Is this a good use of Excel?

[John Lawless]

I have a customer records file which is currently saved in a database
program. One of my associates has asked that we start saving and
sharing this file via Excel but I'm not sure if this will work well,
and whether it is the right rpogram to use.

Essentially, this is a list with customer name, address, model
ordered, serial number and order date. I have each customer listed as
a separate record in this DB program with the info above set in
separate fields. I know that I can export this info to a text file
and open it in Excel, but don't know if we will have the ability to
view single records or quickly sort by name, date, zip code etc.

Can anyopne help an Excel novice with this question? Thanks!

My inlination is to want to keep this file in a database, but am eager
for some feedback.

John lawless
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi

In this case Excel is probably a better solution than using a database
program. Excel has lots of fancy sorting capabilities built in. You will
probably like to use either Excel's list manager or Data > Autofilter.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

All responses should be made to this newsgroup within the same thread.
Thanks.

About Microsoft MVPs:
http://www.mvps.org/

Search for help with the free Google search Excel add-in:
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[John Lawless]

Hi

In this case Excel is probably a better solution than using a database
program. Excel has lots of fancy sorting capabilities built in. You will
probably like to use either Excel's list manager or Data > Autofilter.

Thanks, Jim.

Can Excel be set up to display records one at a time, a la a
traditional database application? I often set this sort of list up so
that I can see all the info for a single record in a single window,
rather than having to scroll across an Excel worksheet.

Please pardon my ignorance. I did go through the online manual for
Views but didn't come across this.

Thanks!

John Lawless
(e-mail address removed)

 

[fxp]

Use the Forms add-in to show one record at a time. It's not perfect, but it
does work. If you know VBA, you can make a really simple, yet effective
tool.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi

Thanks to fxp for a suggestion.

Another suggestion is to select the data row, then copy > Paste Special >
Transpose to convert the display from across to down.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

All responses should be made to this newsgroup within the same thread.
Thanks.

About Microsoft MVPs:
http://www.mvps.org/

Search for help with the free Google search Excel add-in:
<http://www.rondebruin.nl/Google.htm>

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