Replicating a switchboard-type function

[roaftech]

Can anyone point me in the direction of a primer on how the switchboard functions? I don't mean how to create switchboard items but rather the processes behind the activities. I would like to use the idea of a table-based functionality to create a series of related reports, where the headings, spacings, datasources, etc, are held in a table, rather than having a large number of separately-designed reports that may differ only in small details of layout. (ie it's not just the content but the format that I want to control.) It seems to me that the way the 'switchboard items' table is configured might be adaptable for this but I need to know more about how the switchboard uses the table data.
Many thanks

[June7]

Start with http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ac...001213876.aspx
I sort of figured out how switchboard works by exploring one of the db templates but no way I can try to convey that here. I doubt it can be applied to report production, never seen it.

Be aware switchboard is phased out with Access 2010 in favor of the Navigation form. However, I never like the switchboard and don't appreciate the Navigation form any better. Both are designed with web database in mind.

[roaftech]

Thanks for your prompt response (as usual). I too worked out the basic principles of the built-in switchboard by exploring "what happens if ..." and then building up my knowledge as situations dictated.
I am relatively new to producing reports in Access - when I worked in local government the scale of the operation was such that I preferred to export the processed data to Excel for preparing reports and graphs. Now I am in a much smaller voluntary situation where the native reporting in Access is appropriate and I am exploring this aspect further.
My idea was to try to replicate the functionality behind the switchboard - using a table-based approach to defining the details of report layout and contents, and fitting them into a standard template. My reports each have a similar layout but change in details such as title, headings, column widths, etc and rather than design a copy of the report for each variation I was exploring the idea of putting those details into a table, to be called as necessary. (In a way, not dissimilar to constructing a SQL query using VBA.) It's not a high priority thing - more a continuation of 'learning by doing'. I'll report back if anything comes of it.
(And, being a charity with little funding we won't be getting Ofiice 2007 or 2010 until it starts appearing on the second-hand computers that we get given, by which time I will be too old to learn the ribbon menu system!)

[June7]

Nah, never too old.