Outputting reports

[roach90930]

hi ive got some problem with a report heres the problem:
i have a report which is a kind of order form that a company sends out to the suppliers requesting additional stock. the report contains a table with the products required with the qty required and a unit price and total field which are left blank so that the supplier can fill it in. ive got a command button, which e-mails this report to the supplier who will fill in the unit price and total and e-mail it back. the problem is that the report is sent in 'rich text' format (basically MS Word) - but the report in this format is kind of distored and is not the same as the Access report. i tried the 'snapshot' format - although the report in this format is exactly the same as the Access report, the problem is you can't edit it (abit like Adobe Acrobat). so the Supplier would have to print it out, fill in the remaining details and fax it back. so i just want to know if there is a format which i can send it in- which will not be distorted and at the same time can be edited.
advance thanks for any help

 

[dcx693]

I've found that most other people in the world don't have Access and are afraid of it, so the easiest method for handling this for me has been using an Excel spreadsheet (assuming the user has Excel). You can implement some controls on the sheet, like protecting cells, only allowing input into certain cells, conditional formatting and data validation. Plus, most users have used spreadsheets before and are less intimidated by them.

You can even place form objects like combo boxes so the user can pick from lists of valid choices. And since Excel uses VBA, you can handle any programming tasks if you've used VBA in Access. Plus, if you store the edits in the xls file in a tabular format, it's relatively easy to have Access import the data, validate it, and integrate it into your existing data.

 

[Samual]

Thanks...although its not the perfect solution, it seems the best output format + ill probably just stick to it. but i just have 2 more quick q's:
1-can someone edit snapshot
2-isn't it possible to export to word and retain all the formatting