Template Suggestion?

[TSO]

I'm very new to Access, though I dabbled with programming in college. Basically, I'm looking to create a database of documents, that can be filtered down via combo boxes. I was hoping to find a template already existing in Access, but wasn't sure anything I saw fit. Any ideas on where I can download templates, or if you have a suggestion on which template might be the closest fit?



Thanks!

[ajetrumpet]

a database of documents or LINKS to documents?

[TSO]

a database of documents or LINKS to documents?

Sorry; links to documents. The Access form I'm hoping will just be more of a GUI tool to help filter down and find docs. Example: ability to use a drop-down to search all documents about animals, then another dropdown to choose mammals, and using that last filter to find 'dolphin' and open the link to the dolphin document.

[ajetrumpet]

you know that these controls are also available in excel, don't you? for instance, you can put a dropdown on a sheet and filter the entire range based on that dropdown with two lines of code.

[TSO]

you know that these controls are also available in excel, don't you? for instance, you can put a dropdown on a sheet and filter the entire range based on that dropdown with two lines of code.

Yes, that's what we are currently using, but the documents are expected to grow into the thousands, and filtering with Excel is getting messy, and we're trying to make it more intuitive. I figured that a more cleanly layed out GUI and the use of combo boxes are going to make this much easier to navigate. Our docs are heavily utilized by category/sub-category, so this seemed like it would be a very nice tool to make use of. And if Access can utilize the Excel spreadsheets as tables for these boxes (I'm assuming it can), even better, since our updates of the Excel spreadsheet would theoretically automatically update the Access form as well.. Does that sound sane? :-X You guys are the experts though. If you feel I'm wasting my time, feel free to let me know.

By the way, I'm not sure I really need a template. I found a "synchronized combo box how-to" within Access and am learning how to code the boxes/categories and what-not. The rest should be aesthetics, so hopefully no big deal.

[ajetrumpet]

if your document list will always be in excel, or if it's already thousands of records long, what you should really do (if it's going to be updated on a continual basis) is link the sheets to access. that would work fine for you I would think.

I've seen plenty of people continually import sheets to access after updates, and I never understood why people do this. But different situations call for different measures I guess. Soooo....that's what I would. and no, I don't think you're wasting your time, but I do think that if I was your consultant, I could find a more efficient way to do what you're doing, whatever it is!

So after all that rambling, you now have my recommendation to you.