Rearranging records on continuous form

[aytee111]

I have a continuous form where the user is entering new records. He wants to be able to insert new ones in between so that they print out in the right order. Also to be able to rearrange them in a different order.

I don't want to add a sequence sorting number which they will have to maintain but I don't know how to do this smoothly - the best would be a right-click to insert new records and a click-and-drag to move them around. I can put a sequence number in the background once they are done.



Any ideas?

[hertfordkc]

You want to order records which have no apparent intrinsic order by allowing the user to rearrange them?

[aytee111]

Yes, after he has done and closed the form I will add a sequence number so that they will be stored in the right order.

[John_G]

Hi -

What you want to do cannot be done in MS Access. If no order is specified, it will use the PK, and if there is no PK it uses whatever order it finds convenient. There is no facility to "insert" records in the manner you describe (are you thinking of Excel?).

"Printing out in the right order" - what do you mean by that exactly? If you are printing from the form, this is not really good practice - you should always use MS Access reports to give you full control of layout and ordering.

I should add - why do YOU have to add the sequence numbers? Cannot the system or the user do that? And you do not really need sequence numbers at all, if there are fields in the data which determine the sequencing in the first place.

John

[aytee111]

No what I wanted to hear - can't be done! Yes, it is printed on a report but all I have is the PK which is an autonumber field, not the right sequence if users wish to move lines around. Isn't there some way to use something else, maybe not a regular form, to hook into from Access? Something that will allow this?

[John_G]

Hi -

The only way you can print the records in the order you want is to include the sequencing as part of the data. If all you have is the autonumber - PK, then what determines the order you want the records printed? When users want to "move lines around", they surely have to base their decision on something - some part of the data. Date? Customer ID + Date? Name?. If you order your report based on those same criteria, it should be fine.

Remember, in Access there is no such thing as a "record number". Access puts records into tables in whatever place is convenient - leaving it up to the user to determine the order they are printed / displayed. I am not aware of a product that does what you want to do by linking to Access.

John

[aytee111]

It's just lines of data for one customer.

Thanks anyway for trying.