Comparing row based on contents to another tables rows in Access SQL

Question

Hi I'm working on a project and for time constraint reasons I need to keep working in Access which may be the root of all my problems but maybe there's hope.

I have a database that includes a table ANSWERS filled with input for users "wants" there are multiple columns which each correspond to an answer to a different question asking if they, Don't Care, Want, or Need something.

EG: Answers:

    Bacon  |  Ham   |  Sausage
  ________________________________
1     0        0          2
2     2        1          0
3     0        2          0
4     1        1          1

(0 = Don't Care, 1 = Want, 2 = Need)

I want to compare a row from table Answers to the Available table.

EG: Available:

    Bacon  | Ham    |  Sausage
   ________________________________
1    0        1           0
2    0        0           0
3    1        1           1
4    1        1           0

(0 = Unavailable, 1 = Available)

So I would want to compare row 1 from Answers to Available so because row 1 includes sausage=2 then I would want to receive row 3 from Available because sausage=1.

I'd be happy receiving the entire row, or the row ID and a "1" for the rows being a match.

Ultimately I'd need to do this for all each of the rows in Answers.

Any ideas are appreciated, I was thinking using Intersect might work but since that doesn't work in access. I've also considered joining the tables, I could also change data variables or formats if necessary.

Thanks very much

Edit: Don't Care was previously Don't Want. Changed for clarity.

Answer 1

Give this a try: SELECT tblAnswers.UserID, IIf([tblAnswers].[bacon]>0 And [tblMenus].[Bacon]<>0,[MenuID],Null) AS BaconMenu, IIf([tblAnswers].[Ham]>0 And [tblMenus].[Ham]<>0,[MenuID],Null) AS HamMenu, IIf([tblAnswers].[Sausage]>0 And [tblMenus].[Sausage]<>0,[MenuID],Null) AS SausageMenu FROM tblAnswers, tblMenus WHERE (((IIf([tblAnswers].[bacon]>0 And [tblMenus].[Bacon]<>0,[MenuID],Null)) Is Not Null)) OR (((IIf([tblAnswers].[Ham]>0 And [tblMenus].[Ham]<>0,[MenuID],Null)) Is Not Null)) OR (((IIf([tblAnswers].[Sausage]>0 And [tblMenus].[Sausage]<>0,[MenuID],Null)) Is Not Null));

Just paste that into a SQL view make Query window (After changing the table and column names to match yours) You will obviously need to tweak it as reality needs, but it does what you asked for with the data provided.