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ChrisNewsome's avatar
ChrisNewsome
Qrew Captain
7 years ago

Drop Down choices from another table?

We are a manufacturer, and we're looking to track the materials used per job. We build custom closets, so each job could potentially have multiple rooms, each with a different material. I have created a table called "Layout" that we use to track the job as it passes through our engineering dept, and another table called "Materials" that would be used (it's new) to keep up with the different colors of board that we sell.

(I thought of this method instead of a list because I'd like to be able to update the materials through the years, i.e., if we change suppliers, etc., and potentially I might use this table in other relationships later on. If there's a better way, I'm open to it)

So my desire would be to create some drop-down options, so that the engineer could enter a room name, and choose a material from my table in a drop-down list. I currently have a relationship of one layout to many materials created. I can't seem to figure out how to pull in the list of materials by name into a drop down on my new layout form.
  • It sounds like you are on the right track.  There is always a decision to be made between using a Text - Multiple choice field or just creating a table.  I personally lean toward creating a new table.  I only use Text - Multiple Choice fields for options that will never need to be modified (e.g. "Yes/No", "Male/Female", etc.)

    As for getting the material to show up as a dropdown list in your Layouts table, you just need to reverse the direction of your relationship.  It is possible for one material to be selected in many different layouts.