Choice list with a custom table

Hi;

I've set up a new custom table that has a particularly complicated Choice list requirement with categories, buildings, equipment, and details. They want dependencies between the fields so you select a category, then a building, then the piece of equipment, and in some cases an additional item of detail. I started working with the sys_choice table but it was getting to be a bit of a mess because of the overlapping buildings and the large amount of data. I then decided to build a little table with a record for each piece of equipment and just the four fields I need for the lists. Then I reset my list fields to point to this table with the Choice table field and selected the fields I want to pull in. But I see nothing when I try the drop downs. Should this work or am I missing something? Do choice lists only work with a specific "choice" table like sys_choice?

I liked the idea of maintaining this in a simple table rather than through choice list maintenance. And if I do use sys_choice, I have to give the building names slightly different names in the data field (Harney-1, Harney-2) or the dependence doesn't work properly.

Thanks, JiM