Microsoft Access Database: 5 Ways to Utilise Microsoft Access ReportsPosted by Peck Lind on April 30th, 2021 If I had to pick out one kind of Microsoft Access object that is often overlooked or given minimal time when building your Access database; Access reports will be that choice. Why is this so? The quick answer I'm afraid is right down to how Microsoft Access training courses are usually delivered where reports are normally the last part to your database development process , nor get the full attention they really deserve. Ironically, Access reports is where you should start during the designing and planning procedure for your Microsoft Access database nonetheless it may be the last step when building such objects. Therefore, let's re-address this now and present Access reports our full attention and let me show you 5 methods for you to use Microsoft Access reports. Simple tabular lists - The most frequent form of a Microsoft Access report where there's the simple wizard tool and different templates to pick and choose. This is useful for your straight forward kind of list and most users typically find yourself here only. get more info (2007 & 2010) have richer and better formatted templates to work with and all will require some manual tweaking via the look view mode. Grouping lists - Like the simple tabular list report but with the added component of categorising into one or more groups (or sections). This is normally useful for queries or related tables where longer lists are better to understand when broken into natural sections. There is the wizard tool to get you started but at the end of the day, you'll be editing your document in the look view mode. Columnar document - This type of Access report is more for the single record per page layout which would serve users as examples of an order document, delivery note or an invoice and once again the wizard tool and the set templates will get you started in a couple of seconds. Charting - In the past before Pivot Tables & Pivot Charts, this object was used to embed a simple Microsoft Graph object linked to your summary data (via an Access query). Some extra effort via the design mode is essential to really get that rich look and feel for a chart. Nested report shell - Not many users may be aware of this but you could have a shell (unbound) report to act as the container for the multiple nested reports bound together. For example, a sub-report is actually a matrix table, another a small list and a third is actually a summary list and don't have to be related in the same report. In every cases, some extra effort is required to understand the Microsoft Access report canvas area and their controls to get a good grasp of this often overlooked and under used object. Another Tip for you! Access VBA code could be added to any Microsoft Access report and is normally attached to one of many pre-defined Events which includes load, print and close of a report. There is even an event that will respond when there is no data found as well as your VBA code will display a note instead of showing a clear report.Like it? Share it! More by this author |