How can I make this work?

[GeekyGirl]

Here is the situation:
I have thousands of images in an on-line gallery. It is very time consuming to add the image descriptions, keywords, etc. through the gallery and I found a script that I can use to proprogate the MySQL database from a csv file.

I have been experimenting with both Excel and Access to create the data and settled on Access since I can do more with the data. But I am having problems getting the exported csv file to be set up correctly.

I have used Access for many years but have never really ventured into the vba macros side of things too much. My only experience there is to find an existing macro and copy and paste.

The Database Details
I have four fields that have multiple values to them:
keywords
searchwords
colors
instructions

Option 1
I set up multivalue combo boxes (using Access 2007 new feature) for each of the fields.

Problems

• The exported csv file only shows the numerical reference for the combo boxes and not the real values
• Values are separated by ";" when I need just a space or a comma
• Doesn't work well for the instructions since each option is a long sentence

Option 2
I thought I could use subforms for each of the fields (i.e. one for Keywords, one for colors, etc.)

Problems

• I don't know how to join the individual records of the subform into a single field in the exported file.

Option 3
I created a report using option 1 above with the data I wanted to export.

Problems

• The exported file includes formatting.
• There is still a semicolon between each value in the multivalue fields.

So, are macros needed to get this to work in any of the options? If so, which option would be the easiest for me to work with with the little experience I have with macros?

Do you have a better suggestion to set this up?

 

[Ziggy1]

sorry, I lost you...are you importing to Access? For a CSV you should create an import spcification and save it, you should be able to choose ";" semicolon as the delimiter.

 

[GeekyGirl]

sorry, I lost you...are you importing to Access? For a CSV you should create an import spcification and save it, you should be able to choose ";" semicolon as the delimiter.

Sorry, I'm a little over my head with this situation so I'm not very good at explaining the details very well.

No, I need to export the Access table into a csv file so that I can upload it to my galley on-line.

Here is an example of 1 record as it sits in the table with the colored text being the text values associated to the bound value in a multivalue combo box:
id: 1
path: 1

1=> animals/backgrounds/​

filename: APME-A-043.jpg
instructions: 1,4

1=>This set has 4 images in it.
4=>To order, enter the image name without the lower case letter at the end.​

keywords: 3,5,10

3=>animals
5=>butterfly
10=>flowers​

color: 5,7

5=>green
7=>yellow​

class: A

When I create the csv exported file, I get:
1;"1";"APME-A-043a.jpg";"1;4";"3;5;10";"5;7";"A";

What I need it to look like is:
1;"animals/backgrounds/";"APME-A-043a.jpg";"This set has 4 images in it. To order, enter the image name without the lower case letter at the end.";"animals, butterfly, flowers";"green, yellow";"A";

I hope this explains things better.

 

[GeekyGirl]

I reworked the entire database and used subforms instead of the multivalued combo boxes. Everything is working great now.

 

[Ziggy1]

ok, I see what you mean now. I haven't used that new Multi Value combo, but it sounded like you needed to adjust the "bound" column in the properties?

But at least you got it going