Will Access help me with my need

[2Pat]

Before I spend the time learning Access, I want to make sure it will perform
the function(s) that I need it to.

The end result of what I need is a "workorder" that prints out for my
technicians that the info comes from 3 separate databases. For example, I
will have a "customer" database, a "referral" database and a "technical"
database. I need to present the info of ONE customer; ONE referral and ONE
technical on a single workorder to print or email to the technician.

If I put the time and effort in to Access - will this be something it will
do for me?

 

[John Spencer]

Yes. Access should be able to do what you want. Access is a powerful tool,
but it takes quite a bit of learning to use it well.

Although in Access you would have tables not databases. A database might have
three (or more) tables containing the information on each entity you need to
track.

Customers table
Referral table
Technical table

If Technical does not contain information on the Technicians you would
probably want another table containing information about the technicians -
last name, first name, email, mobile phone, etc.



John Spencer
Access MVP 2002-2005, 2007-2008
The Hilltop Institute
University of Maryland Baltimore County

 

[2Pat]

Ahhh, I do have each table set up correctly (sorry for the lingo fauxpas) -
would I be using a query to move the info to a worksheet for the technician?

 

[Klatuu]

There are a few different ways to move data from Access to Excel. The most
common and straight forward is a method (used in VBA) or action (used in
macros) called TransferSpreadsheet. It is specifically for importing and
exporting data between Access and Excel. When you use the
TransferSpreadsheet for exporting to Excel, you specify either a table or a
query to export.

In your case, having three tables, you will need to use a query. Once you
have the query built to pull the correct data, it is a fairly simple matter
to use the TransferSpreadsheet to move the data to Excel.

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

You have the replies from the others. I would add, that I've built more than
1 solution similar to what you need. Additionally, I've output the data into
an Access report, and also a Word document. Word was used because the client
required additional formatting and custom commenting beyond what was easy
for Access to produce.

I would go so far as to say, that even though Access has a learning curve,
it is orders of magnitude easier that trying to produce a custom solution
with any other method. You have the entire power of Microsoft Office at your
fingertips.