Multi user DB with simple UI

[Keefay78]

The more threads I read the more I get an understanding of how this thing works, there is still some grey areas though and hopefully I am getting closer to nailing this thing down, since I first posted I have realised some of my errors, so an update:

I want to make a database with all our staff contact details.
Our company has 6 departments and our staff has a 24hr and On Call rota,
I would like to make a simple UI so that each department could go in and select from a drop down list the staff who will be on overnight and on call.
Hopefully these selections will sit in place for quick access to phone numbers etc.

At first I thought it was forms and I made a nice looking form with selections etc but soon found out this was not the way to go.

I have attacched the database with this post, it is very small just a couple of names for test purposes but I think if you try the form you will see what I am trying to achieve in the long run.

Thanks

 

[isladogs]

At first I thought it was forms and I made a nice looking form with selections etc but soon found out this was not the way to go.

Really - why not?
And how would you suggest entering data if not using a form?

I have attacched the database with this post, it is very small just a couple of names for test purposes but I think if you try the form you will see what I am trying to achieve in the long run.

Not completely but then I haven't followed your previous thread(s)
Perhaps you could post a link.
Otherwise I think more detailed explanation would help

One suggestion - the form is quite busy
Do you NEED to have everything displayed at once?

How about using a tabbed form for each room/theatre etc?
OR have 2 combo boxes - shift & room/theatre
Then have a single form to display the data for that selection only

Lastly, you need to devise a way of preventing double booking of members of staff
I can currently assign a member of staff e.g. annie fred to every room and to both shifts
I know our NHS staff are wonderful but probably too much even for an 'angel'!

 

[Keefay78]

Thanks Ridders.

well from what I gathered from my previous thread was that Forms were for displaying information, I was trying to build something where the selection would stay put, at least until wiped clean and started a fresh the next morning.

The reason the page looks like that is I have basically copied it from what we have in paper form where the sheet of paper goes from 1 department to another all the way along, this takes time, can get "lost" and doesnt have all the details like phone numbers on it.

You can add X member of staff into any role as I coped the combo boxes from top left section to the other departments just as a way of filling it out, it was never going to stay that way for the whole sheet, I would have comboboxed all new ones for each dept and their staff.

The layout does not have to stay like this, I have sketched up different ideas that would look more like a list rather than box grid. I was just trying to make something a bit what people are used to and not something as chaotic as an excel sheet.

Ideally, one of the early team could start a new report/form and name it with todays date, each dept could go into it and fill out required boxes, once it is filled then it can be printed out and (at some point in the future once i get past this step) I could figure a way to make it print out the name, dept and phone number of each person who has been named on the list for very quick contact purposes.

I hope this makes more sense, I will answer any more questions to clear anything up..

 

[Keefay78]

I do like the idea of combobox for shift/rooms tho..

 

[isladogs]

Ok I understand now.

The form will display the latest information if the controls are bound to individual fields.
You can use a button to move to a new record. This will clear all controls.

I didn't look at your table structure or relationships.

There doesn't seem to be a question with this thread so I'll leave you to carry on with modifying the design.

Good luck

 

[Keefay78]

Thanks, ill work on some other layouts that might be more workable than a confined amount of selections (ie: more staff on for X dept)

Sorry yeh the question was, if I go on and select X members for Y roles, how do i make these selections stay put until manually wiped? say, at the end of the day/start of the new day. Is there any way to make a form KEEP this information in place? or can I make another table or something that would have the data selected in such a way that it would stay selected on closing of the database?

 

[isladogs]

I answered that question in my last post - must be a mind reader

Use a bound form where the data is saved in a table

 

[AccessBlaster]

Keefay78:

Sometimes people have an end result in mind, and they start building out their ideas based on what the end result should look like.

Your report looks exactly like your form. I get the end result is what we all want to achieve, but there is a logical progression to the process.

The table design >> queries >> forms, all have to be logically thought thru before you can achieve your goal of presenting data to some random users.

 

[Keefay78]

I appreciate that, I happily take any help and critique as it comes.

You are correct of course, I see in my mind how it will look (i hope) when its finished and wanna skip to the end but to be fair I do love the learning, I taught myself a lot of stuff on photoshop and Cinema4D etc.. its places like this that just grease the wheels and make learning stuff so much better.

I'm happy to see where I went wrong and be told "no, your doing this, you should be doing that" picking up some helpfull words along the way, only really today or last night i found out about "bound and unbound" and only just now that it affects what I have been working on which means I might now have to strip my entire project to the start unless I can make my current form boxes bound, but i will search and I will try.

I do appreciate it tho..

 

[AccessBlaster]

Keefay78:

If you can grasp the concept of table normalization thru reading / tutorials, you will save yourself a ton of time redesigning your project.

You will eventually understand why there is no need for repeating field names and controls.

This not a critique, think of it as growing pains.