Form Recommendations for a Novice (1 Viewer)

freddawson · Jan 5, 2012

I apologize in advance for mangling terms and confusing phrases. I am new to Access, and have had a relatively large scale database redesign project dropped in my lap.

We currently have an Access database that lists our roughly 3500 sales contacts. We already have a pretty nice form for all of their contact info, etc. I have already added a search form that allows the user to click a "Search" button, and have a dialogue come up. The user can then choose a Field to search, enter their string, and either click or Search, or search another field (I currently have 3 possible). The search form then closes and displays the filtered results in the main form.

What we would like to be able to do is have a streamlined method of labeling and searching for the products and services that each customer offers. I have a list of about 20 possible products/services, and most companies will offer more than one from the list.

I have looked at list boxes, radio buttons, etc. and would like a more informed opinion about what would be the best method. Also, I would like to make it an option in my Search form.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

vbaInet · Jan 6, 2012

fredd,

Can you elaborate on this -->

freddawson said:
What we would like to be able to do is have a streamlined method of labeling and searching for the products and services that each customer offers.

freddawson · Jan 6, 2012

Thanks for the response. The database that is in place is pretty standard contact info for each company: Name, Title, Address, Email, etc.

The products and services we want to identify are a very simplet list. They don't exist in any form in the database yet. This is something we want to add to the current structure.

We are a company that sells used steel mill equipment, and we want to identify the different products our contacts manufacture, so we can know what types of offers to send them.

For instance, the first 5 items on the products list are:
bar
beam
billet
bloom
cold coil

It would be very possible for one manufacturer to make several of those. We are looking to identify what products, and then be able to have it be a searchable field somehow.

vbaInet · Jan 6, 2012

This sounds very much like a database normalization problem and you're asking this question in the wrong section of the forum.

Do you have tables for Products, Services... etc?

freddawson · Jan 6, 2012

We are basically pulling all of the info from one very robust table. It looks like the person who initially designed this was, like me, more familiar with Excel then Access.

There is one large table called Customers, and within that table are columns with the headings you'd expect for Conatct Info: FirstName, LastName, Company, Address, etc. We do have some simplet Yes/No checkboxes as well, like if they are supposed to get emails or snail mail or whatever.

I don't feel like it was designed to do much computation, just to be a more visual display of the spreadsheet data, just one record at a time.

vbaInet · Jan 6, 2012

It is your Products and Services table that help you identify what items relate to which Contact.

You need someone to go through your table designs and relationships with you. Ask this question in the Tables section of the forum.

But in the meantime, read up on normalization:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/100139
http://databases.about.com/od/specificproducts/a/normalization.htm
http://www.deeptraining.com/litwin/dbdesign/FundamentalsOfRelationalDatabaseDesign.aspx

freddawson · Jan 6, 2012

Thanks for the help. I am currently posting this same issue on multiple forum sites, and I have gotten similar answers on several.

Truth be told, the current structure is 90% where we want it to be, and I just don't know that I have the time or skillset to redesign it from the ground up, just to essentially add one field.

Again I appreciate your time.

vbaInet · Jan 6, 2012

To be honest fred, cross posting is frowned upon. If you're getting similar responses from other experts then you would imagine that there must be "some" validity in what we're advising.

This is why we have forums like this. We're here to help when you need it. Your structure still needs to be explained for more advise and this needs to be done in the right section of the forum. It's not a Forms issue.

freddawson · Jan 6, 2012

No, I'm sorry. I did not mean to seem that way. I am not saying I disagree with what anyone is telling me. I understand that this in the wrong category; I didn't understand where my issue was when I initially posted.

My point is that until I apparently understand the process a whole heck of a lot better than I currently do, this seems like an operation in futility. I suppose I underestimated the headache of adding this one field.

vbaInet · Jan 6, 2012

You're making the problem seem bigger than it actually is. I've mentioned a few times already that before anyone can help:

1. You need to explain the structures of your tables and how they relate.
2. Post the question in the Tables section of the forum.

That way you will get more constructive help.

freddawson · Jan 6, 2012

I have resubmitted in the Tables forum. Thanks again.

vbaInet · Jan 6, 2012

No problemo! Once you have that straightened out in the Tables section, if you have a forms related question pertaining to this problem, just drop us a quick message on here.

Form Recommendations for a Novice (1 Viewer)

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