A rookie's first effort - I'm so proud :o)

[James Ivey]

http://www.iampeth.com/stuff/IAMPETH.mdb

Total Access Newbie here.

I would be very appreciative if a few experts would take a
look at my first efforts.

Its a membership database for an organization with approximately
450 members.

Its only got 5 records in it... filesize is 316 Kb

I'm wide open to critique and suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

James Ivey

 

[bsmith59]

http://www.iampeth.com/stuff/IAMPETH.mdb

Total Access Newbie here.

I would be very appreciative if a few experts would take a
look at my first efforts.

Its a membership database for an organization with approximately
450 members.

Its only got 5 records in it... filesize is 316 Kb

I'm wide open to critique and suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

James Ivey

Hi James,

It may be hard to critique without some further details about what you
eventually want to do with it. For example, will you use it for mass
mailings? Think about those sorts of things and then you'll get
better guidance.

The other suggestion is to avoid recreating the wheel. What you've
done is great practice, but contact mdb templates are a dime a dozen,
and generally all free. So explore using a template, and tweak it to
include "membership" attributes you want to track.

Cheers,
Brandon Smith-Daigle
accesspro.blogspot.com (access tips for non-programmers)

 

[James Ivey]

Hi James,

It may be hard to critique without some further details about what you
eventually want to do with it. For example, will you use it for mass
mailings? Think about those sorts of things and then you'll get
better guidance.

The other suggestion is to avoid recreating the wheel. What you've
done is great practice, but contact mdb templates are a dime a dozen,
and generally all free. So explore using a template, and tweak it to
include "membership" attributes you want to track.

Cheers,
Brandon Smith-Daigle
accesspro.blogspot.com (access tips for non-programmers)

Thanks Brandon. I appreciate your response.

As far as what we're going to do with it, at this point we hardly have a
clue )

Seriously, up to now, all our membership data has been kept in a
spiral-bound notebook 6 inches thick. 30 years worth of hand-written
information. Ouch.

So at this point, my main concerns are to identify the important bits, and
capture the data. Last Sunday I knew nothing about Access, so I'm as green
as can be.

But yes, I will definately explore using a template. And yes, it has been
great practice (and a good bit of fun as well!).

Best regards,
James

 

[Allen Browne]

James, there is a sample membership database by John Viescas that you can
buy for the just cost of the documentation:
http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/7107.asp

You can even read the relevant documentation on-line here:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa662176(office.11).aspx

 

[James Ivey]

Looks good Allen. I just completed my order )

Thanks.

James

 

[Fred Boer]

Dear James:

Ah, the thrill of making something with Access. It won't stop, you know! I
remember posting a message saying something like "My application is now
finished" ... That was three years ago and I'm still working on it!

Browse these newsgroups as a daily ritual. Look at other examples - like the
Viescas you've ordered. Keep having fun! Suggestions.. hm. Think about
creating a separate table to hold a list of cities, and then use that as a
lookup table - rather than storing cities as a field in your main table.
That will keep you learning!

Oh, and look at the 10 commandments!
http://www.mvps.org/access/tencommandments.htm

Cheers!
Fred Boer