Exporting Forms

[Funkbuqet]

I want to create a complex for (not just text boxes) with combo boxes and the like that I can export to excel or a e-mail and have field teams fill out and send back. When I try to export to excel it just copys the data and no combo boxes or formating. And in an e-mail it seems all you can do is simple text entry. I would prefer not to have to give feild teams access to modify the database. If possible, I would like them to have a form that they fill out in the field and sent it to me. where I can vet the information and if it is all good then import it directly into the database. Does anyone know what the best way to implement something like that would be?

Right now the form I have drawn up has a number of combo boxes, runs some VB code, and uses multiple queries and tables. Does this make it impossible to export? BTW I am using Access 2007. Thank you.

 

[boblarson]

Access 2007 has the ability to create user forms for email and return with data automatically imported or updated in the database (ONLY if you are using Outlook 2007 or above). Are you using Outlook 2007 or above?

 

[Funkbuqet]

Yes, but as far as I can tell, there is no way to include combo boxes, or modify the layout of an email form. They seem to only be able to be created from a table and not a form. Is there a way to export a form to e-mail or excel so that it can be filled out and the imported back into access?

 

[boblarson]

Is there a way to export a form to e-mail or excel so that it can be filled out and the imported back into access?

Nope, not really. It could possibly be done but it would take you a LOT of coding to accomplish and I've not seen anybody successfully do something like that. You especially can't really output a form because you don't have any object you can really output. If you do output a form it is usually to a printed copy which isn't usable.

I don't know about combo boxes and the like and the formatting of it all is very crude, that is true. It is more than it could do in the past but it is not customizable or able to update more than one table per form.

Again, it is something I think many of us have wished could exist and the Access 2007 feature is more than it has been but way short of what we'd like. So, I don't know what you'll go for but it really isn't possible to do it as you envision without some major coding (including HTML) and I'm not sure how you would do it.

 

[Funkbuqet]

Thanks for the info. I figured that may be the case. I think I will build the form in excel and have it dump all the info into a tab that mirrors the data table in access. Then it should be simple enough to just import it.

 

[rodmc]

May I suggest using MS Infopath or Adobe Designer, you can bind the fields in your Infopath/Designer form to fields within your database, set up the form to return it as xml and your good to go!