Change multiple field types simultaneously (1 Viewer)

vatechman3 · Sep 14, 2017

Hello All,
Using Access2010

I imported a spreadsheet with 200 fields to create a new table (already had the names typed out). The import made each field type "text." Question - Can I update multiple fields simultaneously to be another type?
Specifically I would like all of the fields to be combo boxes with choices of A - D. The field names are very specific, so I did not want to have to rename.

Thanks in advance

VA

Minty · Sep 14, 2017

A data type isn't a combo box. A combo box is a way of entering or displaying information on a form.

If your data has A,B,C or D in it already then text is the correct data type.

vatechman3 · Sep 14, 2017

Thanks,
I want all of the fields to default to be lookups (combo box/drop down style).

Minty · Sep 14, 2017

That's a very poor choice of things to do. Have a read here: http://access.mvps.org/access/lookupfields.htm

vatechman3 · Sep 14, 2017

Got ya, so would the best way to do it be changing it on the Form?

Minty · Sep 14, 2017

You got it. Keep tables simple - they store data that's it.
Pretties and functionality are what forms are for !

jdraw · Sep 14, 2017

It is extremely rare to see a normalized table with 200 fields in relational database.
I suggest you review normalization and some database design concepts. Then identify the possible tables your 200 fields are associated with.

More on normalization.
It would help if you told us a little about the 200 fields involved.

vatechman3 · Sep 14, 2017

Basically, we have a client that wants to do a survey. The survey contains 200 items, each item they want broken down further,
Ex. Is this item critical, if yes, when will this item take place, where, etc. (hence all of the drop downs)
So to keep all results unique we get individual scores for each item. So 200 is an understatement, its more like 1000 questions asked by the end of the day.. Access is the tool we have.

Uncle Gizmo · Sep 14, 2017

What about something like this?

Check List in MS Access
https://youtu.be/JGLfH2on09M

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Mark_ · Sep 14, 2017

vatechman3 said:
Basically, we have a client that wants to do a survey. The survey contains 200 items, each item they want broken down further,
Ex. Is this item critical, if yes, when will this item take place, where, etc. (hence all of the drop downs)
So to keep all results unique we get individual scores for each item. So 200 is an understatement, its more like 1000 questions asked by the end of the day.. Access is the tool we have.

So what you really have is a master file for "Individual", a master file for "Question", and a linking file with the unique ID for both Individual and question plus a field for "Answer".

This would let you add new questions as needed, skip storing answers for questions that don't need to be asked, and avoid a LOT of headaches when people decide to make changes.

The only tricky bit would be working out if you have conditional questions (dependent upon the answers to others) and how you want to handle them.

The_Doc_Man · Sep 15, 2017

The subject "Questionnaire" has occurred many times in this forum. Why don't you do a search on that subject? See if anything mentioned in it relates even remotely to what you are trying to do.

Galaxiom · Sep 15, 2017

vatechman3 said:
So 200 is an understatement, its more like 1000 questions asked by the end of the day.. Access is the tool we have.

Access can't handle more than 255 fields in a table or query. Even at that number there are serious limitations to manipulating data.

So you are definitely going to have to move away from the one field per question design.

Change multiple field types simultaneously (1 Viewer)

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