form that searches query with 30+ linked xls files

[jrhessey]

I've been looking around and have found some posts that pointed me in the right direction, I just can't get it to work. What I have is 37 excel files of competitor cross references. There are 2 columns in each excel file, our number and their number. I have inserted them as a linked table in the db. What I want to do is create a form that has a field for every part number and make all of those fields a search field. That way they can type in any number and get all numbers back. I have created a query but once I get past 4 linked excel sheets then I get errors about a type mismatch in expression. Also I can't get the form fields referencing the query to show up when I open it. If I leave the query at 2 or 3 fields and use [Forms]![CrossRef]![txtItemNumber] in the criteria of our number in the query, it works. I get a window that pops up when I just open the query asking for a number, I type it in and the query returns the number and competitor numbers. Am I doing this the hard way?? Thanks for any ideas...

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

I would have thought you would be better off importing the data into MS Access and appending it all into one table and working on it there.