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ComboBox.BoundColumn property (Access)

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When you make a selection from a 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. Read/write Long.

Syntax

expression.BoundColumn

expression A variable that represents a ComboBox object.

Remarks

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. 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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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, 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.

Example

The following example shows how to create a combo box that is bound to one column while displaying another. Setting the ColumnCount property to 2 specifies that the cboDept combo box will display the first two columns of the data source specified by the RowSource property. Setting the BoundColumn property to 1 specifies that the value stored in the first column will be returned when you inspect the value of the combo box.

The ColumnWidths property specifies the width of the two columns. By setting the width of the first column to 0in., the first column is not displayed in the combo box.

Private Sub cboDept_Enter()
    With cboDept
        .RowSource = "SELECT * FROM tblDepartments ORDER BY Department"
        .ColumnCount = 2
        .BoundColumn = 1
        .ColumnWidths = "0in.;1in."
    End With
End Sub

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