Forum Discussion

BarryDolan's avatar
BarryDolan
Qrew Cadet
3 years ago

Record picker functionality

I'm searching for a way to use a record picker field without a related table. I want to add a record and as I can enter part of the data the matches are listed in the dropdown, otherwise, I have the option to add the record. I can only find ways to use this function from child table.

I'm sure this is easy to do and I'm just not seeing it. But I would be eternally grateful if someone could say, "it's right there in front of your face!"



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Barry Dolan
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  • BlakeHarrison's avatar
    BlakeHarrison
    Qrew Captain
    3 years ago

    Do you mean that you'd like the user to enter a value into a field (Name, for example) and as they're typing, it would search for matches in that field on the same table? Essentially making sure no duplicates are entered on the same table? If so, you can change the "Unique" flag in the field properties, which will limit the ability of users to create duplicate records. It won't, however, allow for a real-time search-as-you-type drop-down. Those would only be available when you're typing in a reference field, as in the child table setup you mentioned.



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    Blake Harrison
    bharrison@datablender.io
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    • BarryDolan's avatar
      BarryDolan
      Qrew Cadet
      3 years ago

      That's what I have been seeing. We use this in a child table and it works perfectly, obviously a standard function. But I can't change the primary key on the parent table because of other info I need to see; i.e. same name with a different address, or the same address with a different name. It's just nice to see a list first and if there aren't any matches the user can add a new record. But apparently, it can't be done from within the parent table.

      It's weird, because back in the dark ages when I built and managed Access databases there was functionality to use a look-up field in the same table, so when a value is selected from the list it populates all the fields on the form. Ah, the good ole days. 

      Thank you for your input.



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      Barry Dolan
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      • MarkShnier__You's avatar
        MarkShnier__You
        Icon for Qrew Legend rankQrew Legend
        3 years ago

        You can try using a Formula Query, it works even if you have not saved the record.



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        Mark Shnier (Your Quickbase Coach)
        mark.shnier@gmail.com
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