Access reports or Word Document

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I'm new to the database world and I could use some advice as to which is
better. Should I use Word mail merge to produce documents from data in
Access or produce reports directly from Access. There are a couple of things
I need to contend with first. I need to produce a report that uses multiple
data sources (two or more queries) and puts them on a single page. If I use
Access does it have the formatting capability to reasonably reproduce the
"look" of the documents we currently produce in Word. We use Office 2000
software.

Any advice in this mater will be greatly appreciated.
 
Hi Paul
Access reports can use only have one record (data)source as far as I know.

You can combine multiple queries into one query as your record source.

Create each query individually and then create a new query using the
previously created queries.

Use this query as your record source.

*My personal opinion*

I vastly prefer an Access report to word merge. Seems easier to me.

I think you can do almost anything in an Access report that you can do with
a word document such as pictures, formatting etc.

Post back if you have specific questions.

Good luck

Mike
 
I'm new to the database world and I could
use some advice as to which is better.
Should I use Word mail merge to produce
documents from data in Access or produce
reports directly from Access.
Click to expand...

I am sure that, in retrospect, you realize that there is no general answer
to this question. It's somewhat like asking, "Should I use a jet plane, a
truck, a car, or a bicycle to move my package from place to place?"

I've used Microsoft Access daily since 1993, created many database
applications for clients, and worked on many others. In none of those cases
did we have to use Word to produce documents instead of Access' Reports, but
most of those were "typical business database applications." There are
certainly cases where it can be beneficial to employ Word, either with mail
merge, or via COM automation, for particular purposes. If I were producing
"nicely formatted client letters," then mail merge might be the choice; if I
were producing brochures (intended to impress with fancy formatting) then
driving Word via COM automation might be appropriate; for useful business
reports, Access' Reports are often perfectly satisfactory.
There are a couple of things
I need to contend with first.
Click to expand...
I need to produce a report that uses multiple
data sources (two or more queries) and puts
them on a single page.
Click to expand...

Access has a Subreport capability, so that you can embed Reports within a
Report. And, depending on how the information is related, you might be able
to join Tables or Queries so that only one Query produces the informaion you
want to Report. In general, I can say "this should not be a problem," but I
don't know the specific details.
If I use Access does it have the formatting
capability to reasonably reproduce the
"look" of the documents we currently produce
in Word.
Click to expand...

Access' Reports are very good, very flexible, and arguably the best
reporting engine ever. But Word's 'purpose in life' is formatting text, and
its capabilities far exceed any reporting engine. And, of course, we have no
idea how much of the capability of Word you actually use in your documents,
so we couldn't possibly answer this question.
We use Office 2000 software.
Click to expand...

If you use the Access 2000 that is included in Office 2000 Professional, I
strongly suggest that you make certain you have applied all the Service
Packs and updates to both Access and the Jet database engine. I trust you
are aware that Access 2000 is "out of support," so full support is no longer
available from Microsoft, and you cannot even rely that security updates
will be available in the future.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP
 
Thanks for the advice Mike,
Perhaps I should have mentioned that I would like to use one query for the
header information and then several records from another query for the body
of the report all on one page(s) if enough records exist. I'm not quite sure
how to handle the one query thing when I would like to put more information
on a page. Otherwise there'll be a header and then perhaps one or two lines
of data for the one record. As I said I'm new to this game and I appreciate
the input form others who have more experience dealing with Access.
 
Larry,
Thanks for your advice and your comments about subreports. I will give this
a try and reply back if I can't figure it out. One more thing, is it
possible to "import" a Word document format into an Access report given that
the document format is relatively straight forward. I'd like to save some
formatting time if possible.
 
Paul,

No, you can not import a Word document into a Report.

As far as the subreport, maybe if you explained what you wanted to do,
we could give better advice. I generally try and stay away from
subreports if at all possible due to difficulties getting things lined
up.

I'll throw my $.02 into the pot.

Access has a great report writer. It's limited in output capability,
however. I've had clients who required Word versions because that's
how the report was circulated. I argued, but the client requirements
are what I went with.

Also, Access reports are "banded." For flexibility, Word often is
better. It is also easier to do complex formatting in Word. If it is
going to be a printed report, then Access wins hands down.

Access reports are very fast to create. I estimate 5 hours per report
when I am creating a budget. If Word (or Excel) is involved, I easily
triple my estimates.

Both items are tools in the toolbox. If you ask "Which is better, a
hammer or screwdriver?" the answer will depend on "Are you using nails
or screws?"


Chris Nebinger
 
Thanks for sharing your insight on this Chris,
I'll try and better describe what I'm attempting to accomplish with Access.
We are trying to automate a document that already exists in Word that we have
been producing manually. The document has the format of a header section
with two tables side by side in the same vertical position on the page for
the full lenght of the page (one on the left the other on the right). I'm
using one query (query A) to populate the header section and populate
portions of the "table" on the left side of the page. I'm using another
query (query B) to populate the main body of the report which has several
records and occurs on the right "table". I need the records to line up
vertically for the left and right tables. ie query A populates a record in
the left table then query B populates the first of several records in the
right table at the same vertical position and repeats until all records that
have same primary key of query A are retrieved. The difficulty comes in at
the multiple records that query B generates in comparison to query A. I've
tried to use mail merge in Word but the problem is having two queries to
populate the report/document. If it displays right the below is how I would
like the main body of the report to appear. A and B are the different
queries, spaces represent different columns/fields. The number of records
varies for B.

AAA AAA AA AAA BBBBB BBBBBBBB
BBBBB BBBBBBBB
BBBBB BBBBBBBB
BBBBB BBBBBBBB
AAA AAA AA AAA BBBBB BBBBBBBB
BBBBB BBBBBBBB

I hope the above is sufficiently clear to describe what I'm attempting,
Thanks for your help.
 
Okay, I understand. Query A and Query B are related on the Primary
Key, right? So, create a Query C that combines both A & B, probably
with an Outer Join. Now, create a report based on Query C. Line up
the fields, and for the Query A fields, set the Hide Duplicates to
True. That will accomplish what you want (I think).


Chris Nebinger
 
Okay, I understand. Query A and Query B are related on the Primary
Key, right? So, create a Query C that combines both A & B, probably
with an Outer Join. Now, create a report based on Query C. Line up
the fields, and for the Query A fields, set the Hide Duplicates to
True. That will accomplish what you want (I think).


Chris Nebinger
 
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