Tabbed Form vs. subform table lookup

Good Morning everyone,

Just some quick clarifying questions r/t the differences between tabs and subforms.

We have a form that is pretty similar to a typical address book contact form. Most of the information on the form [frmPerson] is pulled from a cooresponding table [tblPerson]. However, some of the information for text boxes needs to be pulled from other tables [tblProfessional], [tblAgencyContacts], etc. and is dependent on the type of contact [tblDisciplineID].

We initially set up the form to use tabs to represent the different types of contacts. We are currently working within the tab Professional that uses a list box to allow the user to select the agency they want to lookup for there current contact. For example if I work for Company ABC and Company XYZ they both show up in the list box. The user then selects Company ABC, and the corresponding text boxes for that person and company should populate. The problem that we are seeing is that, it doesn't appear there is an easy way to associate the text boxes that are to be populated with a table different than the one the [frmPeron] is associated with [tblPerson]. So here are the questions...

1. Can tabs be used (easily) to lookup the information in a different table (i.e. [tblProfessional]) and populate text fields? I realize we could use combo boxes, but this seems like messy programming.

2. Should we use subforms instead of tabs? Obviously, subform will link directly to a different table. My only initial consideration here is trying to minimize the number of forms we have. I assume we could get the subform to change using a case statement that is dependendent on the [DisciplineID].

Many Thanks!

If I understand this correctly you have a main search and then several tabs for each type the client might be. The primary selection is the user. Say Mr. Smith so I would:

Have a search box - user types in "Mr Smith"

On the right a data grid displays (a flexigrid populated on the fly is my favorite) with basic company details. Click on the company you want to either have a pop up into a separate form or a form that pops up with a visible code. I am a big fan of having data driven code. So I would have a backend that had the field names that are in the form you are calling from and where it should go to I.E.

Company = Company
Organisation = Company

etc..

I hope that makes sense as it's late and I'm off to bed!