Employee attendance database help

[oxicottin]

Hello, I have an excell workbook that keeps track of employees attendance by
coping the correct Attendance code and pasting in the correct day and month.
I want to ncorporate something simmular into to this excel workbook into a
databse that I have. The database already has a tbl_EmployeeInformation which
has Name, Clock Number, Date of Hire, Department and some other spersonal
stuff like address ect. I also have a few Querys that seperate names by
department like: qry_ServiceEmployees, qry_SupervisorEmployees,
qry_TechnicalEmployees, qry_OfficeEmployees and qry_MetalShopEmployees. I
have included a link to a picture of what a page looks like in the excell
workbook here:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/oxicottin/attendance.jpg

Please give me some advice on how to set this up. And keep in mind im a
newbie..

Thanks!!!
Chad

 

[Smartin]

Hello, I have an excell workbook that keeps track of employees attendance by
coping the correct Attendance code and pasting in the correct day and month.
I want to ncorporate something simmular into to this excel workbook into a
databse that I have. The database already has a tbl_EmployeeInformation which
has Name, Clock Number, Date of Hire, Department and some other spersonal
stuff like address ect. I also have a few Querys that seperate names by
department like: qry_ServiceEmployees, qry_SupervisorEmployees,
qry_TechnicalEmployees, qry_OfficeEmployees and qry_MetalShopEmployees. I
have included a link to a picture of what a page looks like in the excell
workbook here:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/oxicottin/attendance.jpg

Please give me some advice on how to set this up. And keep in mind im a
newbie..

Thanks!!!
Chad

Hi Chad,

This is a pretty ambitious undertaking. Access will not likely present
an out-of-the-box solution for this unless someone knows of and shares a
pre-fab template that matches your requirements. Even if a HR template
fits 80% of what you're asking for it could be a fairly heady project to
fit the remaining 20% of your needs into it.

Sorry to sound discouraging... I do recommend that you step back for a
few, and do some research first. You will need to get some basics under
the belt. Data modeling, data normalization, and N-tier architecture are
some fundamental concepts you will need to familiarize yourself with.
None of these are terribly difficult, but they do require some
forethought and practice to implement successfully.

Once you have those database basics down you can attack how to design a
user interface. Access does make this a tad easier compared to, say,
..Net nevertheless UI will be another learning curve.

You could try studying sample Access applications such as the ubiquitous
Northwind to see how these elements all come together. Lots of material
is available here, on the web, and in many books.

Please do post back if you need help with more specific parts of your
application!

 

[oxicottin]

Smartin, thanks for the reply! If I were to get a "Sample" Database, What
would I look for? I have Googled it for a few days now and I cant find any
templates period! Would I do a search on HR attendance or something of that
nature? Thanks!

 

[Smartin]

Hi Chad, I would be surprised if you find something ready-made. I
suggested the Northwind sample database not because it fits your purpose
but because it presents a reasonably good example of data structure in
general.

It may be the case that someone in the group has an HR application that
fills most of your needs, but to be honest I think in the long run you
would be much better off if you understand how such an application is
created. Your requirements almost certainly differ from someone else's,
and I suggest you do not underestimate the differences are not trivial.

Again, I'm not trying to discourage you! I do however encourage you to
google a bit and spend some time reading on the topics I suggested.
Further, I suggest you try building a couple scaled-down applications to
start, so you get a flavor of what is really involved.

That said, I tend to offer advice along a longer path, one that suggests
you back off from desires of instant gratification (however difficult
this may be!) so that you can build a solid foundation and realize long
term success. Everyone's learning style is different and I respect this
may not be what you need.

Regardless, you are in the right forum. Please feel free to pose you
questions again to see if other have a different take on solutions.

All the best,
Smartin

 

[tina]

Smartin is giving you excellent advice. there are no free lunches in Access,
unless you find a pre-fab solution and simply accept it as is. if that works
for you, fine. but unless you're a reasonably experienced Access developer,
or have experience in developing other relational data programs such as SQL
server or Oracle, with attendant experience in building user interfaces,
such as with VB, you simply can't jump into building/modifying an Access
database with both feet, without first putting in the time and effort to
learn relational design principles and learn how to use the Access tool.
well, actually you can *try* to skip the learning process, but in the long
run it'll take you more time and energy to fix the messes you make, than it
would have to learn how to do it right from the beginning.

hth