Professional layout for a dictionary

[Klaus Martini]

Hi,

I use Access 2007 to store the data of a dictionary. Now, when it comes
to print it out, I wonder if the following task can be done from within
Access:

First, I want to explain the structure of my dictionary: The entries in
it, which contain the detailed data, are grouped into chapters. Each
chapter begins with a short descriptor (Aa1, Aa2, Aa3, Ab1, ..., Cd12),
followed by a describing name e.g.:

<Aa1 buildings>
<entry 1>
<specs for entry 1>
<entry 2>
<specs for entry 2>
<entry 3>
<specs for entry 3>
...
<Aa2 countries>
<entry 4>
<specs for entry 4>
<entry 5>
<specs for entry 5>
<entry 6>
<specs for entry 5>
...

The length of the chapters, i.e. how many entries there are per chapter
can vary. One chapter can hold only one entry or tens of entries, thus
the range of a chapter can be from 1 part of a page to several pages.

Now, the task to accomplish is, to generate individual page headers,
containing the chapter descriptors and depending on the chapter
displayed on a certain page or a range of pages. E.g., if <Aa1
buildings> ranges from page 1 to 8, and chapter 2 begins on top of page
9, in the header of pages 1-8 should be written (aligned to the right):
<Aa1>. If, however, chapter 2 already starts on page 8, the header <Aa1>
should only appear on pages 1-7, on page 8 the header should be <Aa2>,
because this is the page chapter 2 begins. If 1 short chapter <Cc1 Cars>
clompetely fits on a page an chapter <Cc2 Compters> starts on the same
page, in the header of this page should be <Cc1>, <Cc2>.

The descriptors are unique strings which won't occur elsewhere in the
text except as the first part of a chapter.

My approach would be, that this task is some sort of post-processing of
the report. In pseudo-code the task would probably look like this

Generate pages of report
For each page of generated report
HEADER = ""
repeat
Parse page
If descriptor_found then HEADER = HEADER & descriptor
until END_OF_PAGE
Write HEADER at specified position on top of this page
Next

But how would it look like in real VBA-code? If it can be done at all.

Best regards
Klaus

 

[Peter Wetschnigg]

Hi,

I use Access 2007 to store the data of a dictionary. Now, when it comes
to print it out, I wonder if the following task can be done from within
Access:

First, I want to explain the structure of my dictionary: The entries in
it, which contain the detailed data, are grouped into chapters. Each
chapter begins with a short descriptor (Aa1, Aa2, Aa3, Ab1, ..., Cd12),
followed by a describing name e.g.:

<Aa1 buildings>
<entry 1>
<specs for entry 1>
<entry 2>
<specs for entry 2>
<entry 3>
<specs for entry 3>
...
<Aa2 countries>
<entry 4>
<specs for entry 4>
<entry 5>
<specs for entry 5>
<entry 6>
<specs for entry 5>
...

The length of the chapters, i.e. how many entries there are per chapter
can vary. One chapter can hold only one entry or tens of entries, thus
the range of a chapter can be from 1 part of a page to several pages.

Now, the task to accomplish is, to generate individual page headers,
containing the chapter descriptors and depending on the chapter
displayed on a certain page or a range of pages. E.g., if <Aa1
buildings> ranges from page 1 to 8, and chapter 2 begins on top of page
9, in the header of pages 1-8 should be written (aligned to the right):
<Aa1>. If, however, chapter 2 already starts on page 8, the header <Aa1>
should only appear on pages 1-7, on page 8 the header should be <Aa2>,
because this is the page chapter 2 begins. If 1 short chapter <Cc1 Cars>
clompetely fits on a page an chapter <Cc2 Compters> starts on the same
page, in the header of this page should be <Cc1>, <Cc2>.

The descriptors are unique strings which won't occur elsewhere in the
text except as the first part of a chapter.

My approach would be, that this task is some sort of post-processing of
the report. In pseudo-code the task would probably look like this

Generate pages of report
For each page of generated report
HEADER = ""
repeat
Parse page
If descriptor_found then HEADER = HEADER & descriptor
until END_OF_PAGE
Write HEADER at specified position on top of this page
Next

But how would it look like in real VBA-code? If it can be done at all.

This task is quite challenging and I don't think it can be done with Access
alone. The problem is that I can't imagine a way to parse a formatted
report. But WORD can parse a document, so consider the following approach:

1. Generate the report
2. Export the report to WORD (rtf)
3. Write a macro in WORD which parses the report and
writes out a table which contains two rows,
Descriptor and Page, Page being the number of the page
where the descriptor appears:

Descriptor Page
<Aa1> 1
<Aa2> 8
<Aa3> 10
... ...
4. Import this table into Access and do the printing
in the reports print event on the basis of the data
in this table. All you need is there.

I don't know if the process can be fully automated.

If you try it and it works, let me know.

Regards,
P. W.

 

[Klaus Martini]

This task is quite challenging and I don't think it can be done with Access
alone. The problem is that I can't imagine a way to parse a formatted
report. But WORD can parse a document, so consider the following approach:

1. Generate the report
2. Export the report to WORD (rtf)
3. Write a macro in WORD which parses the report and
writes out a table which contains two rows,
Descriptor and Page, Page being the number of the page
where the descriptor appears:

Descriptor Page
<Aa1> 1
<Aa2> 8
<Aa3> 10
... ...
4. Import this table into Access and do the printing
in the reports print event on the basis of the data
in this table. All you need is there.

I don't know if the process can be fully automated.

If you try it and it works, let me know.

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your suggestions! It is a bit tedious, but it works! Except
for one thing: There is no print event of the report, the printing of
the header lines has to be done in the format-event of the pageheader.

Best regards
Klaus