tracking table design

[Confused]

Hi,

I am new to Access as I usually would use Excel for
something like this; however, my boss wants it in Access.
What I need is a table that has headings such as Contact
name, Company, Supplier, tax amounts, yearly totals, etc..
to make a Datafile of contracts based on invoice number.
So each table would have all the same field headings, but
there will be many'tables' or sheets (I guess here they
are called tables)

SO I guess there would eventually be hundreds of identical
tables, except for the invoice #???

Also, NO reports, order forms, etc,etc are ever needed for
this database...just using it to keep track of the
hospital's contracts

Does this sound like something Access can do for me, or
should I be using other software???

thanks,

Confused

 

[Cheval]

Yes, Access is a good tool for this simple job. You just
need some basic training in database creation and design
to help you do it. Boss's can be funny with "You know
Excel, so therefore you know everything in Office!"
mentality.

 

[Confused]

Thanks, can you offer any good sites that may help me and
tell me a bit about how to do this without all the focus
on reports and relationships, etc,etc ???

 

[Adrian Jansen]

Access is a database, Excel is a spreadsheet. They are two entirely
different methods of handling data, even though the raw output can look
superficially the same.

Correctly handled in Access, you would only have a limited and fixed number
of tables, maybe around 3-5, regardless of the number of invoices.

You have a lot to learn before sucessfully using Access to handle even this
'simple' application. Can you ask your boss what business need he is trying
to satisfy in converting to Access ?


--
Regards,

Adrian Jansen
J & K MicroSystems
Microcomputer solutions for industrial control

 

[John Vinson]

Hi,

I am new to Access as I usually would use Excel for
something like this; however, my boss wants it in Access.

Excel is a spreadsheet, a good one. Access is a relational database.
THEY ARE DIFFERENT. Access is not "a big Excel" - it requires a
different mindset and a different approach. You can drive nails with a
crescent wrench, but that doesn't make it a hammer!

What I need is a table that has headings such as Contact
name, Company, Supplier, tax amounts, yearly totals, etc..
to make a Datafile of contracts based on invoice number.
So each table would have all the same field headings, but
there will be many'tables' or sheets (I guess here they
are called tables)

SO I guess there would eventually be hundreds of identical
tables, except for the invoice #???

Absolutely NOT!!! <shudder> An "Invoice" - the sheet of paper - is
just a report, printing out data pulled from several tables.

I'd see several tables (depending one what's included in your "etc."):

Companies
CompanyID
CompanyName
<info about the company as a whole>

Suppliers
SupplierID
SupplierName
<info about the supplier>

Contacts
ContactID
LastName
FirstName
Phone
EMail
CompanyID <<< link to what company the contact works for

Contracts
ContractNo << your unique contract number
CompanyID << link to Companies, who the contract is with
<other info about this contract>

Invoices
InvoiceID
InvoiceDate
ContractNo

InvoiceDetails
InvoiceID
LineNo
<more information about what's included in the invoice, probably
including SupplierID, Cost, an item description, etc. etc.>

Also, NO reports, order forms, etc,etc are ever needed for
this database...just using it to keep track of the
hospital's contracts

So... you just want to store the data. You never want to look at it
(using Forms, the appropriate tool for looking at data), and you never
want to print it out (using Reports, the appropriate tool for printing
data)?

That's a bit like setting up a spreadsheet without any expressions in
any cell, just raw data: a total misuse of the software.

Does this sound like something Access can do for me, or
should I be using other software???

It can, but you will need to read up a bit on Access and on relational
database design to do it correctly. I think your boss may be right -
it sounds like a perfectly reasonable relational-database application
to me!