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
    2019-10-29T21:33:02+00:00

    Thanks, so will this workflow eliminate duplicate records in a query? Or are duplicate records something I have to delete from a query manually. If so, how?

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  2. George Hepworth 23,120 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2019-10-29T21:19:31+00:00

    The tables you need depend 100% on your requirements. I see there, for example, the possibility of one, two or three tables, and possibly a couple more tables, depending on what you need.

    For example:

    a Client table would need a field for first name, a field for last name, and possibly one for middle name.

    The client table would need a field for birthdate, but NOT one for age. Age is constantly changing as each day goes by. It's a fact of life that storing age as of the date the record is entered means it will be valid for one year at MOST, depending on when the record is entered in relation to that birthdate. In other words, it would have to be constantly updated. Not cool.

    Some cases call for a separate address table with fields for

    StreetAddressLineOne, StreetAddressLineTwo, City, State and Postal Code. Depending on where you are, there may be other options (ZIP Code in US, Postal Code in Canada, for example).

    If one person can have two or more addresses, or if two people can both share one address (think parents and children, or spouses or roommates), then a separate table of addresses is desirable because it can eliminate redundancy. If two or more people can share two or more addresses, you'll need another table in between them. This is often called a junction table, although it goes by other names.

    The same is true of phone numbers.

    If you can have only one address per client, and only one phone number per client, and no two people share an address or phone number, you can include them in the client table.

    If the only data stored in this database consists of this sort of "ClientList", then you can have one table or the other tables outlined above.

    If you want to store data about services or products sold or provided to your clients, you'll need additional tables for that. It depends on what you are after.

    Note that in the above discussion I did not include an really important part of the tables. Each one needs a Primary Key. And, if they are broken out into related tables (e.g. Client and Client Address), the "child tables" need a Foreign Key pointing back to the appropriate Client record, i.e. Client Address has a "ClientID" field for its foreign key, relating it to the ClientID Primary Key in the Client table.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-10-29T20:56:54+00:00

    When I create a query from a table, the query duplicates record. For example, I create a form from the Client_Info table; clients Name, Phone, Address, birthday and age. I enter John Doe's info into the Form. His record is in the table but when I create a query, his record is repeated several times. 

    I was under the impression that I could create a query and a report from a single table. Are you saying I need multiple tables?

    For example:

    Table 1

    Client name

    Table 2

    Client phone number

    Table 3

    Client Address

    Table 4

    Client Birthday

    Table 5

    Client Age

    Is this how I should proceed? I thought it would be better to put the above information into one table.

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