Microsoft KB Archive/209653

= ACC2000: Concatenating Fields in a Text Box to Remove Blank Lines =

Article ID: 209653

Article Last Modified on 12/12/2002

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q209653



Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

This article applies to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb) and to a Microsoft Access project (.adp).

For a Microsoft Access 2002 version of this article, see 287685.



SUMMARY
This article describes how to concatenate multiple fields for use in a form or report. This is especially useful in a mailing label report when some fields are Null or empty. Null fields can cause blank lines to be printed on a report. Additionally, from a form, you may want to be able to copy and paste an entire name and address into another application, such as Microsoft Word for Windows.



MORE INFORMATION
By using the IIf and IsNull functions, you can determine if a field is blank. If a field is blank, it returns an "empty" value. Chr(13) and Chr(10) are used to add a return and a line feed character to the text box.

Follow these steps to create a concatenated field that eliminates blank lines. This example uses a form, but the same steps also apply to reports.  Open the sample database Northwind.mdb. Create a new form based on the Employees table, and open it in Design view.  Add a text box control to the detail section of the form and set the following properties.   Text Box ---  ControlName: Full Address ControlSource: =IIf(IsNull([FirstName]),"",[FirstName] & " ") & _ IIf(IsNull([LastName]),"",[LastName]& Chr(13)& Chr(10)) & _ IIf(IsNull([ADDRESS]),"",[ADDRESS] & Chr(13) & Chr(10)) & _ IIf(IsNull([CITY]),"",[CITY] & ", ") & _ IIf(IsNull([REGION]) ,"",[REGION] & " ") & _ IIf(IsNull([PostalCode]),"",[PostalCode]) Can Grow:  Yes Can Shrink: Yes  Open the form in Form view. Note that there are no blank lines, even if some of the fields in the Employees table are blank.

