Am I trying to much for my first attempt at access

[gupster]

Never used acces before apart from static tables and forms.

here is a basic run down of the tricky bits i want to make.

One form that holds customer names & addresses ect. "I can do this fine."

One form that shows a certificate that has a drop down list where i can select the customer from the customers database.

Also when the customer is selected there contract number is shown on the certificate.

A drop down list on the certificate that i can select my name and then it will show an image of my signature.

These are the couple of items i need to sort out to get my database going.

Am i trying too much?? Or can these be quite eaisly done.

thanks

 

[duluter]

If I understand correctly, you have customers to whom you are issuing certificates of some kind?

I'm thinking that you would use a form to collect the info you need, such as the customer name and whether or not you want your signature to appear on the certificate. On that form, you would have a command button that launches the Certificate report, which holds the actual certificate layout, with placeholders for the information gathered from the form. We could go into more detail, but first, am I interpreting your post correctly?


Duluter

 

[gupster]

The way my database will eventually work is the main customer database will be the core of the system as the customer records will be used on every other part.

Final system will be something like this.

Customer Database

--Installations Database

--Maintenance Contracts Database

-- Maintenance Certificate Database

-- Installation Certificate Database

for now i will just be making the maintenance & installation certificate section.

Breif example...

Customer Form

Customer Name

Street

Town

---------------------------

Certificate Form

Customer Name (drop down box of my customers name)

Customer Address (will automatically fill in customers address from selected customer above)

Maintenance Date (I will fill this in on this form)

Comments (I will fill this in on this form)

Name (Drop Down Box Of Staff Names)

Signature (Signature image off staff will appear)

Hope this helps,

Thanks

 

[malcolm.reed]

I don't think you're attempting too much. For what it's worth, I'd say that I find Access much more challenging than the other Office programs; when something doesn't work the way you want, it can be much harder to figure out why. But there's loads of good examples and templates around, and friendly forums like this one. Persevere - it's worth it in the end.

 

[gupster]

I am just assuming access should be slightly eaiser than building a web based system mainly because access has a visual form builder and i dont have to code the layout.

If i built and designed all the tables and forms would i be able to get the links and codeing i need done at a resonable cost?

 

[duluter]

On your certificate form, are you actually saving the certificate data to a table, or are you just creating a certificate that will be printed?


Duluter

 

[gupster]

saving it to a table, thanks

 

[malcolm.reed]

If you can put together a decent spec for what you need, it may be worth looking at rentacoder.com. I have used the site on a number of projects and generally had good results.

 

[gupster]

I did think about rentacoder as i dont really have the time to learn a whole new system. I suppose if i did most of the work making all the tables and forms it shouldnt be too much to make the links i need between the tables \ forms.

Also in the future is there an easy way to make access to the system via the internet or would just the raw data be used only and not any programming in access

Thanks

 

[malcolm.reed]

I can only tell you the way I've done some projects like this in the past, there may be other ways that others can tell you - but - it's best to get the database & forms working "locally" first before thinking about hosting on the Intranet. But the Access db file itself can be moved to a suitable web host later, with IIS based hosting, and you can use ASP or ASP.net pages to recreate your previous forms. If you've solved the first phase, either yourself, with forum help, or from RAC, then the second phase (moving to the web) will be much easier to subcontract because you've got a working model, and you're asking someone to recreate your forms and reports in a different way.

Malcolm