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. Anonymous
    2019-11-05T17:04:35+00:00

    Thanks Scott,

    In my view,  30 hours is a lot of time when one has a full time job. But I digress. The reason my knowledge and experience results in thought processes that are different from what's needed to use Access is that I don't have an advanced degree in computer science and information technology.  If I am going to invest time in building a relational data base, do you think learning Visual Basic Studio in order to code a tool from the ground up will be a better approach. Or should I invest the time in learning VBA?

    DC

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-11-05T18:30:20+00:00

    The reason my knowledge and experience results in thought processes that are different from what's needed to use Access is that I don't have an advanced degree in computer science and information technology.  If I am going to invest time in building a relational data base, do you think learning Visual Basic Studio in order to code a tool from the ground up will be a better approach. Or should I invest the time in learning VBA?

    Nor do many of use who regularly respond to questions in forums like this.  I, for instance, have a degree in Ancient History and Archaeology, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Museum studies, and most of my career was as an Environmental Planning Officer.  I learnt to develop relational databases because I realized that it was a necessary skill to be able to do my job properly.

    You place a lot of emphasis on procedural languages like VBA, and while it is necessary to have a reasonable familiarity with that, far more important is to have a sound understanding of the database relational model itself, so that you are able to correctly model the reality in terms of its entity types and the relationships between them. Also, while Access does provide a visual query designer, a familiarity with writing queries in SQL is necessary if you are to go beyond the limits of the visual design interface.  SQL is a declarative language, not procedural, i.e. the task is logically declared by the query and the database engine does the rest.

    The demo files in my public OneDrive folder to which I referred you earlier should give you a fairly painless introduction to the basic principles and methodologies of the database relational model.

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  3. ScottGem 68,840 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2019-11-05T19:18:35+00:00

    I completely agree with Ken. I have a degree in Political Science. I actually spent the first 10 years of my working career in Employee Benefits. I fell into IT as my jobs involved using computers more and more.

    And no, Visual Studio is more for advanced coders. But your problem seems to be more in the area of understanding database design rather than procedural coding.

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