Combo box to list tables?

[fredalina]

Is it possible to have a form list the tables that are in the database and allow a user to select the correct one?

I'm creating a database to take a 6-month demand history for many parts by customer, and compare it to each customer's previous demand forecast. Each customer does a 12-month demand forecast each month, and we want to compare the forecast with the history on a rolling basis to determine accuracy of the forecasts.

I'm very open to ideas, but at this point I'm thinking if the user can select a previous forecast from the tables, I can use the value of that combo box (the table name) in an SQL...? I just have no idea how to set that up so the user can look at the tables and determine the right one to compare.

Thanks!

 

[HiTechCoach]

It is possible to list the table names in a combo box. Are you adding a table for each period?

Why is each period in a separate table? Normally all the data should be in the same table. If you will have all the data in a single table, all you would need is the selection criteria for the period, not the table name.

 

[fredalina]

Here's the scenario:

Each month, each customer gives a forecast for 6 months. Each month, our IS department generates a report that shows how many of each item the customer actually ordered for the past 12 months.

The purpose of the database is twofold:

First it will compare the forecast with the previous 12 months to identify where a customer is forecasting far different values than the past 12 months. Kind of a sanity check.

Second, when the forecast's 6 month period has rolled and we have actual demand for those months, it will compare the previous 6 months of actual demand with what the customer forecasted for that 6 month period.

We will be getting different forecasts from each customer each month. We will be getting a demand report (for all customers combined) from our IS department each month. The user (probably me actually) will need to select action 1 or 2, and the tables to compare to one another. Rather than build queries by hand each month, which is certainly possible, I'd like to set it up by changing SQL so I don't have to.

Like I said, I'm very open to options, but I don't see how to make 1 table (or even 2) work. Thanks!

 

[HiTechCoach]

... but I don't see how to make 1 table (or even 2) work.

I have the opposite view. I only see it working is you have one or maybe two tables.

If you are constantly adding new tables, I do not see how that will ever work without a whole lot of extra work.

When you import the data, I would input the data into the same table. You would have an additional field the would identify the period. This field's data is probably what you would used as the table name for each period's data.