I'm very new to Access and my teacher is... hard to follow. So I feel like there's something pretty basic I'm probably missing here. I think the biggest problem I'm having with this question is that I'm struggling to find the words to communicate what I actually need to do, which is really putting a damper on my google-fu.
In terms of what I think I want to do, I want to make a record reference another table in its entirety.
Main
+----+-------+--------+-------+----------------------------+
| PK | Name | Phone# | [...] | Cards |
+----+-------+--------+-------+----------------------------+
| 1 | Bob | [...] | [...] | < Reference to 2nd table > |
| 2 | Harry | [...] | [...] | [...] |
| 3 | Ted | [...] | [...] | [...] |
+----+-------+--------+-------+----------------------------+
Bob's Cards
+----+-------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+
| PK | Card Name | Condition | Year | Price | [...] |
+----+-------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+
| 1 | Big Slugger | Mint | 1987 | .20 | [...] |
| 2 | Quick Pete | [...] | [...] | [...] | [...] |
| 3 | Mac Donald | [...] | [...] | [...] | [...] |
+----+-------------+-----------+-------+-------+-------+
This would necessitate an entire new table for each record in the main table though, if it's even possible.
But the only alternative solution I can think of is to add 'Card1, Condition1, [...], Card2, Condition2, [...], Card3, [...]' fields to the main table and having to add another set of fields any time someone increases the maximum number of cards stored.
So I'm sort of left believing there is some other approach I should be taking that our teacher has failed to properly explain. We haven't even touched on forms and reports yet so I don't need to worry about working them in.
Any pointers?
(Also, the entirety of this data and structure is only a rough facsimile of my own, as I'd rather learn how to do it and apply it myself than be like 'here's my data, pls fix.')
Third option successfully found in comments by the helpful Minty.
This depends on a number of things, however to keep it simple you would normally add one field to the cards table, with an number data type called CardOwnerID. In your example it would be 1 indicating Bob. This is known as a foreign key. (FK) - However if you have a table of cards and multiple possible owners then you need a third table - a Junction table. This would consist of the Main Person ID and the Card ID. – Minty