I'm trying to create a form to fill three tables to describe some projects with the 'Title of the project' as common field. When I create the form I have to write the title three times, otherwise it's not posible to fill the tables. Is there any way to put just one of the three fields on the form but the three of them are filled?
The database is empty, I want to make a form to start introducing all the projects that are going to be done in my group of work. In one table there are data related to the project, like start dat , full budget etc. In another one the information about my company, like the group its doing it, its role etc. In the last one just some general information like related tags. The name of the project appears in all of them, but when I do the form from a query they seem not to be related even if I do it on the query.
I've already tried to do it with the Wizard tool, selecting the different tables and its fields. I also tried to check the form properties...but I can't come up with what I'm doing wrong...
I'm new using access...
Related
TblEmployees has Fname, Lname and EmployeeName fields. EmployeeName should be Fname + Lname (i.e. John Doe). I want to enter Fname and Lname in a form FrmEmployeeData, and update TblEmployees with Fname, Lname and EmployeeName.
If FrmEmployeeData has as Data Source TblEmployees, how do I get the concatenated [Fname]&" "&[Lname] into the EmployeeName field of the table?
I also tried changing the DataSource of FrmEmployeeData to a query QryConcatenateFname&Lname where EmployeeName:[Fname]&" "&[Lname]. This gave the correct "John Doe" in the query result but I could not get it to update the TblEmployees.
What am I doing wrong? Thx.
It looks like you are learning access as this question is really too simple for stack overflow. Instead consult an Access book at your library or start finding Youtube vidoes and tutorials on the internet. Having said that here is a start:
Access gives you the ability to add a calculated field to a table in the design tab by treating it as a DataType. You can also add lookups and some data validation. Never do any of that!! Use forms to enter and search the data, and use reports to print the data.
A simple yet quite incomplete explanation is that as your database expands into multiple related tables you will find that entering the data directly into the tables is error prone for the database designer yet alone the clients. Because any observation will be distributed across multiple tables it becomes easier and easier to forget one or make a mistake as you add more and more tables.
Access is designed for quickly making simple forms for the tables in your database. If your relationships are already entered using the Relationships tool Access even generates starter forms that handle 1 to many relationships. Just click on a table and under home then forms group on the ribbon choose either form or form wizard and start playing with your new forms properties:
if you don't see the properties (hit f4 in most cases). Seriously every control has properties you can play with. In particular look at the control sources and for the form itself (hit the top left corner to select the form) check out the default view property.
I happened to include EmployeeName as a string in tblEmployees but there was no need other than having access put the EmployeeName textbox on the form. I would have to go back and delete EmployeeName from the table which is about the same effort as adding the textbox to the form myself. Below I show how to set the control source for EmployeeName to the usual FullName calculation
=[Fname] & " " & [Lname]
Access forms by default have both data entry and search capabilities. Play with the record selector highlighted at the bottom of the beautified form below. You can edit any record you see and the changes will appear in the table. If you go past the last record you can add a new record.
I'm writing a budget database, and while planning out the tables went fine, forms are proving to be trickier.
I have a 'transactions' table, and two queries based off it. The tables and column names are below
'people_to_reimburse' : payee_name, total
'unwritten_checks' : payee_name, amount, description, date_incurred
I'd like to make a form where you can go through the people to reimburse, and there's a subform showing which checks are theirs. Obviously, the payee_name would be the field to link on.
However, in Access's Form Wizard, when I select these two tables, I get an error of:
You have chosen fields from record sources which the wizard can't connect. You may have chosen fields from a table and from a query based on that table.
How would I set up a form like this, if it's possible? If not, why can't I?
I have a specific question regarding the utilization of three tables in a database. Table 1 is called Personnel, and lists the names of the staff.
Tables 2 and 3 are identical, just listing two different types of overtime (long and short), along with the hours of the OT, Date of the OT, and Assigned to/Picked fields that are empty.
Here is the idea, I just dont know how to implement it. I would like to create a form for people to enter their OT picks, then automatically move to the next person on the list. So Rich Riphon, as an example, would be up first, would click on the link I would send, and a form would open up, showing his name, populated by the first table, and showing two drop down menus, populated from the Long OT and Short OT tables. He would select one from each (or None, which would be a option) and Submit it.
The form action would be to place his name in the Assigned field for the OT he picked, and place a Yes in the Picked field.
When the next person in the list opens the form, it has moved down to number 2 on the Personnel list, Cheryl Peterson, and shows her the remaining OT selections (excluding those that have a Yes in the Picked column).
Any suggestions or comments or better ways to do this would be appreciated.
First, I don't think ms access would be able to (easily) kick off the process based on a hyperlink. You may be able to do something by passing a macro name to a cmd prompt but it would take some mastery to get it working properly. Could you instead create a login form to get the current user? If you do that you don't really need to display the personnel list, just keep track of who has not yet responded to the OT request. Essentially at that point all you would need on your form is a listing of the available OT and a button that creates the assignment. Also it may be easier (and a better design) to only have one table for the OT listings and add a column for the type of overtime (long/short).
What if Cheryl isn't the 2nd person to get the form? Your concept goes out the window.
Instead, I would keep a table of all user names, and their security level. managers can see everything, individual users can only see their record. This would be done by using a query behind the OT Picks form, and either filtering by the current user or not filtering at all. I have done many of these types of "user control" databases and they all have worked well.
As for the actual OT tracking, I agree with Steve's post in that it should be done in one table This would be the preferred method of a concept referred to as "normalizing data". You really want to store as little data as possible to keep the size of your database down. As an example, your Login table would have the following fields:
UserID
FirstName
LastName
SecurityLevel
Address1
Address2
City
State
Phone
Etc... (whatever relevant info pertains to that person)
Your OT table would look like this:
UserID
OTDate
OTHours
OTType
Etc... (whatever else is relevant to OT)
You would then join those 2 tables on the UserID fields in both tables any time you needed to write a query to report OT hours or whatever.
What I really need is a Tabular form that allows me to update multiple rows at a time while being filterable like an Interactive report. Any chance this is even remotely possible?
I would also like to hijack the row checkboxes on a tabular form that appear when the 'delete' functionality is activated and use them to select which rows get assigned a to a group based on a common attribute. (i.e. My table contains parts in my inventory and I need to be able to assign parts with common attributes to a group for processing)
Perhaps a group-by function that creates a new row in a 'Group' table with the group as the PK and the parts assigned to that group as a list or something...?
Thoughts? I am kind of at a loss...
It's really not that hard :) You can easily transform an IR into a pseudo-tabular form. And even though there are always more stylish and elegant solutions, those usually involve lots of javascript and/or plugins. They're nice, but not always what you want or need of course.
So how to manipulate your output? Use the APEX_ITEM api!
Quick example. I have an ir built on emp. I added a checkbox and textbox.
select empno, ename, deptno,
apex_item.checkbox(1, empno) empno_selected,
apex_item.text(2, ename, 10, 10) ename_edit
from emp
Don't forget: in the column attributes, set Display text as to Standard Report Column. If you don't, the output will be in plain text. Since apex_item generates html code, you don't want the plain text of course :)
Now, to be able to perform DML based on the actions you do in those generated fields, you will need a process. Let me start off by pointing out though that the generated items are stored in application variables, namely in arrays in APEX_APPLICATION.
Take note of the behaviour of checkboxes: only ticked boxes will have their value stored in the array!
As an example, i've made this small On Submit process (also adding a SUBMIT button on the form to actually perform the submit...)
for i in 1..apex_application.g_f01.count
loop
insert into empselected(empno, selectiondate, ename_changed)
values(apex_application.g_f01(i), sysdate, apex_application.g_f02(i));
end loop;
This will loop over the records with the checkboxes ticked, and insert them into some table. For example, i ticked the box with KING and edited the textfield. See record nr 2 (1 is from a previous action ;))
It's not all the way there yet though. You still miss out on the functionality of a tabular form and it's processes, and things like optimistic locking. If you want to stay with tabular forms, you can also, for example, check out this link. There have also been some questions here about writing your own mru processes etc, like this one ;)
It is possisble, using the same tabular form.
Create an item (text item) in the tabular form region.
Create a submit button (Create a button displayed among this region's items)
Modify the where clause in the tabular form region source
For Example, you need search by customer name:
WHERE lower(CUSTOMER_NAME) LIKE '%'||lower(nvl(:PXX_SEARCH,CUSOTOMER_NAME))||'%'
If you need to search for other field only add other condition to the where clause
WHERE (
lower(CUSTOMER_NAME) LIKE '%'||lower(nvl(:PXX_SEARCH,CUSOTOMER_NAME))||'%'
or lower(CUSTOMER_address) LIKE '%'||lower(nvl(:PXX_SEARCH,CUSOTOMER_NAME))||'%'
)
Simple and use the same tabular form.
I have quite the request. A developer created our database that has multiple Layouts with a relationship tree that is very messy. Had another developer come in, take a look at it, he said that it would be too time consuming and painful to deconstruct our system, consider creating a script for now so that you can work around it until it can be fixed. Here's the dilemma: I've got information on one page that is supposed to reference information on a number of different pages utilizing tabs and portals. However, all the information is linked to a username. This username is not static/serialized or what have you. Therefore, if the issue is not caught right away a great deal of information can be linked to this person's 'page'. If the name is incorrect and someone tries to alter the username even slightly, it breaks that relationship and starts a new one. The information does not disappear, but it is basically sitting in limbo somewhere until you change the name back to the original. I've actually tried exporting the information, changing the information that doesn't match, i.e. changing a name from Jon.Smith to John.Smith, and then importing the information to a new 'page' for that person with unsuccessful results. Which brings me to my question, is a script going to be able to fix this problem? Likewise, are there any suggestions to how to create this script? I apologize, but I have very little experience with DataBase management at all, and am not sure why this project fell upon me. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Well, as a general answer, just about anything that a user can do in FileMaker (and by user, I mean non-developer, so activities such as defining the database structure, writing scripts, etc., are excluded) can be scripted. So if you're able to "solve" the problem by resetting a field's value, for example, then, yes, a script can do that.
Regarding your specific trouble, a script probably doesn't need to export the records, but could reset the values for the field within FileMaker. This could be done either by looping through the records that need to be changed or by using the Replace Field Contents script step. So a script could do something like this:
Go to Layout[MyLayout] // Go to a layout that is attached to the table you need to search.
Perform Find[Restore] // Restore a find that will show the records you need to change.
Replace Field Contents[Table::Field; "New Value"]
Offering more advice than this would require actually seeing the database and understanding more about your specific needs.
wchsTech4, you are in luck because your problem is easy to fix. You don't even need a script.
BACK UP YOUR FILE(S) FIRST. Then:
1) Create two new fields:
id (person table)
Options for id: Auto-enter serial number
person_id (the table related to person)
2) Generate serial numbers for the new id field in the person table.
Navigate to the person layout.
'Records' > 'Show all records'
Click in the id field and select 'Records' > 'Replace field contents.'
Choose 'Replace with serial numbers' and accept the defaults. Be sure to check the box to update your next serial number.
3) Place the serial numbers you just generated in the related table.
Navigate to the related layout.
'Records' > 'Show all records'
Click in the person_id field and select 'Records' > 'Replace field contents.'
Choose 'Specify' next to 'Replace with calculated results.'
In the drop down on the top left, select the related person table.
Double click the id field (your calculation should be person::id, with person replaced with the name of your table).
Click 'OK' and then 'Replace.'
4) Change the relationship.
Select 'File' > 'Manage' > 'Database.'
Navigate to the relationship tab.
Change the relationship from being based on name to id.
5) Test everything. Should work.
There is a chance that your related records are being created in such a manner that you also need to modify a script, website, or something else not mentioned here to have your fix work going forward. That is important to investigate.