Fitness tracking application

[aunty thrax]

I don't know what Access is capable of, as I'm just a beginner with this sort of thing, so please bear with me. I know it is capable of quite a lot, so I'm assuming the answer will be yes. The question will more be how to go about doing it.



I'm very into training and diet, I take pictures once a week and measurements of my body, as well as videos of my training sessions. I also record my bodyweight daily (morning, fully naked, after using the bathroom), in order to track progress. I've been at this since I was 14. I'm 25 now. What I would like to do is have Access automatically organize things for me, so all I have to do is enter very simple variables. I'd want it to skip non-lifting days and fill in the next date, with the lifts and everything listed (for that training cycle), so all I have to do is drop in the sets and reps I achieved, the weight on the bar, and maybe some variables like time between sets or what have you.

The second thing I want it to do, and this is where I'm unsure if it's capable, is to have each day link to a folder on my computer, so when I click, say "04/03/2012" or however I choose to have the date displayed in my Access database, it opens up the folder on my HDD containing the pictures and videos for that day's training. Is there any way to do this? Link a cell in Access to a folder, and have it open it upon clicking?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[June7]

Yes, Access can do all that.

Review http://forums.aspfree.com/microsoft-...es-208217.html

Access has a field type called Hyperlink. Review http://allenbrowne.com/casu-09.html
and http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/ac...005188821.aspx

[aunty thrax]

Yes, Access can do all that.

Review http://forums.aspfree.com/microsoft-...es-208217.html

Access has a field type called Hyperlink. Review http://allenbrowne.com/casu-09.html
and http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/ac...005188821.aspx

Thank you for answering and providing links. I very much appreciate it.

A follow-up question - can Excel do these basic things as well? Is Access perhaps too much for what I am looking to accomplish? If so, I'd rather stick to Excel since I already have all my body metrics and data in an Excel spreadsheet.

Thank you again.

[pbaldy]

I changed your thread title to something more meaningful than "Can Access Do This?" for future users.

[June7]

Yes, Excel might be sufficient if your focus is more on calcs than on relational data management. You can have a hyperlink in a cell. VBA code behind Excel is possible. Review http://forums.aspfree.com/microsoft-...el-349267.html

[aunty thrax]

Yes, Excel might be sufficient if your focus is more on calcs than on relational data management. You can have a hyperlink in a cell. VBA code behind Excel is possible.

Very cool to know.

So could you give me a quick idea of how I would link an Excel cell to, say, a folder? I plan on having folders titled for each day, and in that folder having the relevant training data - pictures and videos of training and body composition to track progress. How do I get it so when I click a cell, it opens said folder on my computer?

Thank you for helping me.

[June7]

Google: Excel hyperlink

Here is one http://www.techonthenet.com/excel/fo.../hyperlink.php

[aunty thrax]

Google: Excel hyperlink

Here is one http://www.techonthenet.com/excel/fo.../hyperlink.php

Oh geez, that was super easy... wow!

You're awesome, June. I really need to start teaching myself to code and program basic stuff, 'cause having macros and such like this will make my life a whole lot easier if my goal is to track metrics for a lot of the skills and things I develop.

Do you have any parting advice or wisdom for this stuff? You obviously know a good deall about this, more than me for sure.

[June7]

I learned a lot by research, trial and error, and mentor. Knowing how to search for answers (web, books, pick friend's brain) can be useful. Don't be afraid to try.

Review this http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ac...010341717.aspx

and the link at bottom of my post.