Hello and Ahoy (1 Viewer)

AlexanderJHale

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Hello! I am a fairly new Access programmer, although I've been making and playing with databases of all types for about 25 years. I am currently Active-Duty Navy with about nine years under my belt and plan on separating later this year. Last year, I started working in a new department on-site, and they used a database another sailor, long since departed, built to make their (singular) job easier. They did not lock down the database and left no instructions for its use. Fast forward two years to when I arrived, the database was a mess and many functions had broken down due to others tinkering with it, to the point where they were using the backup of a backup of a backup "Use Me" file. It eventually failed and dumped thousands of records into the abyss, at which point the senior chief gave me permission to work from home for a month, building a new database that was more stable and met our needs better, while retaining some similarities with the functional remains of the previous database.

I've been rolled out a functional version 1.0, but I am always trying to automate more of the daily tasks in the department. Everyone loves to come to me with issues they see with the database and I love fixing them and/or making them better. The database has saved us over 60 man-hour per week compared to the other database, and as long as I work for my department, it constantly gets better!

I am joining today because I was looking for a solution to a request one of my coworkers made, and I found a similar question that lacked a good answer. After searching more and trying some possible solutions, I found one that worked well enough to fulfill my co-worker's request, and I figured the other question asker might find it useful as well.

Thanks for the help your forums have provided to me and my department over the last six months! I hope to be as helpful as y'all have been for me.

Regards,
Alexander
 

Jon

Access World Site Owner
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Welcome to the forums! We are the most active Microsoft Access community on the internet by far, with posts going back over 20 years!

To get started, I highly recommend you read the post below. It contains important information for all new users to this forum.

https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/threads/new-member-read-me-first.223250/

We look forward to having you around here, learning stuff and having fun!
 

theDBguy

I’m here to help
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Hi. Welcome to AWF!

Have a great Navy day!
 

NauticalGent

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Welcome Alexander, to AWF.

I myself am a Navy veteran (22.5) years and my story is similar to yours, only I am the one who usually made the DB and then left. Roll up the sleeves and get dirty, this is a great place to learn. Feel free to PM me directly if you have any Navy/DoD centric questions that you do not want to put out in open forum. John (AKC (AW/SW), ret.)
 
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The_Doc_Man

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Hello, Alexander, and welcome to the forum.

I am retired now but for 28 1/2 years I was a Navy Contractor, mostly as a systems administrator, but sometimes as an Access DBA. Unlike John (Nautical Gent), I was the guy who came in later to clean up someone else's well-meaning but poorly implemented DB. So I fully understand what you face. In an earlier part of my life, I signed my e-mails as "Senior Systems Janitor" because I cleaned up computer messes. Trust me, doing this will teach you more than you ever thought possible to know (and also more than you ever wanted to know) about Access, SQL, and MS Office in general. Hope you aren't emotionally attached to your hair, because cleaning up another person's mess is often a hair-tearing experience.
 

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