Will Access Help me?

[RB-New User]

I am not familiar with Access and I am not sure if this is what I need.

I get various spreadsheets from multiple clients with variable information
in many different formats.

I want to extract only the information I need into one common format that I
can easlily use.

I currently take their spreadsheets, copy, paste, delete and move around in
excel and sort it to get the information I need. It takes tons of time only
to find out the client sent a new spreadsheet with changes and I need to
start all over again.

Would Access be a good solution to my spreadsheet woes?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Tom van Stiphout]

On Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:53:53 -0800, RB-New User

Good question!
Answer: not necessarily. While you can easily link to XL or import
data from it, it will show the data as-is, and you still need to deal
with the multiple formats.
It appears what you need is a way to quickly identify which columns
you need to import, and then import it into a common format. An Access
table can be that common format, or you can keep the whole deal in
Excel. You won't escape having to write a fair amount of VBA code.
That said, if the formats don't change that often, you can create in
Access what's called an Import Specification (see help file), and when
first importing a new workbook format you can set up such IS, and then
re-use it as many times as you need. Get a new format? Just add to
your IS.
Also, before you take the plunge with Access, it is NOT a spreadsheet
on steroids. You have to understand the basics of relational database
design and VBA programming, or hire the talent to help you with that.

-Tom.