Ch 7 -- Producing Output
Microsoft® Access 97 Quick Reference
- 7 -
Producing Output
Access provides several methods of producing output for your data. After you preview
your data and adjust the page setup options as necessary, you can send the data directly
to a printer. You can print a table, query, form, or report,
or portions thereof. You can create a special type of report, mailing labels, and
you can merge your data to Microsoft Word.
In addition, you can fax or e-mail your data from Access, or publish your Access
forms or reports on the Web.
Mail Labels: Create in Report
A mailing label is a special type of report formatted to repeat across
or down a page. You have control over the contents of your mailing label through
the placement of bound controls displaying your field data, text labels,
graphics, and so on. You can also control the size of the labels and their repetition
pattern.
Through the use of queries, you can specify which records will have labels printed
for them. The Label Wizard makes it particularly easy to create mailing labels.
Steps
- 1. Click the Reports tab in the Database window; then choose New.
Click Label Wizard in the New Report dialog box. Select the table or query
that will supply the data for the labels in the Select Table or Query drop-down list
box; then choose OK.
- 2. Select the standard Avery label you want, or choose Customize and specify
the label size and type; then choose Next.
- To create a custom size label, choose Customize and enter the size and page setup
specification.
- 3. Select the font, size, and color of your text, then choose Next.
- 4. Create a prototype label by double-clicking any desired fields from
the Available Fields list box to the Prototype Label text box. Type any text
you want to appear on the label (spaces, commas, and so on), then press Enter to
start a new line. To delete a field, select it and press Delete. When your prototype
label is complete, choose Next.
- 5. Select the fields you want to sort your records, with the top field
being the primary sort key.
- 6. ame your label report in the last step of the wizard, then preview
it and save it to disk.
If you select the Modify the Label Design option button, then your label opens
up in Report Design View.
TIP: You can sort by any field in your underlying
table or query, even those that do not appear on your prototype label.
Mail Merge to Word
If one of your tables or queries contains client data, you might want to send
a letter to everyone in the list. If you have Microsoft Word installed, you can personalize
each letter.
TIP: Create a query to be the source of your
mail merges. You can then modify the criteria every time you send a letter (when
an address changes, you have a new client, or your printer mangled the first copy).
See "Query: Create with Design View" in the Queries and Filters part of
the book.
Steps
- 1. Select the query (or table) in the Database window
and choose Merge It with MS Word from the Office Links button's drop-down
list.
2. In the first step of the wizard, you can link to an existing document or
create a new Word document. If you choose link to an existing document, Access will
ask you for the document's location.
3. After you make your choices for the Word document, you will enter Microsoft
Word, and the Mail Merge toolbar appears. Move to the location where you want an
Access field, click the Insert Merge Field button, and choose the Access
field. Type spaces, commas, and any additional text in your letter.
4. Save the letter and click the Merge to New Document (to preview all letters)
or Merge to Printer buttons on the Mail Merge toolbar.
5. When finished, close the Word application.
NOTE: If you Merge to New Document, Word creates
a temporary document titled FormLetters1 with the results of the merge.
You do not need to save this document when you exit Word. You should, however, save
your document with the merge field codes.
Mail or Sending Data
You can send Access tables, queries, or reports through electronic mail instead
of printing and mailing through the post office. To send Access data through electronic
mail, you need to use either Microsoft Exchange (or another mail system compatible
with MAPI--Messaging Application Program Interface) or Lotus cc:Mail (or another
mail system compatible with VIM--Vendor Independent Messaging). For additional information,
search on "electronic mail" in Microsoft Access Help.
NOTE: To perform this procedure, you must have
already installed electronic mail software.
Steps
- 1. Select the object you want to send: a table, query,
form, or report in the Database window, or select any portion
of a datasheet in Datasheet View.
2. Choose File, Send.
3. In the Send dialog box, select the format of the data that will
be attached to your message; then choose OK. Access opens a mail form with your data
attached.
4. Fill in your message form, and send your message.
NOTE: Depending on your Access object (table,
query, form, or report), Access allows data to be sent as HTML, ActiveX (.ASP),
Excel (.XLS), IIS (.HTX or .IDC), MS-DOS text (.TXT), or Rich Text Format (.RTF)
files.
Page Break: Insert in Report
If you want your page to break in the middle of a section, you can insert a page
break control on the report. For example, if you have two subreports, you
might want to insert a page break between them.
NOTE: You can also use this same procedure to
insert a page break in Form Design View if you print your forms.
Steps
- 1. Open the report in Design View.
- 2. Click the Page Break button on the Toolbox.
- 3. Click the location on the report design to set the page break. The
page break control appears as a small dotted line in your document.
To remove the page break, select the page break control and press Delete.
NOTE: You can also set page breaks with the properties
of the sections on your report. Open the report in Design View and double-click
the gray bars indicating the detail section or a group header or footer. In
the Property sheet, move to the Force New Page property (on the Format tab)
and choose to create a page break Before Section, After Section, Before & After,
or None to let pages break at the end of a full page.
To try to avoid a page break within sections, change the Keep Together property to
Yes. To try to keep all sections (header, footer, and detail) relating to one group
together on a page, click the Sorting and Grouping button and change the Keep Together
Grouping property to Yes. Access will try to place page breaks to keep a group together.
However, if the group is larger than one page, it won't be able to. In this case,
choose With First Detail to at least keep the group header with the first record.
Page Numbers: Insert in Report
For long reports, you will want Access to place page numbers on your report.
This is especially true if you are handing out the report to various people and everyone
needs to refer to specific pages.
Steps
- 1. Open the report in Design View and choose Insert, Page
Numbers.
- 2. In the Format section, click Page N to add the word Page
followed by a page number. If you want to include the total number of pages, click
Page N of M.
- 3. In the Position section indicate if you want to put the page number
in the header or footer, and in the Alignment section indicate if you want
the page numbers left, centered, or right aligned. You can also choose inside or
outside pages (for facing page bound documents).
- 4. If you want to include the page number on the first page, check Show
Number on First Page. When finished with your selections, choose OK.
Access places a text box with the appropriate expression on your
report. The [Page] code indicates the page number. [Pages]
indicates total number of pages. Additional text is enclosed in quotes such as "Page".
The Control Source property of the text box shows this expression (and
you can press Shift+F2 to see a long expression). To remove the page numbers, click
the text box and press Delete.
Page Setup: Print Data Only
If you have a pre-printed form, you can design an Access form to print
in the fill-in areas. When you print, you can choose to have Access print only the
data.
Steps
- 1. Open the form in Design View.
2. Choose File, Page Setup, and click the Margins tab in the
Page Setup dialog box.
3. Check the Print Data Onl_y check box and choose OK.
Now when you print all the records or one record (see "Print Forms"
and "Print One Record from Form"), Access will only print the data and
not the labels for the fields.
Page Setup: Setting Margins
By default, Access prints with one-inch margins at the top and bottom, and left
and right sides of the document. You can use the Page Setup dialog box to change
these margins, if necessary. If your document is small, for example, you can increase
the margins. If the document is slightly bigger than the page, you might want to
decrease the margins.
Steps
- 1. From Design View in a table, query, form, or report,
choose File, Page Setup; then click the Margins tab.
2. In the Top, Left, Bottom, and Right text boxes,
specify the margins you want in inches. Then choose OK.
Access saves the page setup information with the design of the object.
You might also need to change the size of columns in a table or query to fit everything
on a page. (See also "Width of Column" in the Database Essentials part
of this book.) In a form or report, you might need to drag the right edge of the
work area in Design View to change the printed width area.
Page Setup: Setting the Orientation
If the document you want to print is wider than it is tall, you can switch to
a landscape orientation when you print. Choose Landscape orientation to print the
document across the long edge of the page. Use Portrait orientation (the default)
to print across the short edge of the page.
Steps
- 1. Choose File, Page Setup; then click the Page tab.
2. In the Orientation area, select Portrait or Landscape.
3. If you need to change the size of the paper (to Legal, for example) select
the new size from the Size drop-down list.
4. If you need to select another paper tray, select it from the Source
drop-down list. When finished adjusting settings, choose OK.
Print Forms
Although reports are the primary object for printing, you can also print
information on forms. You can print one record (see "Print One Record
From Form") or the entire data source. Depending on your starting location,
you can print the Form or Datasheet View.
Steps
- 1. From the Database window, right-click a form name and
choose Print to print the form or Print Preview to go to preview first.
2. From Print Preview or Form View, click the Print button to print the
form.
3. From Datasheet view of the form, click the Print button to print the datasheet.
Print Labels Using Dot Matrix Printers
Some people print labels to dot matrix printers using tractor-feed stock. The
best way to do this is to create a printer file that contains the page setup appropriate
for this task. If the paper is a predefined label stock, an easier alternative
is to use the mailing labels feature. (See "Mail Labels: Create in Report.")
Steps
- 1. Click the Start button on the Taskbar, then choose Settings,
Printers.
2. Right-click the printer you will use, then select the Properties command from
the shortcut menu.
3. Click the Paper tab, and in the Paper Size section click the Custom icon.
4. Enter the size of your label in the User Defined Size dialog box. Double-click
OK. The width measurement extends from the left edge of the leftmost label to the
right edge of the rightmost label. The length is measured from the top of the first
label to the top of the second.
A label layout is a report layout that has no header or footer, only a detail
part. If you are creating a label from scratch, then choose File, Page Setup
to open the Page Setup dialog box to set the following:
- Set the Page tab to the Use Specific Printer; the printer Source
to User-Defined Size; and the source for label stock to Tractor, Cassette, AutoSelect
tray, or whatever is appropriate.
- Set the Columns tab to Same as Detail in the Column Size section.
- For a layout with more than one label across, on the Columns tab, enter the following:
the number of labels across in the Number of Columns text box, the
amount of space between the bottom of one label and the top of another in the Row
Spacing text box, the space between the right edge of one label and the left edge
of the next in the Column Spacing text box, and specify whether the Column
Layout is Down, Then Across or Across, Then Down.
Print One Record from Form
Sometimes you only want to get the details from one form's record. Perhaps
you want to find missing information on a client or use the form for directions
to a meeting. If you want to print only one record, use the record selector at the
left edge of the form.
NOTE: If the record selector is not available,
you need to set the Form's Record Selectors property to Yes. To set this property,
double click the Form/Report Selector in the upper-left corner of the form to open
the Form property sheet, go to Record Selectors (on the Format tab) and choose Yes.
Steps
- 1. Open the form in Form View.
2. Click the record selector on the left side of the form.
3. Choose File, Print, Selected Record(s) and choose OK.
Print One Record from Form: Create Command Button
If you often print one record, consider adding a button on the form intead of
using the procedure mentioned in "Print one Record from Form."
Steps
- 1. Open the form in Design View. Make sure the Control Wizards
button is selected.
2. Click the Command Button tool in the Toolbox and then click
where you want the button to appear on the form.
3. In the Categories list choose Record Operations, and in the Actions list choose
Print Record.
4. Follow the instructions on the next two steps on the Command Button Wizard
dialog box to identify the button; then choose Finish.
Now when you are in Form View, you can click the command button you added to print
just the current record.
Print Preview
The Print Preview mode provides a view of your datasheet, form, query,
or report as it would print to your current printer. It is always a good idea
to preview your printed output before printing to find if the report contains the
wrong information or is not the desired format. Especially for large reports, you'll
want to use Print Preview first to avoid killing a tree.
Steps
- 1. Open a table, query, form, or report in either Design, Form,
or Datasheet View.
2. Click the Print Preview button on the toolbar.
3. Use the toolbar buttons to switch your preview view, and click the page
to switch between multiple or zoomed view and single page 100 percent view.
If you preview a form from Design or Form View, your preview is in Form
View. If you preview a form from the Datasheet View, then your preview is
in Datasheet View. If you preview a form selected in the Database window,
then the Default View property controls the view you see in Preview mode.
To change the default view of the form, double-click the Form/Report Selector in
Design View and choose an option in the Default View property.
The following table shows you how to perform various tasks in the Print Preview
view.
Print Preview Tasks
|
|
| To Do This |
Press This |
| To open the Print dialog box |
P or Ctrl+P |
| To open the Page Setup dialog box |
S |
| To zoom in or out on a part of the page |
Z |
| To cancel Print Preview or Layout Preview |
C or Esc |
| To move to the page number box; |
F5 then type the page number and press Enter |
| To view the next page (when Fit To Window is selected) |
Page Down or down arrow |
| To view the previous page (when Fit To Window is selected) |
Page Up or up arrow |
| To scroll down in small increments |
Down arrow |
| To scroll down one full screen |
Page Down |
| To move to the bottom of the page |
Ctrl+down arrow |
| To scroll up in small increments |
Up arrow |
| To scroll up one full screen |
Page Up |
| To move to the top of the page |
Ctrl+up arrow |
| To scroll to the right in small |
Right arrow |
| increments |
|
| To move to the right edge of the page |
End or Ctrl+Right arrow |
| To move to the lower-right corner of the page |
Ctrl+End |
| To scroll to the left in small increments |
Left arrow |
| To move to the left edge of the page |
Home or Ctrl+left arrow |
| To move to the upper-left corner of the page |
Ctrl+Home |
The Layout Preview command on the View menu enables you to see some representative
data (See also "Print Preview: Layout.") From the preview window, you can
merge data with Word, publish to a Word document, or analyze data with Excel. These
three options are available as toolbar buttons.
Print Preview: Layout
Access 97 offers you two different types of previews: Print Preview and Layout
Preview. In the former instance, you see everything that will print to your printer,
each page and all of the data contained therein. For long print jobs, it can take
a while for your computer to process this information. If you want to view a small
group of your records in preview, you can see an example layout in the Layout
Preview mode. In this mode, you see just enough data to get a feeling for all of
the sections of a report.
Steps
- 1. With your report in Design View, click the View button on the
toolbar.
2. Select the La_yout Preview command.
CAUTION: Layout Preview can be misleading because
you don't get a view of all of your data. If you are using a query that contains
para-meters, for example, Layout Preview will not detect this and show you
a truly representative data set. For reports that don't take a long time to process,
you are better off using the Print Preview view to see your reports.
Print Reports
Reports are the best way to get data outputted to a printer. Although you can
print tables, queries, and forms, none of the other objects offer the formatting
and printing options that reports do. For example, only in reports can you get grouped
data with subtotals and the detail data as well. (See "Reports: Grouping"
in the Forms and Reports part in this book.) You can also print reports from various
locations.
Steps
- 1. If you are in the Database window, right-click the report name
and choose Print.
2. To select specific pages, choose the number of copies, make your choices on
the Print dialog box, and choose OK.
NOTE: To print a report without specifying print
options, in Report Design View or Print Preview, you can click the Print button
on the toolbar.
If you want to interrupt printing and you are fast, click the Cancel button that
appears in the Printing dialog box. You also might be able to double-click the Printer
icon in the taskbar and cancel the print job by choosing Document, Cancel
Printing in the Printer window.
Print Selected Pages
You can print multiple pages of a report or form. On a form or columnar
report, if you want to print different records, add a page break at the bottom of
Design View. (See "Page Break: Insert on Report.") Then the page
numbers correspond to the record numbers. An alternative is to go to each
record you want to print in Form View and print that record. (See "Print
One Record From Form.")
Steps
- 1. Open a form or report in Design View.
2. Choose File, Print.
3. In the Pages area, type the first page in From and the last page
in To; choose OK.
Print Table or Query
Instead of printing a report, you can print the Datasheet View of a table
or query for quick results. Although you have little control over the formatting
(see "Datasheet: Appearance Change" in the Table and Database Design part
of this book), all you might need is the grid produced from Datasheet View.
Steps
- 1. Open the table or query in Datasheet View.
2. Click the Print button.
TIP: You can also print from the Database
window. Right-click a table or query and choose Print.
NOTE: Access automatically adds a header with
the table or query name centered, the date right justified, and the page number centered
in a footer. If you don't want to print the header and footer, choose File,
Page Setup; click the Margins tab; and uncheck the Print Headings check
box. Then follow the steps to print your table or query. You cannot edit the
header and footer on a table or query.
Printing: Multiple Copies
Before you begin printing your document, you can specify how many copies you want
to print. If you want to print multiple copies of a multi-page document, be sure
to preview before you print.
You also can choose whether or not to collate the documents as they are printed.
Normally, you will want to choose the Collate option, which prints all pages
of a document before it prints the document again.
(See "Print Preview" before you complete this task.)
Steps
- 1. Choose File, Print.
2. Type the number of copies you want to print in the Number of Copies
text box.
3. Be sure that the Collate check box is selected; or, if you don't
want your printouts to collate, deselect the Collate check box. Click OK to
begin printing.
Programming Events: Print
You can control printing to a fine degree by adding programming to the
print events for a report. You add programming to print or not print certain sections
or controls on your report, depending on choices you make on dialog boxes
or the underlying values of the data.
One of the report print events is On No Data. If the report doesn't have any data
to print, there is no sense printing a blank report. The following steps show you
how to display a dialog box and cancel the printing (or previewing) of a report.
Steps
- 1. Open the report in Design View and double-click the Form/Report
Selector to open up the Property sheet.
2. Scroll down to the On No Data property (on the Event tab), click the build
(...) button, and double-click Code Builder in the Choose Builder dialog box. The
insertion point is between a Sub and End Sub statement.
3. Type MsgBox "No data for report. Report will not print." and
press Enter. This will display a message for the user. You can type any text you
want within the quotes.
4. Type Cancel = True. If you look at the first line of your
code, you will see (Cancel as Integer). The procedure is looking for a variable
called Cancel; this statement is telling Access to not print the report.
5. Close the window and try testing the procedure. This works best if you have
a query underlying the report and you go to the query and add some criteria
that wouldn't return any records.
The other print event associated with the report is On Page which will trigger
before the page is printed but after the Format events for report sections. The Report
and Group Header and Footer and Detail sections also have print events. To
see help on the events, open a Property sheet, click the Events tab, select one of
these sections, and move to one of the properties (On Format, On Print, or On Retreat).
Then press F1.
NOTE: For an example of the On Format property
in the sample Northwind database, open the Sales by Year report and look at the On
Format property for the Detail section. The programming includes
If Forms![Sales by Year Dialog]!ShowDetails = False Then Cancel = True
When you open this report in Print Preview or attempt to print it, a form (Sales
by Year Dialog) opens with a check box named ShowDetails. If the user unchecks the
ShowDetails box, the detail section will not print.
Web Page: Publish
Some people will begin their foray into database publishing to the Web
by visiting the new Web Publishing Wizard. This wizard guides you through the process
of Web page and site creation. You start the Web Publishing Wizard by selecting the
Save As HTML command from the File menu. The Web Publishing
Wizard can output datasheets, forms, and reports as static or dynamic Web documents
using template files. It can create a home page that has links to your other documents.
You can use the Web Publishing Wizard to copy the files and folder created to your
Web server.
TIP: Microsoft Office contains a Web Fast Find
Search page that you can use to search for files on an intranet. You can locate files
by keywords. Consider including this page in any site you create with the Web Publishing
Wizard. Consult your administrator to get a copy, or learn about the location of
this page on your intranet.
Steps
- 1. Choose File, Save As HTML with a datasheet, form, or
report open; click the I Want to Use a Web Publication Profile check box;
and select that publication if you have already created a Web page or set of pages
in the format you want using the wizard (if you don't have any Web pages already
created, this option will be grayed out). Choose Next.
2. Click either Select or Select All in the check box to select the
table(s), query(s), form(s), and report(s) you want to publish. Choose
Next.
3. Select the HTML template document you want to use, then choose Next.
You can select the type of document you want to create: Static HTML, Dynamic
HTX/IDC, or Dy_namic ASP.
4. On the next one or two screens (depending on your choice in Step 3), enter
the location of the folder (and server if prompted) that you want to save your files
to.
5. Click the Yes, I Want to Create a Home Page check box if you want
that feature; name that page (Default is the default); then choose Next.
6. On the final page of the wizard, select the Yes, I Want to Save the
Answers to the Wizard check box if you want to create a Web publication profile;
enter the name in Profile Name; then choose Finish.
Access creates the pages you specified from each object. It also creates,
if specified, the publication profile.
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