Basic Design and 3rd party Utilization

**DHarris101** · 08-05-2018, 09:11 PM

So, this is a huge project for me. I am creating a database which will track and store a great deal of important information related to security officers including...

PII (For the Officers)
- Names
- DOB
- Address
- Contact Info
- Status
  - Active
  - Inactive
  - Not-Qualified
  - Etc.
Training Certifications
- about 30 certifications and requirements many of which need fields for both issue and expiration dates
Incident Tracking, resolutions and status
- Late/Tardy
- Any Improper on the job actions
- Relevant off-work incidents
- Complaints
Emergency contact
PII (For Instructor/Trainers)

So there's more but I think ya'll may get the idea. I would love to do scheduling and all that as well but there is already a very comprehensive payroll/scheduling system that I can't mess with, though it would be extremely useful if I could run custom Overtime reports and stuff like that so I may try to revisit that later when I have more experience, maybe if I can export a .csv from the existing program and import it into Access then run a report giving me what I need? That's do-able right?.

I have a good deal of experience when it comes to Excel but Access is a new beast for me, all I have under my belt is a summer semester in Access at my community college. It was a great class but as far as practical application goes, I'm just getting started.

The biggest question for me probably comes down to the compartmentalization of tables. I won't actually be using the DB other than to run reports, past its design. Other individuals will be using it (through forms and perhaps running reports that have already been designed) and they know next to nothing about Access and Access can be a pretty daunting program to look at so I want to give it to them in as simple a format as possible.

Is there any reason to have multiple tables for say the Security Guards? If each of the main bullets above represent a table, would it be necessary to separate, for example, the PII table and the Certifications table? Assuming that those security guards included in the PII table are the only ones that will have applicable information for the Certifications table, is there a reason to separate them?

**ranman256** · 08-05-2018, 09:22 PM

i would have 1 table for personnel.
their 'office' would be : Security guard, or custodian, or whatever.

their tTraining table would hold all training they had, the [start date] and [end date]
then you know when reTraining is needed. (some wont have an [end date])

**DHarris101** · 08-05-2018, 09:28 PM

Okay, that's an excellent idea!
So, no real reason to try to make a bunch of different tables, it sounds like.

I'm sure I'll figure it out more when I'm actually tackling it. Thank you very much!

**ssanfu** · 08-06-2018, 06:31 PM

I would suggest you take the time to work through the tutorials at http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/forum/forum46.html
Actually create the dBs and work through them, not just read through.

As you stated Access is a completely different animal that Excel. The way tables are designed is a major difference.
Excel worksheets are typically "Short and Wide" Access tables are typically "Tall and Narrow".

And Welcome to the forum.......