Hello Nancy,

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. I/we need to be challenged to rethink/justify our original design from time to time. It can be a usefull exercise. I will think through this again.

FYI there are 5 skill codes: HHA, COMP, RN, LPN. Can't remember the other. Only the codes, not the description, are kept in the record. The expire dates, registration numbers and areas in which they are valid are unique for each skill, for each employee.

For instance I my have a Companion license valid in the state of MD expiring 2/01/99 no.123456789 and another Companion valid in the state of NY with a different expire date and no. I may also have a LPN license etc. the only thing common is the description which I don't store.

Since an employee can have more than one skill I have five sets of fields in each record. The Skill codes and defination are loaded into an array for a dropdown/listbox but again only the code is stored.

I really do appreciate the time you have spent with me.

Regards,

Paige