If you select part of the text in the text box portion of a combo box
and click Filter By Selection on the toolbar, no records are returned.
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The combo box is filled with a value list and the bound column is not the
first displayed column in the list. When you select just part of the
text in the text box portion of a combo box, Microsoft Access cannot match
the selected text in the displayed column with the data from the bound
column that is actually stored in the underlying table's field.
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To work around this behavior, display the bound column as the first visible
column in the combo box list, or fill the combo box with values from a
table or query.
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Steps to Reproduce Behavior
CAUTION: If you follow the steps in this example, you modify the sample database Northwind.mdb. You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb file and follow these steps on a copy of the database.
- Open the sample database Northwind.mdb and add the following new field to the Employees table:
Field Name: Gender
Data Type : Text
Field Size: 1
Display Control: combo box
RowSourceType: Value List
RowSource: Male;M;Female;F
BoundColumn: 2
ColumnCount: 2
ColumnWidths: ;0
ListRows: 2
- Save the changes and view the Employees table in Datasheet view.
- Select Male or Female for the new Gender field for each Employee record.
- In a record with Female selected as the gender, select the letters
"m-a-l-e" in the text box portion of the combo box control and click the
Filter By Selection toolbar button. Note that no records are returned.
NOTE: If you click the Advanced Filter/Sort command (on the Records menu, point to Filter), you see that the criteria on the Gender field is
Like "*male"
which does NOT match the M or F stored in the field.
- Click the Remove Filter toolbar button.
- In a record with Male selected as the gender, select the letters "m-a-l-e" in the text box portion of the combo box control and click the Filter By Selection toolbar button. Note that records with gender "Male" are returned.
The reason is that because you selected the entire textual contents
of the text box portion of the combo box control, Microsoft Access can
use the bound column value for the criteria for the field.
NOTE: If you click the Advanced Filter/Sort command (on the Records menu, point to Filter), you see that the criteria on the Gender field is "M".
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