New to forum, new to access need help

[detltu]

I am trying to create an acces database to generate reports. My plan is to allow the people who will be using this to input data into excel, and have a report output using word. I decided I would use Access to get this done and am running into some problems. My Excel file will look like this:

EquipmentCircuitComponentCorrosion RateLast Inspection DateNext Inspection dateSchedule Driver



Each piece of Equipment can have multiple circuits and each circuit can have multiple components. The ciruit and component are not unique and are repeated for different pieces of equipment. I need to create reports at the equipment level. If I use a mail merge it creates a report for each record (creates multiple reports for each piece of equipment). Any help would be appreciated.

 

[HiTechCoach]

Unfortunately, what you want is really a application best suited for Access, not word and Excel. I think it will probably be a while lot easy with Access that with Excel and Word.

Is the some reason why you are not using Acess?

 

[detltu]

Unfortunately, what you want is really a application best suited for Access, not word and Excel. I think it will probably be a while lot easy with Access that with Excel and Word.

Is the some reason why you are not using Acess?

Actually I would like to use Access. I am hoping I can just link the Excel file as the people who will be using this will not have any experience using Access. That way they can update the Excel file and it will automatically update the access database. I am not familiar with the reports in Access but I know you can use the Access database to do a mail merge in Word. unfortunately I don't know how to combine multiple records to get one report.

 

[tuxalot]

If you build the Access app properly, your users without Access experience will have no problem.

Read all you can, I'm new to Access also and have learned a great deal using This Forum as well as using Google.

 

[pkoko]

Equipment  Circuit   Component  Corrosion RateLast Inspection DateNext Inspection dateSchedule Driver

How many Circuits and how many components?? If there are more than 10+ of each then you really need to consider using access.

Second does each unique circuit contain the same components? If so, then all you need(in access) is one table for equipment and another table for components and use 1 to many relationship between them.

 

[Mike375]

I am trying to create an acces database to generate reports. My plan is to allow the people who will be using this to input data into excel, and have a report output using word. I decided I would use Access to get this done and am running into some problems.

I am hoping I can just link the Excel file as the people who will be using this will not have any experience using Access

Making things in Access might be a bigger deal than in Excel but from the users point of view a good Access application will be easier to use than Excel. In fact it does not matter if they have never seen Access as they will just see a form on the screen to enter data.

To tie Access, Excel and Word together and have Word be the Report you will need to be fairly advanced in Access to make all that happen.

Initially I would skip Excel and Word.

 

[detltu]

I have it set up right now where they open an excel file and fill in all of the information. Then I have that file linked into access so that it automatically updates. Then I have a Word file set up for a mail merge that referneces the access database. They can open the Word file and merge the data and it will create a document with each page containing the info from a different record without ever opening access. The way I have it now it reports the information seperately for each component. Schedules are driven and these reports will be input at the equipment level. I would prefer it if I could somehow generate a report that combined the information and said:
Equipment XXX contains Circuits ABZ
Circuit A is composed of components:blah blah blah
...
and then went on to list the data for each component.

PKOKO- The most any piece of equipment has is 10 components and that piece of equipment has a 1 to 1 relationship between components circuits (ie. each component is the circuit). Other pieces of equipment may have 1 circuit but 5 or 6 components. Unfortunately each piece of equipment doesnt have the same circuits. One may have an A circuit and a B circuit while another may have an A and Z circuit or just a Z circuit. Also the components have no particular pattern either.

Thanks for the help guys.