scott.foss (11/20/2014)

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I am new to sql server so I appreciate all help i can get in this matter.

what I want in a successful report by linking three databases:

DB1.id, DB1.data2, DB1.data3, DB2.data2, DB2.data3, [blankfield if null from DB3]

DB1.id, DB1.data2, DB1.data3, DB2.data2, DB2.data3, DB3.custodian

Me trying to explain my problem:

I deal with a check-in-check-out system that utilizes sql server, and my system uses a multitude of databases to pull its data from or alter it as used. I am trying to create a report that will pull data from 2 databases ("DB1" & "DB2") all the time, and from a third database ("DB3") if the item is checked out but if it is not checked out then that part of the report would appear blank. I have DB1 and DB2 talking correctly, but I cannot figure out how to get the report to work like I want when I link DB3.

Right now I have DB1 and DB2 linked thru a common category of "id" (the ID of the item being checked out), so:

DB1.id = DB2.id

which allows me to show the report with the following 5 following categories where the DB2 info is correctly displayed along with the DB1 info for the particular ID:

DB1.id, DB1.data2, DB1.data3, DB2.data2, DB2.data3, [blankfield/null from DB3]

When the particular ID is NOT checked out from my system, the above info is what I want displayed.

However, if the item IS checked out, the change is recorded in DB3, meaning I believe that DB3 would need to be linked to DB1 or DB2. All three DB's have a common "**.id" category so i tried linking that:

db1.id = db2.id and db1.id = db3.id

but when I do this my report only shows report data for IDs that are currently checked out, where I desire the report data for items regardless of their checkout status.

I hope my explanataion makes sense. thank you for your help with this challenge!