Hello everyone. I'm not a programmer, but my employer has assigned me the task of overseeing the 'IT' issues in our department. I work in healthcare industry, and our department uses a Microsoft Access program to track regular staffing assignments.
The previous employee who actually wrote the code for the program was demoted, disgruntled then quit. He left without orienting anyone to the program/code. I know that he had no programming experience prior to developing this code. He learned it all from a book he bought. I thought it might have been one of the 'For Dummies' books, but after reviewing one, I get the impression that he probably used one that was a little more in depth, and that started with the very basics (where to start a program from scratch).
To make a long story short, I need to fix the code in this program as the program is no longer working correctly. The program inputs data such as employee name, shift worked, area assigned, supervisor's name, then all the different patients are scanned into the program using a scanner (laser).
Initially, the first problem was the data entry fields for the patients. Normally, after a patient's barcode was scanned, the field would automatically tab to the next field, but now the we have to tab manually (which is a huge pain).
The current problem I'm having now is the program will not even open, almost as if it has been deleted. I have tried to find the data base to save it so I can reload the program completely, but I can't even find the data base.
My main question is this: Is there a resource (online or book) that a newbie can use to learn the basics. Where to find the data base, what program is used to open and view the code, and possibly how to correct the code would be very much appreciated.
Any input you have on any of these issues would be greatly appreciated.
Frank