Auto Enter County, State & Zip after entering City

Scottgem [MVP] wrote in

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m:

Actually its just the opposite. A relational database makes data

entry EASIER because you don't have to enter redundant info. Yes

you enter the zip code in your main data table. And that's all you

enter. To see the County State, Town you do a join to your zip

code table. If you look at the blog I mentioned it may help you

understand this better.

I'm going to call foul here on this one because I've never once

implemented a data structure that assumes that a zip code can be

used to populate the city and state fields. For one, you may not

have the zip code. Secondly, a single zip code can cover multiple

cities (though never multiple states).

To me, implementing it the way you suggest would be

overnormalization and I've never seen an application implemented

that way.

I'm surprised so many people are even beginning to suggest this!

David W. Fenton                  http://www.dfenton.com/ contact via website only     http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

HansV MVP wrote in

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m:

There can be multiple zip codes for a city, so you can't

automatically fill in the zip code once a city has been entered or

selected.

But you also can't go the other way, as a single zip code can cover

multiple cities/municipalities.

This is a case where I don't really think there's a practical way to

normalize the structure the way everybody is suggesting. I always

store city/state/zip because these are not attributes that are 100%

dependent on each other. In an ideal world they would be, but in

reality, they are not.

David W. Fenton                  http://www.dfenton.com/ contact via website only     http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

I'm going to have to correct you here and inform you that Zip Codes do not cross city boundaries.  Check with the postal service or refine your research on this one.

Furthermore, this demonstration was not intended to imply that the OP should build his system to my specification.  This is merely to present an example of normalization.

I'm going to have to correct you here and inform you that Zip Codes do not cross city boundaries.  Check with the postal service or refine your research on this one.

 

Umm, yes it can.  I gave you a specific answer.  Seatac, Washington and Tukwila, Washington share the 98188 zip code.  So you have two incorporated cities which use the same zip code.  How do I know that?  Because I used to live in both.  And if YOU will do the research - look for McDonald's Restaurant at

15210 PACIFIC HWY W

TUKWILA  WA  98188

and 7-11 in Seatac

3120 SOUTH 176TH ST

SEATAC,WA 98188

Bob Larson, Former Access MVP (2008-2010) http://www.btabdevelopment.com (free Access tools, tutorials, and samples)

Bob, what can I say I guess you have me over a barrel.  I've done extensive research in this area and though I'm still no expert, Zip Codes are not commonly found to cross city boundaries.  SEATAC became a city in 1989 and that might explain why there is some ambiguity there.  I really don't have an answer.  The Zip Code alone when referenced is a Seattle locale.