large table

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bml337

i would like to automate the following form
http://www.ct.gov/dob/lib/dob/forms/adv.pdf . the form is about 30 pages
long and has hundreds of questions.... my question, should i keep this entire
form in one table or should i break down each section into a table. this is
the main form that i need to track for my clients...

thanks for any help.
 
Well first, a table can have a MAXIMUM of 255 fields, so if you have
hundreds of questions you are not going to be able to store that in one
table.

You may need a combination of ways to handle the data. As Duane Hookom
mentioned you may need to use a technique that is like his survey
application for a major portion of the data. You may need to break down the
form into multiple sections of related data items.

And depending on your needs Access might not be the best product for this
situation. Have you investigated any of the form data entry and management
packages that are available?

--
John Spencer
Access MVP 2002-2005, 2007
Center for Health Program Development and Management
University of Maryland Baltimore County
..
 
i would like to automate the following form
http://www.ct.gov/dob/lib/dob/forms/adv.pdf . the form is about 30 pages
long and has hundreds of questions.... my question, should i keep this entire
form in one table or should i break down each section into a table. this is
the main form that i need to track for my clients...

thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Designing an Access Table based on a paper (or pdf or otherwise
people-directed) form is pretty much a guarantee of a Very Bad Design for your
tables. Design your tables for proper data *storage*; tables aren't intended
for data *display* or data editing, you use Forms for that purpose.

If there are hundreds of questions, you should have a Questions table with one
row per question; see Duane Hookum's At Your Survey sample database as Douglas
recommends.

John W. Vinson [MVP]
 
I just downloaded the survey database, I just noticed its for access 2000 and
im running 2007. I will play around with it and see if it can do what I need.


The purpose of my database: to automate documents that I use for my clients.
In my business I use many forms, many of which have redundant data. I
thought by creating a database it would save me time and let me track all of
my documents more efficiently and effectively. If access is not the right
application, what is?

Thanks for any help

bl

i would like to automate the following form
http://www.ct.gov/dob/lib/dob/forms/adv.pdf . the form is about 30 pages
Click to expand...
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Designing an Access Table based on a paper (or pdf or otherwise
people-directed) form is pretty much a guarantee of a Very Bad Design for your
tables. Design your tables for proper data *storage*; tables aren't intended
for data *display* or data editing, you use Forms for that purpose.

If there are hundreds of questions, you should have a Questions table with one
row per question; see Duane Hookum's At Your Survey sample database as Douglas
recommends.

John W. Vinson [MVP]
Click to expand...
 
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