Newbie: Print Analytical Report

[frosty]

I am really new to access and think I have grabbed several of the basic concepts, however please be gentle!

I need to collect lab testing data of several differing products, and be able to print this data on a certificate of analysis:

eg.

Product: a
Batch Number: b
Date:

Test 1:
Result: c lower limit w upper limit x

Test 2:
Result: d lower limit y upper limit z


Where a certificate will have different limits depending upon the specification for each of seperate products.

I (think!) I am able to create a table etc to collect the relevant data, but if someone could guide me through the basic steps to get the relevant data on a certificate I'd very much appreciate it.

I guess I'll have to make a word certificate, and reference lookup fields but I'm not really sure how to go about this. I have very limited ability with VBA and SQL code.

Any help is really appreciated.



Many thanks in advance guys!

Frosty.

[Robeen]

Do you have your Table created and all the data you need in the Table?

Once you do - the next thing to do is to decide what data from your table needs to be on the report.

Once you have decided that - I think the next thing to do would be to create a Query that retrieves the data you need.

Then - you can create a Report based on the Query.

Then - you can Export the Report either to a Word Doc - or a PDF. I've found that PDF keeps my formatting etc a LOT better than Word.

I'll be happy to walk you through this process one step at a time if you need.

And there are a lot of really helpful people on this site too.

You came to a good place for help!

[rpeare]

Are Test1 and Test2 the same test just performed twice on two different items in the same batch? Or are they two completely different tests on the same item? I'm assuming each test has a tolerance as well, so that if, for example, for test1 if either W or X were outside the tolerance you'd want to have some sort of warning that the part had failed? Are W and X single, end point measurements or would it be the minimum and maximum value of a series of measurements?

Can the same test be performed on different parts of different types? or is each test completely independent?

For instance Can Test A be performed on Part A and Part B or can Test A only be performed on Part A?

There's a bunch of questions that really will form how you design your table structure. From there everything else you want is pretty easy.

[frosty]

Thanks loads for the input so far, really appreciate the help.

The tests that I wish to perform will be different for different products, but some will be the same.

Eg

There are 10 different products in total
There are a total of 8 differing tests in total
Each product has differing test requirements, although some are repeated, and will only require a selection of the tests

Product 1 pH and Viscosity
Product 2 pH, Viscosity and freezing point
Product 3 pH, Viscosity and refractive index

etc.

There will be upper and lower limits that the products have to fall in to for each test, but to get started I could rely on human interaction to flag this.

I would like to automatically generate a sample number, which I can do, but I would like to be able to print a certificate from a search for a product and/or batch number. The certificate will show the result of the testing (and the upper lower limits that it falls within), the batch number, and maybe other information like where it was sampled from, the date, analyst etc.

Its really encouraging that this seems easy, maybe easy for you experts!!

Many thanks again.

[rpeare]

You didn't really get at the heart of the matter with your description but here's an example of how I would set it up. The data entry form is set up to accept multiple tests results for each test type. The report aggregates by the min and max test value and compares it against a tolerance for that product for that test. It's a very basic design with only one data entry form but it should give you a start.

[frosty]

Wow, thank you soooo much for putting the time in on to put the attached together. I'll have a look through and try and work out the magic you've performed.

My gosh you people are good!!