new to access need help on database

[Miketallica]

okay im gonna attempt to explain what im looking for. hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction.

i am a general contractor and i have a list of over 2,000 subcontractors in an excel spreadsheet. i want to move this list to access so that mutiple people can use it at once. excel's shared workbook option isnt that awesome so im pretty sure access is the key (no pun intended)

the way this list works for me is i set up a job name off to the right and i sort the list based on state and then trade's required to bid on the project. (example, if the job is in nevada, i select only nevada subs, then if the jobs needs, concrete, landscaping, electrcial, i select those subs within those trades)

once i have filtered the list to the appropriate subs i put an "O" in the job name column. and with my conditional formating it highlights yellow by defalt.
the secretary's job is to call all of the "O"'s on the list and ask whether or not if they will be bidding on the project. she will then put a "Y" or an "N" in the column.

when there are multiple jobs to be called on she can then see which subs she will have to ask about a couple of jobs.

i want to do this in access but im not quite sure how to go about doing this.

im thinking i create a table for the subcontractors info and then a separate table for the project names and create some sort of relationship.

can anybody help me out with this? i just need a little push in the right direction. or if there are example databases out there i can pick apart.



thanks.

[cm-net]

Mike,

It sounds like you're going to need two tables and a query:

Table 1) the subcontractor table that will need to have at least 4 fields. 1- Unique ID (Access will create this for you on import), 2- subcontractor name, 3- subcontractor type (plumbing, electric, etc.), 4- subcontractor state.

Table 2) this will contain the Jobs and will need at least 3 fields. 1- A unique job number, 2- type of job (plumbing, electric, etc.), 4-state of job.

The Jobs table will be where you make most of the data entry. You can do this directly into the table or you can create a form that allows you to write to the table.

Query 1) see attached screen shot. when the query runs, it will prompt you for "Job Type" (eg. Plumbing) and then "State" (eg. NV). Enter the criteria to get a filtered list of qualified subs in that area.

Hope this helps get you started. Let me know if you have any more questions.

c