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OK-

I have never used Access before, but have heard nothing but good things about it!

My project-I track on a daily basis energy prices at various locations, with some (not all) locations reporting the volumes of sales that underly the respective average price for that point.

I would like to create a database that would contain these prices (and, if applicable, volumes) on a daily basis by location. I would then like to be able to create reports that would (1) give me the average price for a point or multiple points over a period of time that I would specify; (2) give me a list of prices by day over a specified (by me) period of time at a specific point or points.

Finally, I would like to enter the daily prices on one “Input Sheet”, that, upon my hitting an “Update Button”, would update the database.

Any helpers out there?

Thanks,

Jeff

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Although Access is still marketed as an end user product, you need to get yourself a book that explains the ins and outs of creating a database before you plunge in. Get a beginner book like Microsoft Access Step by Step from Microsoft Press and start learning how to use the tool. It’s very different from a spreadsheet, and unless you have prior experience with building relational databases, you’ll get tangled up in it fast. All the data you enter into a form, which is the only place you can put a button, will automatically be saved to the table that the form is bound to. You don’t need an update button.

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Thanks, Charlotte, for your prompt reply. I am well aware there are books available that are excellent sources to learn Access-however, I don’t have the luxury of time to do so-I am under a rather tight time constraint!
Anyone else out there care to lend a helping hand?

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There’s no way you can manage that yourself. Far too complex. Get some outside help or buy an off-the-shelf product. Forget you ever heard of Access. Surely your energy company can afford some real IT professionals, no ?

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Charlotte and Claude are totally correct here – either pay for an expert to deliver your solution, or find another solution. Access is an incredibly powerful tool if you know what you are doing, but it’s a recipe for disaster if you don’t.

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On the other hand, FileMaker Pro really is a “rapid development” database tool for novices. If you don’t already know about relational database theory, or how to construct complex queries in Access, and don’t care to learn it, and need to get something done quickly, you might check it out at FileMaker.com. The MS Office interoperability is limited to ODBC, but that’s enough for mail merges and other common tasks. There also is a helpful developer community on the newsgroup comp.databases.filemaker which you can tap into through your newsreader (Outlook Express, by default) or Google’s Groups tab.

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