Numerical Data entry form strategy multiple records

[reillc01]

What is the correct form strategy to ease numerical data entry into a table that requires multiple records?

tblHourlySales tracks the sales per hour of our store. Each record has 4 fields:
pk
CalendarDate
Hour
Sales

At the end of the day I want to be able to enter sales using a 10 key pad to make entry quick i.e.
105
210
358
etc

So by typing a column of sales numbers I get,
1 7/26/2010 11:00am $105
2 7/26/2010 12:00pm $210
3 7/26/2010 1:00pm $358
etc
What's the best strategy to make this easy? I have come across several potential solutions, but want to get it right the first time.

Thanks!!!!

 

[vbaInet]

We're talking four fields here, not a whole bunch of them. There's really no easy way per se. I think it would be dependent on human speed + accuracy as opposed to form design. If there were lots of fields to be field in per record then you would be worried about getting a fluent design.

The only points to mention are:

1. make the form datasheet
2. set the Default Value of the CalendarDate to today's date i.e. Date()
3. Use an Input Mask for Hour so they don't have to type in the colon, am/pm would still need to be entered - or create a am/pm button
4. set the Format property of Sales to Currency

Have fun designing your form

 

[reillc01]

thanks for the input!

I agree simple is better, but i would like a bit more automation. Essentially I am the bridge between our Regan era cash registers and some kind of modern record keeping, so I do a lot of data entry. This is just one task of many.

I have been (of course) using Excel until I discovered Access and now am adapting all of my analytical tools to the new platform.

For this form, I might be entering sales for up to a week at a time, and that means a lot of mousing around. Any shortcuts to creating a day's worth of entries that, once created will allow me to just tab, or arrow, or enter down through the sales field?

thanks again!

 

[vbaInet]

The first point I made was using a Datasheet. In a datasheet you can tab from one control to the other and when you tab from the last control it will take you to a new record. You tab in datasheet as you would tab in Excel but this time it creates a new record for you.

You may need to ensure that the Cycle property is set to All Records.