ACC2000: How to View and Edit Relationships in a Microsoft Access Database

This article shows you how to view and edit relationships in a Microsoft Access database.

Viewing Existing Relationships

To view existing relationships, follow these steps:

1. Press F11 to switch to the Database window.
2. On the Tools menu, click Relationships.
3. Do one of the following.
   
   To view all the relationships defined in the database:
   
   
   • On the Relationships menu, click Show All.
   To view the relationships defined for a particular table:
   
   
   • Click the table, and then on the Relationships menu, click Show Direct.
   To view only the relationships defined for one table without viewing the relationships defined for other tables:
   
   
   • On the Edit menu click Clear Layout to remove all tables from the Relationships window (this will not delete the tables or the relationships; it just removes them from the Relationships window).
   • To add the table back, on the Relationships menu, click Show Table, double-click the table, and then click Close.
   • On the Relationships menu, click Show Direct.

Editing an Existing Relationship

To edit an existing relationship, follow these steps:

1. Close any tables that you have open. You cannot modify relationships between open tables.
2. Press F11 to switch to the Database window.
3. On the Tools menu, click Relationships.
4. If the tables whose relationship you want to edit are not displayed, click Show Table on the Relationships menu, and then double-click each table that you want to add.
5. Double-click the relationship line for the relationship that you want to edit.
6. Set the relationship options. If you need information about a specific item in the Edit Relationships dialog box, click the question mark button, and then click the item.

For additional information about defining relationships in Microsoft Access, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For additional information about viewing and editing relationships in Microsoft Access, click the "Creating and Designing Tables" topic on the Microsoft Access 2000 Help page at the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about relationships in Microsoft Access, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type work with relationships in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.