Evils of lookup fields?

[jon98548]

I have been in the habit of using lookup fields liberally, but have noticed the you more advanced folks don't. I was just reading on another site about the 'evils' of lookup fields.

Why is it better to enter these as a value list from your main table? Say is I start with a list of 5 topics and later need to add 5 more, this can't be achieved with a data entry form, can it?

I'm starting on a new db this week and am trying to evolve. Thanks for any info.

 

[jeremie_ingram]

I have found no real problems working with lookup fields, as long as they are based off of tables. Once you enter the values yourself, it is very time consuming to go and change them later. When they are based off of tables, you can easily add and detract from the listing. In the past I have been asked to create "user friendy" databases and found that the fewer opportunities you give the user to create an error (misspelling being #1) the better off you are.

 

[jon98548]

I haven't had any problems with it either. And like you say you can easily change information. Thanks J, I was just wondering if it was that big a no-no. I don't think the more experienced kids on here use them that much. We're at least a crowd of two.