Need a hand, any help appreciated

[ross863]

Lo all

I have a 'query' about Access. I'm making a system for my Tennis clu
and I want a funtion that, when the end-user has filled in the 'Arrang
a Lesson' form, the details on the form save to a table or report o
somthing of that description, and can be printed out after. Is thi
possible or is there a next best alternative? I have made a form calle
'Arrange a Lesson' which has fields concerning which coach and whic
member is taking and having the lesson e.g. memberID and lesson time
I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to Access, so do i need t
create relationships or any of that craic?

Thanks again, anyone who can lend a hand their help is greatl
appreciated

Ros

 

[John Vinson]

Lo all

I have a 'query' about Access. I'm making a system for my Tennis club
and I want a funtion that, when the end-user has filled in the 'Arrange
a Lesson' form, the details on the form save to a table or report or
somthing of that description, and can be printed out after. Is this
possible or is there a next best alternative? I have made a form called
'Arrange a Lesson' which has fields concerning which coach and which
member is taking and having the lesson e.g. memberID and lesson time.
I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to Access, so do i need to
create relationships or any of that craic?

Well... you're going about this pretty much in the same way as a
tennis student who's never hit a ball asking how to control a running
backhand. You're going about it wrong end first!

Access stores data in Tables. The Tables, and their relationships, are
the foundation. A Form *IS JUST A TOOL* to let you view and edit data
in a Table; a Report is a way to get the data in one or more tables
out to paper.

You will want to design your tables *first*, and then design the forms
to fit the tables, not the other way around. You'll need a table of
Coaches, a table of Members, a table of Lessons; you'll probably want
a Form based on the Members table with a subform based on the Lessons
table... but get the tables and their relationships right *first*,
just as you'ld teach a tennis student to hold the racket correctly
first!

 

[ross863]

Thanks John for your reply. About the tables, they are exactly the sam
ones i have created - Lesson, Member and coach. each have specifi
details concerning whatever is relevant to them e.g. Member ha
MemberID, Name, Address, DoB etc. and Lesson has CoachID, MemberID
Lesson Time etc. So I think I have all that sorted and I'm pretty muc
got my head round it. I have created a form, based on the table, tha
allows the end user to add a new member to the club and click ad
member, which then adds the member to the table, so i'm happy wit
that. Although in this form i thought it might be handy to have a dro
down field somewhere, so the end-user could select MemberID 2 fo
example and all the fields in the form would automatically fill in wit
that members details.

I have also created a Arrange a Lesson form which the user would fil
in and is saved to a record which can be printed. Again this functio
may be handy for coaches if they want to keep a record of payments an
lessons that they have made.

I know you have said to look at Relationships before I do any of this
but i'm really confused as to what they are? I know that may soun
stupid, but the functions which i am currently using seem to b
working fine without them. Do i really need them? I would be mos
gratefull if you could shed some light on relationships. If you want
copy of the project, i can just as easily send you a copy as i wouldn
mind abit of help

 

[Dinky]

*Thanks John for your reply. About the tables, they are exactly th
same ones i have created - Lesson, Member and coach. each hav
specific details concerning whatever is relevant to them e.g. Membe
has MemberID, Name, Address, DoB etc. and Lesson has CoachID
MemberID, Lesson Time etc. So I think I have all that sorted and I'
pretty much got my head round it. I have created a form, based on th
table, that allows the end user to add a new member to the club an
click add member, which then adds the member to the table, so i'
happy with that. Although in this form i thought it might be handy t
have a drop down field somewhere, so the end-user could selec
MemberID 2 for example and all the fields in the form woul
automatically fill in with that members details.

I have also created a Arrange a Lesson form which the user would fil
in and is saved to a record which can be printed. Again this functio
may be handy for coaches if they want to keep a record of payment
and lessons that they have made.

I know you have said to look at Relationships before I do any o
this, but i'm really confused as to what they are? I know that ma
sound stupid, but the functions which i am currently using seem t
be working fine without them. Do i really need them? I would be mos
gratefull if you could shed some light on relationships. If you wan
a copy of the project, i can just as easily send you a copy as
wouldnt mind abit of help. *

The relationships represent how your tables relate to each other an
they are very important especially if you want to find out somethin
based on more than 1 table.
The relationships you'd probably need is between your lesson, membe
and coach. how'd they relate is by their member ID's etc. so you woul
probably need to make a relationship between the lesson table an
member table using the member ID and another relationship between th
lesson table and coach table using the coach ID.
I'm not sure what functions you have but the relationships would allo
you to make queries like - find all members who are being coached b
coach with coach ID XX etc

I'm still new at Access too so if i got anything wrong let me know :

 

[ross863]

Hey dinky, thanks for your reply. Thats certainly helped! I'l
definately have to sort out my relationships. I have relationships se
up now, but they don't really make sense, i've just put them in, no
really understanding what they do. Argh, databases pickle my hea
sometimes.CAn u explain how you actually use a relationship though
once they have been put in? or is it something that is automatic an
works in the backgroun

 

[Dinky]

with your relationships created you can now make use of them in man
ways.

for example you may want to make a report of all lesson times an
members for a specific coach and then print it out and give it to th
coach as a reference so he knows who and when he/she has to coach.

to do so you'd probably want a query that selects all entries in th
lesson table where the coach ID is equal to the the coach you selec
(this could be entered on a form you set up). now that you have a quer
that shows all the lessons for a specific coach you can use it t
create a report and print it out.

that is just an example of how relationships can be used. there are ma
more and complex ways i'm sure so happy huntin

 

[ross863]

[image: http://www.51.htmlplanet.com/images/ca1.jpg

 

[Dinky]

looks nic

 

[John Vinson]

I know you have said to look at Relationships before I do any of this,
but i'm really confused as to what they are? I know that may sound
stupid, but the functions which i am currently using seem to be
working fine without them. Do i really need them? I would be most
gratefull if you could shed some light on relationships.

You do need them. Without an established relationship you could create
a record in the Lesson table with a CoachID that doesn't correspond to
any existing coach, or a StudentID likewise. Relationships also create
indexes which make the queries joining the tables run much more
efficiently.

If you want a
copy of the project, i can just as easily send you a copy as i wouldnt
mind abit of help.

Sorry, that goes beyond what I'm up for on an unpaid-volunteer basis;
if you'ld like to contact me off group I'd be happy to send you my
consulting terms.