Make Items in a Drop Down List on a Form Inactive

[MissDB101]

Hi,

I have a drop down list on a form in Access 2010. I have two entries that are no longer relevant on that list however I cannot delete them from the table as there is historical data in the database that links to these items. So I either want to make them invisible (if this is possible) or make it so that users cannot select them anymore from the drop down e.g. when they try to select them they get a message saying "You cannot select this option". Help please! Am not a frequent Access user!

Thanks

 

[jackd]

One of my colleagues has this in his signature.

Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Asking for help isn't giving up. Its refusing to give up.

Hang in - post more screen shots; try a video as suggested; try this search for youtube ms access how to backup database
Try to get a backup and a copy of your database(FE and BE).
Always work with a copy of your code/database --too many "OOoops, I didn't think it would hurt anything".

Tell us more about your role - how you got "volunteered for this database custodianship" etc.

 

[MissDB101]

One of my colleagues has this in his signature.



Hang in - post more screen shots; try a video as suggested; try this search for youtube ms access how to backup database
Try to get a backup and a copy of your database(FE and BE).
Always work with a copy of your code/database --too many "OOoops, I didn't think it would hurt anything".

Tell us more about your role - how you got "volunteered for this database custodianship" etc.

Thank you I appreciate your support. I have contacted the main user and asked if we can come to a compromise The two options that we want to hide are being replaced by one of the other options in the drop down list so I have asked if it's ok if I hide the 2 old options and then populate all the old records with the new option. I initially thought that the old records needed to be kept for audit purposes but it looks as though it may not be necessary to keep them as per the old items. The only thing I will have to do with this option is update all the old records with the new option. Sigh.

A colleague created the database. She was always the team database wizz. Stupid really as she was a sole dependency which is never good and the IT department at our place made it clear they would not support any locally created systems. However, as we all know, in order to do our jobs in an efficient way we often need systems like this and so our hands are often forced. Anyway she left and we continued using the database because it really does help us do our jobs but it's a risk obviously. I have done a couple of updates in the past because no one else in the team has ANY idea about Access but they were fairly easy updates so I guess I got away with it and thereafter it's essentially fallen to me because there is no one else. I hate not really knowing fully what Im doing but even looking online at Access issues etc doesn't help you understand someone else's database, especially when they are complex. Quite often you have to know the terminology to do a search in Google but how can you know that if you have no idea what you are looking for. Hence why I came here. I've only every done day courses and then never had to create anything so what I've learned has never been put into practice.

 

[Micron]

So are you saying you're so unsure of what you're doing that you cannot see yourself copying the front end and then importing (not linking) whatever tables are needed to fix this and then uploading just that? I agree that anyone can mess up data by copying a front and back end to some other folder and then start deleting table records only to find out you're deleting from the production db because you forgot to change the links. Ask me how I know. But you're no longer being asked to do that. The suggestion is to create a stand alone version without deleting anything. Anyone who uploads that cannot see anything in the linked tables that remain - it will only error out if they try.

If you go the data modification route, I suggest you archive the current back end by giving it a new name, then modify the data in a new copy using the old name. If you have an audit or other issue, you would have the option to restore and go back to where you are. That assumes that having copies of audited records won't be an issue.

 

[jackd]

Good stuff.
One of the things considered critical with database is having a good, recent backup(s).
I'm going to suggest the youtube videos by Kirt Kershaw on MS Access Backup.
You'll need backups for FE and BE especially if you are making changes.

There are good free courses by Richard Rost (aka 599CD) and Steve Bishop.
I have a list of related articles and links here.

You are correct in that there is a whole jargon and terminology surrounding database and Access.
One step at a time.

 

[MissDB101]

Good stuff.
One of the things considered critical with database is having a good, recent backup(s).
I'm going to suggest the youtube videos by Kirt Kershaw on MS Access Backup.
You'll need backups for FE and BE especially if you are making changes.

There are good free courses by Richard Rost (aka 599CD) and Steve Bishop.
I have a list of related articles and links here.

You are correct in that there is a whole jargon and terminology surrounding database and Access.
One step at a time.

Thank you very much. I will look into those ASAP.

In the meantime the solution I have adopted is I have hidden the old values in the back end table using a column with tick boxes. The combo box in the front end then has a ROW SOURCE referencing that table which only shows were the tick box is TRUE. All the old records in the database that used the two old values have been updated to one of the existing ones (which replaced the two old ones). It was not important to keep these old values on previous records so this made the task a lot easier!

Thank you for everyone's help!