Two and One Column Reports

[Proposal Doctor]

I want to create resumes.

The first page of each resume needs to be two columns and will be based on a
table that contains single-field information for each person, like name,
title, college degrees, and affiliations. This information will form the
1/3-side of page one.

The first page also needs to display several jobs that the person has had.
For each job, I want to show the job title, date, and job description. This
information will form the 2/3 side of page one (right side of page). (This
information is stored in a second table.)


I want the second and all subsequent pages to be one column, and for the
jobs from page one to continue onto these pages and be left justified.

I can format page one just fine. But is there a way to tell Access that
pages two and on are left justified and one column?

Any ideas? Thanks.

David

 

[Duane Hookom]

Why have you you chosen MS Access to create resumes? If you data is in
Access, consider using a merge to MS Word.

 

[Proposal Doctor]

Thanks for the reply Duane.

I want to use Access because of the filters and sorts that I use to select
particular people and show selected information for them. Word Automation
has always been the backup solution but I have not wanted to go that way if I
could help it for any of the many resume formats that the application uses.
But if you think that that is the only way, then that's what I'll do next.


And if I am reading between the lines correctly, you are saying that this
cannot be done in Access. Am I right? It seems that all that is needed is a
way to determine when the text is being applied to the second page of any
person's resume.

Thanks again.

David

 

[Duane Hookom]

I think you can accomplish what you want by using subreports. Each subreport
can have its own column setup. Keep in mind that columns in subreports work
best when displayed across then down. There are ways around this but they
take some effort.

 

[Proposal Doctor]

(Hopefully, this isn't posted twice.)

Thanks again.

I am already using one subreport for the jobs (right 2/3, page one). The
problem is formatting page 2 and subsequent pages to be one column. This
would require knowing when the right side of page one is full of text, for
example when line 80 is reached. Then, page two would continue as
left-justified text and one column with any additional job descriptions.

Thinking aloud: If I copy all the job descriptions into a temp table, delete
all the text down to a mark based on the number of lines on the right side of
page one, I suppose I could use a second subreport for this text. How does
that sound?

The problem here is handling groupings, the jobs break at the end of each
description and 80 lines is not always the breakpoint. Is there a way to know
where the breakpoint is made? Is that information stored in the report?

David

 

[Duane Hookom]

That's where things get complex and messy. Personally, I would create a Word
merge file from the appropriate Access records or possibly use automation.
IOW, I'm not about to take the time to create sample data, build test
report(s), and reply back with my results :-(

 

[Proposal Doctor]

Hi Duane,

I just wanted to say thanks again for suggesting that I use subreports to
solve this problem.

I originally had one but a second and separfate subreport was needed. I
forced the main report to show a full page of text and I then I put the
second subreport on the second page. I have to figure out how much text will
fit in the right-hand column of page one for each resume but the extra work
isn't that bad. Fortunately, I don't need to print hundreds of these fancy
resumes at a time.

Thanks again.

David