Designing a customizable report creator using forms & queries

[DataRick]

I'm not sure where to post this as it applies to forms, queries, and reports.



I am trying to create a form that will populate parameters in a query and output the results as a printable report. I have created the query and the form that displays all the parameters in the query. I've also added a run button to the form that runs the query (I eventually plan to have it run the report but I thought I would get the query to work first). The end user will define the desired parameters on the form (note that they may choose some or all of the parameters).

When I bring up the form, it seems to run the query without any parameters (it pulls all the records in the table). I don't want it to run the query until the user inputs the parameters. After you input some of the parameters and hit the run button, the query results pop up showing all the records in the table. It seems as if the query didn't recognize the parameters.

I have written queries and reports before where a box pops up for each parameter. Do I somehow need to tell the query to get the parameters from the form? I've also built forms before but they were designed to input data directly in to tables.

I've built many access database systems over the years for personal use but this is the first time I've built one as part of my job. I have minimal if any experience with the advanced capabilities of Access. I understand the basics behind relational database design and queries but now I'm trying to expand my knowledge base in to uncharted waters! Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

I've attached a brief explanation of how the database is modeled.

[June7]

Review tutorials at http://datapigtechnologies.com/AccessMain.htm especially Build a Custom Filter in Your Form and Creating a Basic Search Form in the Access Forms: Tips and Techniques section. Set up the parameters for the report's RecordSource query as described in the tutorials.