Amal Nagm

Multivalued fields in Windows SharePoint Services

When to use a multivalued field

• Store a multiple valued selection from a list of choices, and that list of choices is relatively small. You create the multivalued field in Office Access 2007 by using the Lookup Wizard in table Design view.
  
• Export an Access table to a SharePoint site so that it employs the multivalued choice or lookup fields available in Windows SharePoint Services. You create the multivalued field in Office Access 2007 by using the Lookup Wizard in table Design view. You then export the table to a SharePoint list.
  
• Move an Access database to a SharePoint site so that it employs the multivalued choice or lookup fields available in Windows SharePoint Services. You create the multivalued field in Office Access 2007 using the Lookup Wizard in Table Design view. You then click the Move to SharePoint command on the External Data tab.
  
• Link to a SharePoint list that contains a multivalued Choice or multivalued Lookup field. The Office Access 2007 multivalued field is automatically created for you and mapped to the Windows SharePoint Services field when you create the linked table.
  

How to create a multivalued field

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Open.
2. In Open dialog box, select and open the database.
3. In the Navigation Pane, double-click the table in which you want to create the lookup column to open it.
4. On the Datasheet tab, in the Fields & Columns group, click Lookup Column.
   The Lookup Wizard appears.
   
   
5. In the first dialog box of the Lookup Wizard, you must decide whether you want to base the lookup column on the values in a table or query, or on a list of values that you type in. The most common type of multivalued lookup column is one that displays values looked up from a related table or query.
   
6. complete the Lookup Wizard, .

Using the Lookup Wizard

• Create the multivalued lookup based on a table or query

  When you drag a field from the Field List pane to create a multivalued field, the first two steps in the following procedure are automatically done for you, so you begin with the third step.
  
  1. In the Lookup Wizard, click I want the lookup column to look up the values in a table or query, and then click Next.
  2. Select a table or query from the list, and then click Next.
  3. Under Available Fields, click the field that you want included in your lookup.
  4. Click the greater-than button (>) to move the field you clicked to the Selected Fields list.
  5. Repeat the preceding two steps until you have listed in the Selected Fields list all of the fields that you want included in your lookup. Then click Next.
  6. Optionally, select one to four fields on which to sort the lookup items, and then click Next. Click the Ascending button to switch from sorting the lookup items in ascending order to sorting the lookup items in descending order. Note that the name of the button switches to Descending. Click the button again to switch back. Click Next to continue.
  7. Adjust the width of the columns in your lookup field, if necessary, then click Next.
  8. Under Do you want to store multiple values for this lookup?, select the Allow Multiple Values check box.
     Note This check box must be selected to enable storing multiple values.
     
     
  9. Click Finish. When you click the Finish button, a lookup column is created whose field properties are set based on the choices you made in the Lookup Wizard.
     
  10. To save the table, click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Save.

• Create the multivalued lookup based on values you enter

  1. In the Lookup Wizard, click I will type in the values that I want, and then click Next.
  2. Enter the number of columns. Then, type each value. To move to the next column or row, press TAB.
  3. When you are finished entering values, click Next.
  4. If you specified more than one column at step 2, you must choose which column you will use to uniquely identify each value. In the Available Fields box, double-click the column that you want to use to uniquely identify each value. Note This step does not appear if you did not specify more than one column at step 2.
     
  5. In the Lookup Wizard, type the label for your lookup column.
  6. Under Do you want to store multiple values for this lookup?, select the Allow Multiple Values check box.
     Note This check box must be selected to enable storing multiple values.
     
     
  7. Click Finish. When you click the Finish button, a lookup column is created whose field properties are set based on the choices you made in the Lookup Wizard.
     
  8. To save the table, click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Save.
  After you create the multivalued field, it appears as a check box drop-down list when you view the table in Datasheet View.
  

Modify the design of a multivalued field

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Open.
2. In the Open dialog box, select and open the database.
3. On the Create tab, in the Other group, click Query Design.
   
4. In the Show Table dialog box, click the table (in this example, "Issues") that contains the multivalued field, and then click Add.
5. Click Close.
6. Drag the fields you want to use to the query grid. In this example, drag the Title field and multivalued field named "AssignedTo" to the query grid.
7. On the Design tab, in the Results group, click Run.

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Open.
2. In the Open dialog box, select and open the database.
3. On the Create tab, in the Other group, click Query Design.
   
4. In the Show Table dialog box, click the table (in this example, "Issues") that contains the multivalued field, and then click Add.
5. Click Close.
6. Drag the fields you want to use (in this example, the multivalued field named "AssignedTo.Value") to the query grid.
7. On the Design tab, in the Results group, click Run.