BoundColumn Property

Applies To

Combo Box control, List Box control, Table field.

Description

When you make a selection from a list box or combo box, the BoundColumn property tells Microsoft Access which column's values to use as the value of the control. If the control is bound to a field, the value in the column specified by the BoundColumn property is stored in the field named in the ControlSource property.

Setting

The BoundColumn property uses the following settings.

Setting	Description

0	The ListIndex property value, rather than the column value, is stored in the current record. The ListIndex property value of the first row is 0, the second row is 1, and so on. Microsoft Access sets the ListIndex property when an item is selected from a list box or the list box portion of a combo box. Setting the BoundColumn property to 0 and using the ListIndex property value of the control might be useful if, for example, you are only interested in storing a sequence of numbers.
1 or greater	(Default is 1) The value in the specified column becomes the control's value. If the control is bound to a field, then this setting is stored in that field in the current record. The BoundColumn property can't be set to a value larger than the setting of the ColumnCount property.

You can set the BoundColumn property by using the control's property sheet, a macro, or Visual Basic.

For table fields, you can set this property on the Lookup tab in the Field Properties section of table Design view for fields with the DisplayControl property set to Combo Box or List Box.

Tip Microsoft Access sets the BoundColumn property automatically when you select Lookup Wizard as the data type for a field in table Design view.

In Visual Basic, set the BoundColumn property by using a number or a numeric expression equal to a value from 0 to the setting of the ColumnCount property.

Remarks

The leftmost visible column in a combo box (the leftmost column whose setting in the combo box's ColumnWidths property is not 0) contains the data that appears in the text box part of the combo box in Form view or in a report. The BoundColumn property determines which column's value in the text box or combo box list will be stored when you make a selection. This allows you to display different data than you store as the value of the control.

Note If the bound column is not the same as the leftmost visible column in the control (or if you set the BoundColumn property to 0), the LimitToList property is set to Yes.

Microsoft Access uses zero-based numbers to refer to columns in the Column property. That is, the first column is referenced by using the expression Column(0); the second column is referenced by using the expression Column(1); and so on. However, the BoundColumn property uses 1-based numbers to refer to the columns. This means that if the BoundColumn property is set to 1, you could access the value stored in that column by using the expression Column(0).

If the AutoExpand property is set to Yes, Microsoft Access automatically fills in a value in the text box portion of the combo box that matches a value in the combo box list as you type.