newbie form question

[raffers]

Hi all, apologies for my first post being a request for information, I've tried searching but it seems too basic a question to get results!
First, Sorry if my post is too long

Basically I'm just about to start a course at college in which I'll learn the all about access, but I'm trying to get myself a headstart by picking the basic stuff up early, it's all new to me so sorry for the total lack of knowledge.

I don't have access to my office CD so I can't check northwind example for answers as it's at my dad's house and my connection makes downloads too slow.

I'm just putting together a mock database for a music tutor to try and learn it, with tables for students, classes and so on.
I've got all the tables in place, and I've discovered the concept of normalization and tried to stick to it, but I'm really confused when it comes to making forms.
I made a form which has all the details of the students, name, date of birth etc. For this I've used student_ID as a primary key.

Now, I have a second form for financial details. On this form I have just a finance_ID as a primary key (the name means nothing) and a relationship between them.
On this second form, I wanted the ID to show, as well as the names of the students, but mine doesn't, it'll change the primary key field, but the NAMES field doesn't automatically update to match the ID.

For example, JOHN DOE' - STUDENT_ID 16
BOB SMITH - STUDENT_ID 17

now if John Doe's details show on the field, and I change the ID to 17, his name stays there when it should be BOB SMITH showing.
I guess what I'm looking to do is allow changing the ID or client name (client name is one field not forename and surname) to change all the information in the form like the form navigation buttons would do, but it doesn't seem to be doing so, can this be done in access 2000/2003 ?
I don't think it's a special feature, more a case of changing some settings to make it refresh yes?


Thanks for any advice, sorry for my long post

 

[raffers]

tw more tiny questions if I may (sorry!)

I have a section where I want to keep just ongoing notes in my database, like you would do in a word processing application. The data / info in this section would not be used for anything other than my personal notes.
Is it best to just use the "memo" field for this?

Also, I'd like to make a field / control which states when the form was last updated, and I want it to do this automatically when data changes or is entered.
Is this possible or would it have to be manually entered?

Thank you very much for your time!

 

[ajetrumpet]

Now, I have a second form for financial details. On this form I have just a finance_ID as a primary key (the name means nothing) and a relationship between them. On this second form, I wanted the ID to show, as well as the names of the students, but mine doesn't, it'll change the primary key field, but the NAMES field doesn't automatically update to match the ID. now if John Doe's details show on the field, and I change the ID to 17, his name stays there when it should be BOB SMITH showing.

When you change the ID to 17, all you're doing is editing your form. If I'm reading your post correctly, what you're wanting to do is "auto-populate". Either that, or you are wanting to simply view records. Autopopulating is a completly separate task.

I guess what I'm looking to do is allow changing the ID or client name (client name is one field not forename and surname) to change all the information in the form like the form navigation buttons would do

This sounds like you're wanting to access records of your choice on command. This is done through certain form controls or module codes.

Also, I'd like to make a field / control which states when the form was last updated, and I want it to do this automatically when data changes or is entered.
Is this possible or would it have to be manually entered?

This technique is called a "stamp". You can do this more than one way. I use a simple macro to insert functions into form controls. Reference the date and time fields of your table in your form controls. The action to use in the macro builder is "SetValue". Use the functions "Date()" and "Time()" for your expressions. You can set this macro to run on a form property event or control property event of your choice.

I also highly recommend buying a book on Access at a good book store (I go to the Barnes & Noble stores). You can get pretty much any book on Access for under $50 that will give you all the reference material you will ever need. =)