Help creating database

Using access 97

My boss wants me to build a database to check the things that we do on a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

I need a check list so we can mark off a job on completion

we have around 30 tasks that need doing on a daily basis, 10 tasks that need
doing on a weekly basis and 7 tasks that need doing on a monthly basis.

We need to see the tasks that are completed, the tasks that are awaiting
completion and a historic list so we can check when these tasks were done.

Also need to "diarise" weekly monthly tasks

Any advise on how to get started would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to access

Regards

Steve Goodrich

Steve

You posted in a newsgroup dedicated to supporting the use of Microsoft
Access, a relational database.

Your description sounds like a collection of lists ... is there a reason
this wouldn't work in something like Excel?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

"steve goodrich" wrote in message
...
Using access 97

My boss wants me to build a database to check the things that we do on a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

I need a check list so we can mark off a job on completion

we have around 30 tasks that need doing on a daily basis, 10 tasks that
need doing on a weekly basis and 7 tasks that need doing on a monthly
basis.

We need to see the tasks that are completed, the tasks that are awaiting
completion and a historic list so we can check when these tasks were done.

Also need to "diarise" weekly monthly tasks

Any advise on how to get started would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to access

Regards

Steve Goodrich

We already have it working in Excel, but my boss wants it in a database.
He wants certain parts of it protecting so no one else can see it - I know
how to password protect a form in access so thought I could build a db and
have forms with check boxes on, run queries/reports to see historic data.
etc

My Idea was to have a form that would default to "Today's date" with all the
tasks listed for that day so we could tick the check box on completion. How
it would default to tasks that were weekly/monthly?

It would also be used as an audit trail

Steve


"Jeff Boyce" wrote in message
...
Steve

You posted in a newsgroup dedicated to supporting the use of Microsoft
Access, a relational database.

Your description sounds like a collection of lists ... is there a reason
this wouldn't work in something like Excel?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

"steve goodrich" wrote in message
...
Using access 97

My boss wants me to build a database to check the things that we do on a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

I need a check list so we can mark off a job on completion

we have around 30 tasks that need doing on a daily basis, 10 tasks that
need doing on a weekly basis and 7 tasks that need doing on a monthly
basis.

We need to see the tasks that are completed, the tasks that are awaiting
completion and a historic list so we can check when these tasks were
done.

Also need to "diarise" weekly monthly tasks

Any advise on how to get started would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to access

Regards

Steve Goodrich

Hi Steve
What you are being asked to do is not trivial. There are a number of
component.
- Function to give particular users access to particular actions. In effect
a security system.
- Some means of history tracking where you can see if details have been
changed. For example I complete a task today which was due a week ago, and
backdate it, or come back later and change the completion date.
- Sounds like some are recurring tasks so you need a mechanism to replicate
tasks with a new date.
We have recently build some of that functionality for another client and
there were man weeks from an experienced Access developer to get it working
properly. I would suggest you talk to your boss about either getting an
experienced Access Developer to do the job, or find a tool that will do it
for you.

Neville Turbit
www.projectperfect.com.au

"steve goodrich" wrote:

We already have it working in Excel, but my boss wants it in a database.
He wants certain parts of it protecting so no one else can see it - I know
how to password protect a form in access so thought I could build a db and
have forms with check boxes on, run queries/reports to see historic data.
etc

My Idea was to have a form that would default to "Today's date" with all the
tasks listed for that day so we could tick the check box on completion. How
it would default to tasks that were weekly/monthly?

It would also be used as an audit trail

Steve


"Jeff Boyce" wrote in message
...
Steve

You posted in a newsgroup dedicated to supporting the use of Microsoft
Access, a relational database.

Your description sounds like a collection of lists ... is there a reason
this wouldn't work in something like Excel?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

"steve goodrich" wrote in message
...
Using access 97

My boss wants me to build a database to check the things that we do on a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

I need a check list so we can mark off a job on completion

we have around 30 tasks that need doing on a daily basis, 10 tasks that
need doing on a weekly basis and 7 tasks that need doing on a monthly
basis.

We need to see the tasks that are completed, the tasks that are awaiting
completion and a historic list so we can check when these tasks were
done.

Also need to "diarise" weekly monthly tasks

Any advise on how to get started would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to access

Regards

Steve Goodrich

I'll echo Neville's comments...

There are three or four learning curves to overcome in using Access to build
a user-friendly application that ACTUALLY GETS USED!

1) Relational database design & normalization
2) Access tips/tricks
3) Graphical User Interface Design
4) Application Development

If you don't have the time to come up to speed on all 4, you STILL need to
know about them, to help you pick a knowledgeable developer to hire.

Good luck!

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

"NevilleT" wrote in message
...
Hi Steve
What you are being asked to do is not trivial. There are a number of
component.
- Function to give particular users access to particular actions. In
effect
a security system.
- Some means of history tracking where you can see if details have been
changed. For example I complete a task today which was due a week ago,
and
backdate it, or come back later and change the completion date.
- Sounds like some are recurring tasks so you need a mechanism to
replicate
tasks with a new date.
We have recently build some of that functionality for another client and
there were man weeks from an experienced Access developer to get it
working
properly. I would suggest you talk to your boss about either getting an
experienced Access Developer to do the job, or find a tool that will do it
for you.

Neville Turbit
www.projectperfect.com.au

"steve goodrich" wrote:

We already have it working in Excel, but my boss wants it in a database.
He wants certain parts of it protecting so no one else can see it - I
know
how to password protect a form in access so thought I could build a db
and
have forms with check boxes on, run queries/reports to see historic data.
etc

My Idea was to have a form that would default to "Today's date" with all
the
tasks listed for that day so we could tick the check box on completion.
How
it would default to tasks that were weekly/monthly?

It would also be used as an audit trail

Steve


"Jeff Boyce" wrote in message
...
Steve

You posted in a newsgroup dedicated to supporting the use of Microsoft
Access, a relational database.

Your description sounds like a collection of lists ... is there a
reason
this wouldn't work in something like Excel?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

"steve goodrich" wrote in message
...
Using access 97

My boss wants me to build a database to check the things that we do on
a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

I need a check list so we can mark off a job on completion

we have around 30 tasks that need doing on a daily basis, 10 tasks
that
need doing on a weekly basis and 7 tasks that need doing on a monthly
basis.

We need to see the tasks that are completed, the tasks that are
awaiting
completion and a historic list so we can check when these tasks were
done.

Also need to "diarise" weekly monthly tasks

Any advise on how to get started would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to access

Regards

Steve Goodrich

Send your boss to this newsgroup ... a really smart boss realizes that s/he
specifies "what" needs to be done, and let's folks who know figure out
"how". G!

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

"steve goodrich" wrote in message
...
We already have it working in Excel, but my boss wants it in a database.
He wants certain parts of it protecting so no one else can see it - I know
how to password protect a form in access so thought I could build a db and
have forms with check boxes on, run queries/reports to see historic data.
etc

My Idea was to have a form that would default to "Today's date" with all
the tasks listed for that day so we could tick the check box on
completion. How it would default to tasks that were weekly/monthly?

It would also be used as an audit trail

Steve


"Jeff Boyce" wrote in message
...
Steve

You posted in a newsgroup dedicated to supporting the use of Microsoft
Access, a relational database.

Your description sounds like a collection of lists ... is there a reason
this wouldn't work in something like Excel?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

"steve goodrich" wrote in message
...
Using access 97

My boss wants me to build a database to check the things that we do on a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

I need a check list so we can mark off a job on completion

we have around 30 tasks that need doing on a daily basis, 10 tasks that
need doing on a weekly basis and 7 tasks that need doing on a monthly
basis.

We need to see the tasks that are completed, the tasks that are awaiting
completion and a historic list so we can check when these tasks were
done.

Also need to "diarise" weekly monthly tasks

Any advise on how to get started would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to access

Regards

Steve Goodrich

Hi Steve,

before starting to program this, I would look what already exists on the
market. There are a fair amount of programs that deal with task and project
management, ranging from the task manager in Outlook to very sophisticated
dedicated software.
If you're boss insists on doing it in Access, you can do it if you already
have some experience with relational databases (Oracle, SQL server, ...) and
programming (.net, VB, Progress, ...). In this case Access is rather easy to
master, but you'll need a fair amount of programming to come up with a good
application.
--
Kind regards
Noëlla


"steve goodrich" wrote:

Using access 97

My boss wants me to build a database to check the things that we do on a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

I need a check list so we can mark off a job on completion

we have around 30 tasks that need doing on a daily basis, 10 tasks that need
doing on a weekly basis and 7 tasks that need doing on a monthly basis.

We need to see the tasks that are completed, the tasks that are awaiting
completion and a historic list so we can check when these tasks were done.

Also need to "diarise" weekly monthly tasks

Any advise on how to get started would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to access

Regards

Steve Goodrich

Outlook has some pretty good tools for managing this sort of thing.

"steve goodrich" wrote in message
...
We already have it working in Excel, but my boss wants it in a database.
He wants certain parts of it protecting so no one else can see it - I know
how to password protect a form in access so thought I could build a db and
have forms with check boxes on, run queries/reports to see historic data.
etc

My Idea was to have a form that would default to "Today's date" with all
the tasks listed for that day so we could tick the check box on
completion. How it would default to tasks that were weekly/monthly?

It would also be used as an audit trail

Steve


"Jeff Boyce" wrote in message
...
Steve

You posted in a newsgroup dedicated to supporting the use of Microsoft
Access, a relational database.

Your description sounds like a collection of lists ... is there a reason
this wouldn't work in something like Excel?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

"steve goodrich" wrote in message
...
Using access 97

My boss wants me to build a database to check the things that we do on a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

I need a check list so we can mark off a job on completion

we have around 30 tasks that need doing on a daily basis, 10 tasks that
need doing on a weekly basis and 7 tasks that need doing on a monthly
basis.

We need to see the tasks that are completed, the tasks that are awaiting
completion and a historic list so we can check when these tasks were
done.

Also need to "diarise" weekly monthly tasks

Any advise on how to get started would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to access

Regards

Steve Goodrich

We use Access as a platform for a combined planning and task management
system. (Actually, all of the above integrate into a heirarchy that goes
from strategic planning down to task levels.) It is highly customized to
us....which is why what we have would be worthless to you, but illustrates
that the flexibility, power and openness of an Access platform can provide
advantages.

The gist of the excellent advice that the other respondents have given you
is that doing the described application (especially the special things that
your boss wants) yourself will probably be a sort of 1 year learning curve
(at a typical pace, if you're up for the learning effort) for you, combined
with developing the application over months and refining it over years. If
your boss doesn't want to hear that, then (as the respondents described)
you're either going to have to get some help or use a completed commercial
software....the latter would probably require some adaptations of
expectations.

.... or find a new boss ... g!

Jeff

"Fred" wrote in message
...
We use Access as a platform for a combined planning and task management
system. (Actually, all of the above integrate into a heirarchy that goes
from strategic planning down to task levels.) It is highly customized to
us....which is why what we have would be worthless to you, but illustrates
that the flexibility, power and openness of an Access platform can provide
advantages.

The gist of the excellent advice that the other respondents have given you
is that doing the described application (especially the special things
that
your boss wants) yourself will probably be a sort of 1 year learning curve
(at a typical pace, if you're up for the learning effort) for you,
combined
with developing the application over months and refining it over years.
If
your boss doesn't want to hear that, then (as the respondents described)
you're either going to have to get some help or use a completed commercial
software....the latter would probably require some adaptations of
expectations.