Output individual records as PDF files

Anonymous
2019-10-29T19:10:56+00:00

My organization is using MS Word form to create a client questionnaire. Each Word doc form is saved as PDF file and stored in the Client's folder. I created a form in Access to capture and parse the questions but I cannot find a way to create and output a PDF file from Access. This requires me to repeat the entry process manually into the Word document.  My IT department won't let me roll this out to other employees because of A) the double entry issue and B) they fear other users apparently will have to learn and use VBA to output individual records.

My question is: Can Access output individual records as a printable PDF format and cannot it be done without VBA?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2019-12-04T04:17:58+00:00

I can answer the one question...  You can set two Primary Keys by highlighting both rows and then pressing Primary Key.

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Anonymous
2019-11-21T22:31:42+00:00

David,

Me <--no degree in Computer Science.

I did have a great teacher who was a co-worker.  I learned a lot for her but more from the great help I received in newsgroups as there were no forums at the time.  If I were a beginner now I would start with Crystal's book which is free...

http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

You can also go here for free Data models...

http://www.databaseanswers.org/data_models/

https://www.access-diva.com/tips.html#bmDataModels

Access is simple enough for non-technical Users but once you start getting *serious* you do need to do some reading.  And those hundreds of hours are over time with the help of the many Forums where free help is given including helping you create a data model.  So if you ever decide it's worth the time, we are here to help.

I also noticed you said you created a Form and tried to add fields from another table which sounded like it was unrelated to the record source of the Form.  Well, this can only be done when table is part of the record source.  You can create a query which can include multiple tables from which you need fields and build your form though most would just use a subform in a typical one-to-many scenario.

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2019-11-07T03:53:54+00:00

    Maybe this:

    "I created a table that pulls data from other tables"

    was meant to be:

    "I created a query that pulls data from other tables" 

    but, unless there was some relationship between as least one field in one of the tables to a field in the other table, you would probably have had a lot more in the result of the query than you needed

    That said, if you can create a query that outputs all of the required information, you could use that as the data source for a Merge to Individual Documents using that facility on my Merge Tools Add-in that is contained in the MERGE TOOLS ADD-IN.zip file that you can download from the following page of my One Drive:

    http://bit.ly/1hduSCB

    All of the required VBA code is in that Add-in.

    Extract the files from the archive and read the:

    “READ ME – Setting up and using the Merge Tools Add-in.pdf

    to see how to install and use the various tools.  Using those tools, it is possible to perform the following types of merge that cannot be done with Mail Merge “out-of-the-box”:

    ●    Merge to e-mail messages either with or without attachments, with the documents created by the merge being sent as either Word or PDF attachments or as the body of the e-mail message.

    ●    Merge to individual documents in either Word or PDF format with the filenames being supplied by the data in one of the fields in the data source

    ●    Many to One type merges, which can be used for creating documents such as invoices where there are multiple records in the data source that have common data in one of the fields

    ●    Merging to a document that will include a chart that is unique to each record in the data source

    ●    Merging a document with Content Controls

    ●    Merging a document that contains Legacy FormFields

    ●    Duplex Merges

    ●    Merging to a printer that will collate and staple the output created from each record in the data source.

    The requirements for using the system are:

    ●    The mail merge main document must be of the Letters type, though that does not mean that the output cannot be sent as an e-mail message where relevant.

    ●    For the Many To One, Merge with Attachments and Merge to Individual Docs utilities, the data source may be either a table or query in an Access database, or in the form of an Excel worksheet and that worksheet must be the first sheet in the Excel workbook. If the data is on some other sheet, you can easily move that sheet so that it is the first sheet in the workbook by clicking on the sheet tab and dragging it to the left.  For the Chart Merge utility, see the Mail Merging with Charts document that is included in the Merge Tools Add-in Zip file for additional requirements for the data source for use with that utility

    ●    For a data source in the form of an Excel worksheet, the field names must be in the first row of the worksheet and there must be a field name in all of the cells in that row that are within the range of columns that contain the data.

    ●    For both types of data source, the field names must contain only alphanumeric characters (No @,#,$,%,&,(,), etc) and the field names must not start with a numeric character (0-9). The number of characters in the field names, including spaces, must not be more than 40

    .

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-11-07T02:59:53+00:00

    Hmm, just passing by but after reading thinking these links might help....

    http://www.accessmvp.com/strive4peace/Index.htm <Access Basics

    Crystal also...

    https://www.goskills.com/Course/Microsoft-Access-Basic (There is a 7 day FREE Access Basic classes)

    Hope it helps.

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  3. ScottGem 68,840 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2019-11-07T02:49:25+00:00

    I created a table that pulls data from other tables without building relationships between the two. I tried creating a form to link to my tables using the Blank Form but every time I select a field from another table it negates the the field from the previous table. Entering records in the the in Datasheet View will suffice so, I won't not bother building a form, which, I suppose, requires VBA. That said, I'm not quite sure if I need to build relationships between tables. I haven't found any learning source that explains the logic, the why and the how. 

    As for tutorials, I agree, they show but not explain. Microsoft's tutorials are especially useless. (I'm sure the folks at MS marketing department creates those tutorials instead of actual engineers.

    Can you recommend a good book? 

    Thanks,

    DC

    Tables don't pull data from other tables. Tables represent an entity that is separate but can  be related to other tables. Its not good design to add fields from multiple tables to a form. That's what subforms are for. And no a form does not require VBA.

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