creating a classroom schedule

[jonobugs]

Does anyone have any idea on how to go about creating a report that lists a traditional style class schedule?

I would like the times on the X axis and the days of the week along the Y axis. Ideally, the name of the class and student list would be included.

I have all this information in a database, but right now my classes are being generated in an excel program (by hand) and I'd like to automate it somewhat since some class information is being changed on weekly basis.

 

[Trevor G]

Have a look at using a Cross Tab query or even a Pivot Table within Access.

 

[jonobugs]

Thanks. I was afraid of that. For some reason, I'm having a hard time getting my head around Cross Tabs, and Pivot tables. I need to do some studying!!

 

[Trevor G]

Take a look at this YouTube video it will help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgerpTHzQes

 

[jonobugs]

Wow, that was a quick video. I was able to make a schedule, but it's not exactly how I wanted. Is there any way to delete the headings (field names) as I don't need them since they are self explanatory. I was wondering if there was any way to design it a bit better so it's not taking up space where I don't need it so I can fit it on one page.

I was also able to make a table by using Cross tabs, but I was only able to get the class names in, and not the students' names. I'm not sure how I can add in the names as well. I tried several different things, but nothing seemed to work.

 

[Trevor G]

So you've made some progress that's good. As to getting rid of the headings, can you adjust the font to make seem as though they aren't visible.

As I am not sure exactly how you want to see the schedule could I suggest that you create it how you want, even in Excel and then upload a copy that way you will get better suggestions.

 

[jonobugs]

Thanks again for your suggestions. I don't want to have the field headers on the table because it's pretty clear that Mon-Fri are the days of the week and I don't need to be reminded that 13:30 is the time. The main reason I don't want them in is to save space because I would like the whole schedule to fit on one page.

Also, I would like to get rid of the +/- buttons (Hide and Show details) when I print out.

I am including a picture to show which areas I don't want.

I'm also including a Word file of an example of the kind of schedule that is ideal, but I know that it's probably not likely as it was done in Word.

I would rather have a schedule that is automatically generated than something that is manually created each time.

 

[Trevor G]

Take a look at this youtube video to see if this helps plus you can download files from the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRyAG7_SJxE

 

[Trevor G]

Just a thought it may well be easier to populate an excel spreadsheet form your access table and then use Excel as the platform for the Schedule.

http://www.get-digital-help.com/2010/08/05/populate-cells-dynamically-in-a-weekly-schedule-in-excel/

 

[jonobugs]

Thanks for the links. I actually took a look at that video before I wrote my question. Although it looks really intereting and something I would like to try for in the future, it doesn't suit what I want right now. That series of video was showing you how to create a dynamic calendar with a monthly view. It also only had one class per day listed, and I would have anywhere from 1 to 5 classes per day that I want to view on a weekly basis.

I'm sure that a clever programmer could figure all that out, but alas, I'm not one of those. I really only want to be able to print the schedule out on paper. Although it's not perfect, I'm satisfied with the pivot view, just not the formatting since it often runs to a page and a half.

I'll take a look at the excel option, but that looks like a lot of work to have the data moved over. I'm trying to do less work, not more ;-)

Also, I'm not really that familiar with Excel. I know how to open it and make basic things, but I'm not all that good with programming.

 

[JHB]

..
I'm sure that a clever programmer could figure all that out, but alas, I'm not one of those. I really only want to be able to print the schedule out on paper. Although it's not perfect, I'm satisfied with the pivot view, just not the formatting since it often runs to a page and a half.
..

Maybe if you post your database with some sample data, someone here could help you.

 

[Trevor G]

If you post a sample of your database I'm sure we can help you. It only needs an extract and remove/replace anything that is sensitive information. You can upload up to 2mg, so you can always zip it. State what version of Access you are using as well please.

 

[jonobugs]

Thanks again for all your posts! I will certainly look at posting my db. I just have to figure out a way to replace my data with 'dummy' data without retyping it all in. Sorry that my responses are slow. I've been super busy!

 

[jonobugs]

There is only one form in the table called frmClassAndDaySchedule which is my pivot table. I would have also liked to put in a bit more information (rank and homework) in that table, but I found it started to act strange when I tried.

Anyway, if I can't, it's not a big deal. I did manage to make the headings disappear by making the font white and really tiny, but if there is a way to just remove it from the printout, that would be preferable.

I haven't really checked out the export to Excel option yet, but if it results in a nice schedule table without too much hassle, then I would still be interested.

 

[Trevor G]

For one reason or another when I am clicking to download the attachment it states its a file called attachment.php I will investigate why this is so.

Perhaps upload it to dropbox or some other system which I can click on and download a copy.

 

[Trevor G]

Ok I managed to download it as I look at the Pivot Form you aren't using any week dates just Monday to Friday. Will there every be weekly changes? I would have thought you would use different dates at some stage!

 

[jonobugs]

Hm, that's odd. I actually don't have a copy of that file here, so I had to download it, and it seemed to work fine.

In any case, here is a link for Dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xrciqn3sxunxmw0/testcopy.accdb?dl=0

 

[jonobugs]

Oh, I didn't notice your last post.

Okay...

Um, yes, there are often changes but not always. The changes are generally which students are in each class, their homework and also their rank. However, for the most part it's mostly the same and there are no big changes until the next year.

For that reason, it never even occurred to me to do a weekly schedule for every week. I would say that I usually need a new schedule about once a month before all the little notes I make by hand get too hard to decipher. I'm not sure I would need to do dates as well, but perhaps I should. I honestly can't even imagine how I would implement that at this point.

We do note the students' birthdays, so perhaps it would be quite useful for that. I had made another query for that, but then my co-worker wanted me to create something that would notify her 3 weeks in advance. That's pretty easy, but then she wanted me to include holidays as well and that's a bit more tricky to think about. The classes are weekly, and if a holiday falls on one of the days, we wouldn't see that student for 2 weeks which means I would need to give her 4 weeks notice for those cases.

In any case, I'm quite happy with just the schedule as it is and I will work on implementing a dating system in the future should I figure out an easy and good way to do that.

On the pivot table, I HAD tried to include the ranks and homework, but it would only carry over the ID of the rank and not the text. That wasn't useful at all, so I gave up on trying to do that. I think it would be useful to also include the homework, but it's really not that important to fuss over.

Once again, I really appreciate the time you've taken to try and help me. Any and all suggestions have been (and will be) welcome!!