How to auto fill information from a main form to 2 related forms?

[Guest]

Hi. I'm just learning Access from reading "help" files so I apologize in
advance for not knowing the correct terms. I was asked to create specific
forms within Access for a friend's business. I created the tables with the
info that needed to be in the forms (e.g. an intake table/form; a receipt; a
certificate of attendance). What I'm trying to accomplish is to simplify data
entry & eliminate to enter the data multiple times in to the database. The
goal is to allow the person who takes the call to complete the intake
information from received phone call for service and once the caller is
enrolled in a class, take the appropriate information from the intake form
and have Access automatically fill in the corresponding information in to the
receipt form (e.g. name, cost) and in to the certificate form (e.g. name,
class date). I'm stumped. I'm not sure what this is called to find how to do
this. I was able to create the form layout to duplicate the original hard
copy the office was using so the process is computerized. Access was the
program chosen by the business so that a query could be done as needed to
search for attendees for specific classes held. Can someone please either
tell me what the process is called to connect these pieces of information and
how to locate directions for me to continue work on this process or be
willing to explain to me what I need to do to accomplish this task? Thank you
in advance for your patience with someone who is SO new to using Access.

 

[tina]

sounds like your friend is going to depend on this database to deliver
excellent service to his/her customers, work efficiently, and make sound
business decisions. to build a reliable database that will support these
goals, you need to start by learning relational design principles, also
referred to as data modeling, or data normalization. if you skip this step
and go straight to building the database, you're going to have nothing but
problems - with database development and performance, and worse, with data
integrity as well.

recommend you see http://home.att.net/~california.db/tips.html, focusing
first on tips #1 and #2.

hth

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the references. I did check the link and it appears that I have
more reading to do but I want to make sure we work on this in the correct
way. While I had started with some manuals (resources at my office) used to
"teach" Access, and used "help" files in the program, I knew there was
missing information re: some of what I needed to have the program do but I
wasn't able to find references to help me come up with terminology that
allowed me to further research how to make the appropriate connections. It
appears that you've helped me find a better starting point. If you think of
any other resources or suggestions, I assure you I'm more than willing to do
the additional reading to learn this program. Thank you very much for your
time in replying.

 

[tina]

the link i posted has, in turn, a link to the Access Junkie's Resources
webpage (that's the website of MVP Jeff Conrad), which has the most
extensive list of resources for Access that i know of. a large percentage of
the questions and problems posted in these newsgroups stem from poor
table/relationships design, so if you concentrate on learning the principles
of data modeling before all else, you'll be setting yourself up to succeed.
good luck with your project, and come on back to the NGs with specific
questions - we're always here to help.