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  1. #1
    Wessex is offline Novice
    Windows 8 Access 2013
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    Aug 2015
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    Smile Hello From A Newby

    Hello Everyone - I'm new here & if I have posted in the wrong section - please feel free to let me know or move the thread.

    I just thought it would be polite to say hello as I am completely new to Access & I am going to need some serious help from you all - so it is only fair that I let you know the dire straights I'm in just now...

    I have been working for over twenty years with Lotus Approach & I have to say that it has served me very well. I am sure there are many Access user users here that took a similar path & so I am also sure you will understand why I need to move on.

    I first loaded Approach with 6 floppy disks in 1993 & reloaded it many times over many new computers until windows 7 came along & told me it didn't have a clue what I was trying to do. Being a ludite I simply went out & found a copy of the "millenium edition" on CD/DVD & loaded that - which got me through. Then came windows 8.1 (I'm not going to give it a bad name - it works well for me) which also accepted the CD/DVD version.



    So everything was running sweetly - until - my .ADX kept becoming corrupted. That wasn't too bad - as I found out I could drop in a back up copy of the .ADX & I was up & running again in no time.

    They say that ignorance is bliss & so it is - because last week my .DBF came up as corrupted & BANG!!! I had lost 3 days work. I back up every week - but I had been busy & the amount of data that could have been "lost" - was SCARY to say the least. Luckily I still had all the hard copy material & could enter it again - but guess what - my confidence is now shot to pieces.

    Solution time - I spoke to a few friends & Access came up time & time again as a possible solution - so I bit the bullet & spent "my own" hard earned cash on the download.

    That's where I am now - no computer skills - 12,000+ records with 180 fields per record - exported from approach to excel - then imported to Access - so guess what - I'm as nervous as hell (it isn't exactly the same as Approach) & everything is so alien.

    So - I hope you will welcome me & put up with a lot of very basic questions in the coming weeks.

    Thanks for your patience in advance - Steve

  2. #2
    June7's Avatar
    June7 is offline VIP
    Windows 7 64bit Access 2010 32bit
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    May 2011
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    Welcome to the forum! and Access. I've never worked with any other relational database as a developer so I really don't have much background for comparison. However, I did try to load up SQLServer Express once and gave up. So from that experience I will say Access is much simpler to install and learn and develop with.

    I wouldn't say you don't have computer skills, just maybe need some enhancement.

    180 fields in a single table is a lot. Possibly your data structure is not normalized.

    Here is a good tutorial site http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/
    How to attach file: http://www.accessforums.net/showthread.php?t=70301 To provide db: copy, remove confidential data, run compact & repair, zip w/Windows Compression.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
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    Wales. Land of the sheep.
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    Tell us what your records are for and what information you are storing pal. If we can identify problems at this early stage it is going to help no end.

    Don't be scared though. I spent about two weeks thinking and designing and asking "stupid questions". The thing that helped the most was just doing it and testing things. I'm no expert but If I know something ill try and help you also.

    welcome to the forum.

  4. #4
    Wessex is offline Novice
    Windows 8 Access 2013
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
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    2
    Hi Guys,

    Thanks for the encouragement & offers of help - it is most appreciated. As June7 says - 180 fields is a "bit much" for a flat field database - but I thought my old program was coping with it - until it crashed of course (doh). I have been reviewing this situation & I think I can comfortably get it down to about 75 fields & then when I master the "relational" bit (something I always avoided in Lotus Approach - as it "scared me witless") I will be adding the other 100 or so that way. Then, moving forward - I will be adding about 6 to 10 fields per month - depending on work projects.

    Andy - the main field types are the obvious ones - company / address 1 / address 2 / address 3 / town / county / post code / tel no / mobile / email 1 / email 2 / email 3 / contact 1 / contact 2 / contact 3 - then there are some other ones - assigned rep / assigned depot / business type / unit type / closed days / assigned call day / assigned van run / machinery used / average spend...

    ...The list goes on. Our company has 6 depots across the UK & they all have their own account packages - where customer "memo" information can be logged & referred back to - but my role is a National one - helping each depot to increase their sales by finding them new customers or getting extra business from their existing customers. I do this by focusing our telesales division / field sales reps / depot managers on specific projects. So I guess what I am saying is - I make a list & say "here you are - this is what we want to achieve & here are the people to contact".

    To this end I use my database to accumulate masses of data - then search on several fields at once to find the right targets for each project - non spenders / certain business types / customers in Scotland / trade counter customers / customers on the central London van route - the list goes on...

    I hope this gives you an idea of the kind of things I get up to on a daily basis. Basically I am a very "nosey guy" & have always believed that "information = power" - this has put me in a position where I am the "go to guy" in the group for help doing anything new or exciting - I love that - but not just at the moment

    Thanks again - I will be back...

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Understanding normalisation isn't too difficult. Like I said earlier I'm no expert. What you are tying to avoid is repeating data unnecessarily.

    So where you have contacts, each of those contacts belong to a company. Ideally you have the company information separate then when adding a client you pick an existing company or add a new one. Ultimately you will be using forms with the database and the forms can display all the information you require (no matter which table the information is).

    Here's a copy of my ERD if you want a look or have questions.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    good luck man.

  6. #6
    ssanfu is offline Master of Nothing
    Windows XP Access 2000
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    Then, moving forward - I will be adding about 6 to 10 fields per month - depending on work projects.
    Why would you be adding fields every month?
    This sounds like a design for a spreadsheet, not a relational database.

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