How to do this: A Form Letter thru Word or a Report thru Access

[XenoZephyr]

Here's the situation that we are trying to fix.



We have a Access database keeping track of student records. We have a field that tracks whether a student has passed their comprehensive exam. The exam is twice a year and anywhere from 25 - 50 students take it at once. When we get the test results back, we enter whether each student passed or failed the exam. Then we send a postal letter to the student letting them know that they either passed or failed.

Right now though, one person enters the information into the database, then writes down who passed, who failed, then then those names along with their addresses are given to another person who puts that information into 25 - 50 individual word files, prints them out and then mails them. Not only is this not efficient but we've had transcription errors in between which have caused letter to be lost in the mail.

After we update a student's record, we have to print out an information sheet that summaries much of the information and place that in the student's folder.

What we really want to be able to do is that once we enter Pass or Fail for their exam, we want to be able to press a button that prints out the appropriate letter with their information pulled right from the database.

We're still very new with our Access database and none of us have ever used the Form letter wizard in Access. What's the best way for us to go about this? Should we make two template Access Reports (a pass and fail template) and then print that report, or should we export the names to Word and use the Mail Merge option there? And if there are any good web resources then on doing whatever option we should be doing, that'd be great to have as well. Thanks to anyone who can clue us in on this!

[June7]

First of all, why is someone writing what can be printed or digitally exported?

Second, one 'letter template' should be adequate. Why have the passed and failed students in separate output? All could be produced in one output.

Third, why even involve Word?

[Dal Jeanis]

Either way should work.

You can define a query that includes the passed students, and one that includes the failed student, and use those as the data source from the Word side, or you can do it from the Access side as well.

You could use the same query instead, in report form, to print mailing labels.