New field result from concatination

[maryannh]

This seems like a very basic task, but I am confounded. I am trying to display results in a separate field from the concatination of 15 text fields in the same table. This result will eventually display as a string on a web (intranet) page.

I got the concat to work in a query, but getting this same result in the table is eluding me. I am working in Access 2003.

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can give me.

 

[boblarson]

You do NOT want to put this in a table as you can use the query just like a table. You would be violating normalization rules by taking all of the data you already have and putting it all in one field, when you do not have to. I don't have time for more explanation, but there are plenty of posts around about why you should not be storing "calculated" fields.

 

[addy]

Bob is correct.

Two main reasons, one, you are storing redundant information and two, suppose someone manually changes a value in one of the fields you are concatenating? Because the concatenation result is saved in the table, it is now incorrect. However, if you use a query then it will always be correct as it will be calculating the concatenation in 'real time' (for want of a better phrase) and so it doesn't matter if the underlying data has changed.