kinds of stuff in that cell. (Let's not even BEGIN to delve into colors, borders, and things like bold, subscripting, frame margins, etc.)
In any case, the Access import code is written to assume you wanted the text. So when you retrieve cell data from a table, whether doing a direct import or a VBA import, you will only get the Range.Text portion, leaving behind the formatting, fonts, and other stuff.
Access doesn't treat fields like Word treats ranges, so the bullets and stuff essentially have no place to go even if you grabbed them using VBA. The Cell(Number) in Word is not atomic but the field in Access has to be. It is a basic difference in design concept. A field in a record is an atomic entity. A cell in a Word table is not an atomic entity. It is that simple.
So, sadly to say, you are right. You can't get there in Access. It just ain't a word processor and can't be easily made to think that it is one.
Short of doing some sort of OLE method, there is no way to do what you wanted. Sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings.
Access doesn't store data the same way that a word processor does. And PARTICULARLY doesn't do it like Word does it.
If you examined the REAL contents of your Word table's cell, you would find that the cell contains several component objects. The text of the cell is stored separately from the formatting of the cell. In the component object model, the text is in
ActiveDocument.Table(number).Row(number).Cell(Number).Range.Text
or something like that. The formatting is in a separate property under ....Cell(Number). Formatting of the bullet marks is probably done using a Font reference to select a particular (symbol) character as the bullet. Again, kept in a separate place from the text. There is all kinds of stuff in that cell. (Let's not even BEGIN to delve into colors, borders, and things like bold, subscripting, frame margins, etc.)
In any case, the Access import code is written to assume you wanted the text. So when you retrieve cell data from a table, whether doing a direct import or a VBA import, you will only get the Range.Text portion, leaving behind the formatting, fonts, and other stuff.
Access doesn't treat fields like Word treats ranges, so the bullets and stuff essentially have no place to go even if you grabbed them using VBA. The Cell(Number) in Word is not atomic but the field in Access has to be. It is a basic difference in design concept. A field in a record is an atomic entity. A cell in a Word table is not an atomic entity. It is that simple.
So, sadly to say, you are right. You can't get there in Access. It just ain't a word processor and can't be easily made to think that it is one.
Short of doing some sort of OLE method, there is no way to do what you wanted. Sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings.
