im building a database for an entire dept here, and i’m rusty. i’ve been wanting to do this for a couple years, and i’m finally getting around to it. i have a 600pg book i used at UB and everything, but it’s still a pita, and i dont have the time or patience to relearn it.
at the moment, i’m just making tables, but at some point i need to build the relationships and forms and whatnot. my first question is how to i do a “mail merge” from excel. i see where i can import from excel, but it’s not letting me choose which fields go to which, and it’s just not working, ugh… when it comes time to make the thing presentable and “finalized”, i may assume just pay someone to do it
I took 3 years of Access for the Business and MIS majors and still hate it esp after having to find a way to make Access handle a 300,000 entry database of images and text.
MySQL is your friend if you can build a frontend for it.
lol. i just figured out how to import the files how i want. you can’t “merge” the tables, but you can import the whole sheet, THEN work it the way you want…
yes, once this is done there will be a learning curve for sure. although, the same applies for the rest of our stuff thats on the common network drive as far as read only etc goes.
Make sure the tables have indexes… this is overlooked all the time.
You can set record based locks on the mdb so that it can be updated by multiple people. If you’re in a CITRIX environment, it is better to use a published application than just a file in a directory.
I love access for my quick applications for tedious crap.
I’ll throw a bunch of easter eggs in them too… makes it funny when you get a call asking what happens when they click on the Rick Roll button… and you ask them why they would click on something labeled Rick Roll?
Unfortunately for them, it was too late. They got rolled. it locks the database… which is why I get the call, and get to harass them.
Bill - I’m not sure what you’re actually stuck on right now… so I can’t help.
Access has its cool uses for a one system database where you don’t want to work on the GUI and database aspect. Its simple, easy to build and change forms, etc.
It has no use being in any organization or multiuser environment and I am still waiting for someone who can argue otherwise.
Actually… its built and running great… and significantly more complicated than any home PC you’ve ever built
Did you provide anything good to this thread? Oh yeah, there it is.
Until you (preferably not) or someone you know (preferrably) can build a database properly, you would never understand when and where Access should be used in place of an app that was strictly in VB or anything else.
I have several mdbs out there supporting entire departments with no complaints. They are very easy to maintain, and anyone with 5 minutes of training can manage them for me.
Bill - Seems like a list box or a combo box would suit your needs pretty easily. Can you be more specific?
part of my job is building access databases to be used nationwide.
It is on the share drive and yes, dozens of people go in at the same time and update it without problems.
as far as the original post. a mail merge is for exporting a table into forms, letters, or envelopes.
If you want to import your excel table into access, then go to the table section of access. right click. choose Import. change file type to Excel. bam.
