access to word merge report questions

[rick m]

We have a fairly good sized Access database that contains some info on
the children our agency sees. We also have 40+ templates that require
some info from the database be inputted into them, such as the name of
the child, their address, etc. At this time staff will look into the
database for that info and enter it into the form. Management wants to
automate this a bit so each of these templates is a report. That leads
to my question.

I've googled for this and can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

Anyway, is it possible to do an access to word merge that will dump the
"report" into an existing word template, so that when the user runs the
report (I guess they'll do a query on the name of the kid, then a
report) that will be created like a template is, giving them a
"document1" (or something like that) which they are forced to save as
under another name?

Example:

John Doe gets into our system. One of the documents is a referral form.
This 4 page document is a mix of checkboxes and fill in the blanks,
which some folks will print out and hand write while others will type
in the first section that contains the same info that is in the
database (name, DOB, address, etc). The rest of the document we don't
save unless they type it, if it's handwritten it goes into their chart,
if it's typed up they'll save it in the child's directory then print
the thing out and insert it into the chart. Other caregivers will write
on this document as needed. It would be nice to have a query/report
that will allow the staff to get a mostly filled in document that they
can work with.

Is this possible, if so, HOW SO? Maybe my google searches are missing
something.

(we're all using Access and Word 2003)

[Rick Wannall]

On 2 Jun 2006 20:00:59 -0700, "rick m" <ca*******@gmail.com> wrote:

Do you have anyone on staff who is handy with Word MailMerge? It is
possible to connect to an Access database from within Word, by creaing
a mail merge document and choosing your database as the data source.
You then choose the table. Then, in your merge document , you place
"field markers" that identify what field data should go whereever you
drop the "marker" on the page.

If you need to get away without doing too much development in Access,
this might do it for you.

You can even filter the data during the merge so that you can narrow
it down to a single row, at least in theory.

Could you take this approach?

[rick m]

Rick Wannall wrote:

Do you have anyone on staff who is handy with Word MailMerge? It is
possible to connect to an Access database from within Word, by creaing
a mail merge document and choosing your database as the data source.
You then choose the table. Then, in your merge document , you place
"field markers" that identify what field data should go whereever you
drop the "marker" on the page.
No, but I'm about to learn I guess. :) I'll google around for that.
If you need to get away without doing too much development in Access,
this might do it for you.
I can do simple DBs but I have a lot of staff to manage as the sole IT
guy...sitting down for more than an hour or two with anything puts me
behind (the joy of having a huge territory and no other staff)
You can even filter the data during the merge so that you can narrow
it down to a single row, at least in theory.

Could you take this approach?

Yeah, if I'm thinking the same as you're thinking.

Thanks, back to looking at templates.

[Rick Brandt]

"rick m" <ca*******@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@u72g2000cwu.googlegr oups.com...

We have a fairly good sized Access database that contains some info on
the children our agency sees. We also have 40+ templates that require
some info from the database be inputted into them, such as the name of
the child, their address, etc. At this time staff will look into the
database for that info and enter it into the form. Management wants to
automate this a bit so each of these templates is a report. That leads
to my question.

I've googled for this and can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

Anyway, is it possible to do an access to word merge that will dump the
"report" into an existing word template, so that when the user runs the
report (I guess they'll do a query on the name of the kid, then a
report) that will be created like a template is, giving them a
"document1" (or something like that) which they are forced to save as
under another name?

Example:

John Doe gets into our system. One of the documents is a referral form.
This 4 page document is a mix of checkboxes and fill in the blanks,
which some folks will print out and hand write while others will type
in the first section that contains the same info that is in the
database (name, DOB, address, etc). The rest of the document we don't
save unless they type it, if it's handwritten it goes into their chart,
if it's typed up they'll save it in the child's directory then print
the thing out and insert it into the chart. Other caregivers will write
on this document as needed. It would be nice to have a query/report
that will allow the staff to get a mostly filled in document that they
can work with.

Is this possible, if so, HOW SO? Maybe my google searches are missing
something.

(we're all using Access and Word 2003)

Not sure I see why you need to merge to Word. Why not fill out a form in Access
and then print out an Access report? Anyway, Albert Kallal has a utility for
Access that makes merging to Word about as easy as it can get.

(link wasn't working at the time of this post, but hopefully that is just a
temporary issue)

http://www.attcanada.net/~kallal.msn.../msaccess.html

--
Rick Brandt, Microsoft Access MVP
Email (as appropriate) to...
RBrandt at Hunter dot com

[Jens Schilling]

Hi

Albert Kallal has a utility for Access that makes merging to Word (link
wasn't working at the time of this post, but hopefully that is
just a temporary issue)

http://www.attcanada.net/~kallal.msn.../msaccess.html

This one is working :

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKal.../msaccess.html

Title : Not another ms-access page! ;-)

Jens

[Rick Wannall]

The right solution is going to depend on the skill set available for the
project. In-house staff tend to be much more comfortable with Word than
with Access. In this case, it might make sense to simply copy one of the
existing document, link it to a data source, and then start dropping field
markers into the already-existing areas on the Word document.

That would mean not having to re-create the Word documents from scratch in
an Access report. While it is true that Access reporting tolls are some of
the best around, bar none, to produce a highly formatted report, matching an
existing document, requires as much skill in the Access report designer as
it would with any other layout tool. And it's a rather different paradigm
for most office workers from what they are used to.

Access reporting is certainly a good option to consider, but its ranking in
the user's list of possible tools has a lot to do with factors other than
whether Access report design tools are great, which they are.