Results 1 to 3 of 3
  1. #1
    Sinkerhawk is offline Novice
    Windows XP Access 2007
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    1

    Best Practices

    Hi, Folks

    I'm fairly new to Access, but I really want to learn more to help me with my job. I've got a lot of experience designing Excel spreadsheets so shifting my brain to Access has been a challenge so far. I do have one question regarding the best ways to build queries.....

    My job is to validate cellular phone invoices for multiple companies. So what I am trying to do is create a single Make Table query that will show a specific cell phone plan and the discount applied to it. The first problem is that while a plan has a single line on the report, the discount may be spread across multiple line items with the same description. To setup a query so far, I've had to do the following:

    1. Create a make table query to sum up the discount lines per phone number.
    2. Create a make table query to be able to join concatenated data representing the phone number + the charge description (this is so I could get a unique key to join it to the raw data table).
    3. Create a final make table query to link the summed discount to the associated phone number + plan.



    I realize this is hard to understand without specifics, but it's a lot of info to go through.

    Am I right in thinking a query cannot call a value from a field in the same query? I'm so used to doing that in Excel. Is it normal to have to make a lot of querys/tables to get a final result or should I be able to do all I want in a single query? I want to get this done with the least amount of work possible.....the bigger it is, the harder it is for someone else to figure out.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    orange's Avatar
    orange is online now Moderator
    Windows XP Access 2003
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; West Palm Beach FL
    Posts
    16,716
    I think the best use of 2 or 3 hours at this point is to read the first few topics at this site. You need to understand Table design and Relationships. And I would strongly suggest a data model(ERD) to assist with your design.
    http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/forum/topic238.html

  3. #3
    boblarson is offline --------
    Windows 7 64bit Access 2010 32bit
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    1,272
    Also, you don't normally need make table queries. You can use queries in queries in queries, etc. They can be used in 99% of the places a table can be used, so you rarely have to create a table, just use the query.

Please reply to this thread with any new information or opinions.

Similar Threads

  1. Form Record Source - Best practices.
    By ser01 in forum Forms
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 06-11-2011, 11:32 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Other Forums: Microsoft Office Forums