Welcome to the forum. Please forgive me if I fail fully to understand the problem or offer answers to the wrong question. Many thanks for warning that you are new to the forum, but does that apply also to Base and/or to the Relational Database?
If new only to Base, be aware that it is less developed than MS Access in that the List box in Base is a form control limited to entering or updating data: it is however wholly applicable to entering in one table data selected from another - particularly, where there is a one-to-many relationship between between the target table and the source table. Thus where
What I am trying to do is copy the selected name from the listbox into the loaned to cell against the asset selected. So basically copy a name from contacts to asset.
macros are not required and best avoided in Base: a good exposition and suitable solutions can be found at
viewtopic.php?f=100&t=40444.
On the other hand if you are new to Relational Databases, any answer will depend on an understanding of its underlying design principles. For example, is the potential relationship between your
accounts and
contacts tables 'one-to-many', 'many-to-one', 'one-to-one' or 'many-to-many'? Before embarking on preparing forms for entering or updating data, sound design is essential for the database and for the references between tables. There are various tutorials and textbooks on the subject, but a useful introductory tutorial specifically related to Base can be downloaded from
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ima ... torial.pdf. It may run to almost 200 pages but unlikely to be more than the subject requires.
Please come back if this reply merely confuses or if you have other questions, and if you are new to Base and/or the relational database please do not be discouraged - both are fascinating if at times frustrating challenges.
When this issue has been resolved, it would help other users of the forum if you add the word - [Solved] - to the Subject line of your 1st post (edit button top right).
AOOo 4.1.5 & LO 6 on MS Windows 10 MySQL and HSQLDB