Saving Form

[Guest]

ok i have a form that i use as an invoice at work. i need to be able to
export it out of access in a seperate folder called customer invoices. two
problems: one it doesnt keep the layout format i have, it trys to convert it
and it looks completely different, so i need to know how to keep it still
looking like its a print preview, and two: how do you save it so it keeps the
values i entered in the fields, such as text boxes and drop down menus. thanx

 

[Rick Brandt]

ok i have a form that i use as an invoice at work. i need to be able
to export it out of access in a seperate folder called customer
invoices. two problems: one it doesnt keep the layout format i have,
it trys to convert it and it looks completely different, so i need to
know how to keep it still looking like its a print preview, and two:
how do you save it so it keeps the values i entered in the fields,
such as text boxes and drop down menus. thanx

An Access form is not something that can exist as a separate object outside
of an Access database. While they might not explicitly say so, all of the
export options are in fact "export a representation of this object as a
report" options. Of those the only one that will retain the exact look of
your form is "Snapshot Format", but the resulting file will simply be an
image of what your form looks like. It will not be functional in the way
that an Access form is.

 

[Guest]

Hi, DistrautMan.

I suggest you recreate the form's look in a report, and use a command button
on your form to output it in rich text format to a document. You can set the
filename in your command button procedure, or ask for a filename to be input
using the InputBox function.

Base your report on a query that contains all necessary fields, and has
selection criteria referencing the currently displayed record:

=Forms!YourFormName!YourPrimaryKey

Dim stDocName As String
Dim stFilename As String

stDocName = "YourReportName"
stFilename = "YourFileName" ' or use InputBox to get a filename
DoCmd.OutputTo acReport, stDocName, acFormatRTF, stFilename

See VBA Help on the OutputTo method for further details.

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

 

[Guest]

DistrautMan,

I forgot to mention that since you can recreate the report, or look at the
record on a form at any time, why would you need to store a copy of it?

Sprinks

 

[Guest]

ok well first how can i put my form fields like drop boxes on to a report if
i cant edit things on a report and second, each invoice contains, customer
name and number, and what they buy, i need to be able to save that so that
at anytime i can pull that information up and see what they bought. right
now i have a perfectly fine template in word but i need to make one in access
so that one, it tallies up totals automatically and i did that, and two it
automatically subtracts from the in stock value from my table when i put
something in the quantity text box for the product, and i havent figured that
out. but now ive run into the problem about being able to save it so it
looks like it does when i print it with all the information about the sale.

 

[Guest]

Hi, DistrautMan.

I'm not sure what you mean by "saving" it. If your form is bound to
table(s), it already is saved. You can pull that record up at any time to
look at the information or edit it if necessary. A hard copy can be printed
at any time by printing a report that is based on a query that filters your
recordset by the currently displayed record.

As far as deducting quantity purchased from available inventory, I'm not an
inventory expert, but there have been plenty of threads on this topic here
that you can search. Basically, I believe you would run an update query on
your inventory table.

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

 

[Guest]

when i say saving i mean that aside from the printed hard copy for storage in
a cabinet or something i need another hard copy of each and every invoice i
make that i can save into a file called "customer's invoices". i want copies
of each one i make so that if ever needed we can go back on the computer and
pull one up to check that person's phone number and what they've ordered. and
btw i cant figure out the update query, i dont know how to make one because
ive been using access for like a week or two.

 

[Guest]

My point of confusion is that you seem to be using an Access form simply as a
replica of a paper form, or a Word form. Normally, Access forms are used to
enter data into tables and/or display existing data. If your form is used in
this way, each time you entered a new invoice, the data would be stored in
tables. There would be no need to print an extra hard copy of each invoice
because the invoice could be reviewed through your form at any time. You
could, of course, print it if desired from a command button on the form that
would execute a report for the current record.

I should caution you that, unlike Excel or Word, learning Access,
particularly from the design development side, is a significant learning
curve. If you will have the responsibility of developing applications for
your company, I strongly advise that you get some Access-specific training,
and to pick up one or more good Access reference books. Trying to develop an
application from ground zero is likely to be a very frustrating process.

That said, an Update query is simply a type of query that changes data in
one or more tables. In Access parlance, a query can be a Select query (the
most common), Cross-Tab, Make-Table, Append, Update, or Delete. You can also
use a query to summarize data from your tables, for example, the total amount
sold to each customer last year.

To experiment, start a new query based on some test tables with test data in
them.
Let's say you had one called InvoiceItems that stored each item's
partnumber, order quantity, and unitprice, a primary key ID, and an
InvoiceNumber that associates the items with the Invoice. Records would look
like:

InvoiceItemID InvoiceNumber PartNumber Qty UnitPrice
---------------- -------------------- -------------- ----------- -------------
45 11111 12345 12 65.00
46 11111 24654 10 75.00

There is no need to store extended price because you can calculate in a
query as a calculated field. Similarly, the part description is not needed
because it can be obtained from the Products table through a join
relationship on the PartNumber.

Now, let's say you have an Inventory table that stores the partnumber and
the current quantity on hand:

PartNumber QtyOnHand
---------------- --------------
12345 650
24654 55

Show the InvoiceItems and the Inventory tables. If Access does not provide
a link between the two PartNumber fields, establish one by dragging one to
the other. Then drag the InvoiceNumber field from InvoiceItems to the grid
and the QtyOnHand field from the Inventory table. Execute the query by
pressing the exclamation point icon. Note the quantity on hand for the items
of one of the invoices you've entered into your test tables, and note the
invoice number.

Change to Update view by Query/Update. In the Criteria row of the
InvoiceNumber enter the number you will use. In the Update To: row of the
QtyOnHand field, type an expression that reduces the quantity on hand by the
amount in the InvoiceItems Qty field:

[Inventory].[QtyOnHand]-[InvoiceItems].[Qty]

Execute the query, switch back to select view, and execute again. The
QtyOnHand of each item on that invoice will have been reduced by the quantity
entered on the invoice.

To execute the query from a command button on the form, instead of manually
entering the InvoiceNumber criteria as you just did, use a reference to a
form control that has this information:

Forms![YourForm]![YourInvoiceNumberControl]

Use the wizard to create a command button that executes the query. To
toggle the wizard on, choose View, Toolbox, and depress the wand and stars
icon.

To avoid deducting the same amount twice, add a Yes/No field to the Invoice
table called something like InventoryAdjusted. Then change your command
button's OnClick event procedure:

' Declarations here

If Not Me![InventoryAdjusted] Then
' Wizard created code to execute the query
Me![InventoryAdjusted] = True ' Set to false so it won't be run again
End If

' Error-handling here
:

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

 

[Guest]

ill try all that out. the point of the entire database is that we have an
invoice in microsoft word aleady but what we need was 1: a table that stored
everything we need to know about our inventory ex. distributer, product, buy
price, sell price, quantity, reorder. then i had to duplicate the existing
invoice into access where i could now select the product from drop menus that
will display the prices and a command button that will total them, the only
place ive figured out how to do this is the form. but ive already
accomplished all that. the reason im using access is because i need the
invoice to tie into the inventory so that it automatically subtracts the "in
stock" value from the database, which i will attempt to do in a few minutes
from your explinations. but now i cant save like i need it do be saved. i
dont care which format i use as long as it saves in the same view as the
printed copy. i need two ways of storing invoices: one as a hard copy print
out to put in a drawer and another as a saved copy on the computer.

My point of confusion is that you seem to be using an Access form simply as a
replica of a paper form, or a Word form. Normally, Access forms are used to
enter data into tables and/or display existing data. If your form is used in
this way, each time you entered a new invoice, the data would be stored in
tables. There would be no need to print an extra hard copy of each invoice
because the invoice could be reviewed through your form at any time. You
could, of course, print it if desired from a command button on the form that
would execute a report for the current record.

I should caution you that, unlike Excel or Word, learning Access,
particularly from the design development side, is a significant learning
curve. If you will have the responsibility of developing applications for
your company, I strongly advise that you get some Access-specific training,
and to pick up one or more good Access reference books. Trying to develop an
application from ground zero is likely to be a very frustrating process.

That said, an Update query is simply a type of query that changes data in
one or more tables. In Access parlance, a query can be a Select query (the
most common), Cross-Tab, Make-Table, Append, Update, or Delete. You can also
use a query to summarize data from your tables, for example, the total amount
sold to each customer last year.

To experiment, start a new query based on some test tables with test data in
them.
Let's say you had one called InvoiceItems that stored each item's
partnumber, order quantity, and unitprice, a primary key ID, and an
InvoiceNumber that associates the items with the Invoice. Records would look
like:

InvoiceItemID InvoiceNumber PartNumber Qty UnitPrice
---------------- -------------------- -------------- ----------- -------------
45 11111 12345 12 65.00
46 11111 24654 10 75.00

There is no need to store extended price because you can calculate in a
query as a calculated field. Similarly, the part description is not needed
because it can be obtained from the Products table through a join
relationship on the PartNumber.

Now, let's say you have an Inventory table that stores the partnumber and
the current quantity on hand:

PartNumber QtyOnHand
---------------- --------------
12345 650
24654 55

Show the InvoiceItems and the Inventory tables. If Access does not provide
a link between the two PartNumber fields, establish one by dragging one to
the other. Then drag the InvoiceNumber field from InvoiceItems to the grid
and the QtyOnHand field from the Inventory table. Execute the query by
pressing the exclamation point icon. Note the quantity on hand for the items
of one of the invoices you've entered into your test tables, and note the
invoice number.

Change to Update view by Query/Update. In the Criteria row of the
InvoiceNumber enter the number you will use. In the Update To: row of the
QtyOnHand field, type an expression that reduces the quantity on hand by the
amount in the InvoiceItems Qty field:

[Inventory].[QtyOnHand]-[InvoiceItems].[Qty]

Execute the query, switch back to select view, and execute again. The
QtyOnHand of each item on that invoice will have been reduced by the quantity
entered on the invoice.

To execute the query from a command button on the form, instead of manually
entering the InvoiceNumber criteria as you just did, use a reference to a
form control that has this information:

Forms![YourForm]![YourInvoiceNumberControl]

Use the wizard to create a command button that executes the query. To
toggle the wizard on, choose View, Toolbox, and depress the wand and stars
icon.

To avoid deducting the same amount twice, add a Yes/No field to the Invoice
table called something like InventoryAdjusted. Then change your command
button's OnClick event procedure:

' Declarations here

If Not Me![InventoryAdjusted] Then
' Wizard created code to execute the query
Me![InventoryAdjusted] = True ' Set to false so it won't be run again
End If

' Error-handling here
:

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

when i say saving i mean that aside from the printed hard copy for storage in
a cabinet or something i need another hard copy of each and every invoice i
make that i can save into a file called "customer's invoices". i want copies
of each one i make so that if ever needed we can go back on the computer and
pull one up to check that person's phone number and what they've ordered. and
btw i cant figure out the update query, i dont know how to make one because
ive been using access for like a week or two.

 

[Guest]

Is your form bound to a table, that is, is its RecordSource property set to
the name of a table or query? If it is a query, is it "updateable"? Some
queries, for a variety of reasons cannot be updated. You can tell if it is
by executing the query by itself and attempting to change data in it.

If it is bound to a table or updateable query, are all of the form controls
(textboxes, combo boxes, checkboxes, etc.) bound to fields of the
RecordSource, that is, is their ControlSource property set to the names of
each corresponding field?

If the answer is Yes to all of the above, your data IS being saved to you
table(s). You HAVE the computer record of the invoice that you want. You
don't need to do anything further. If you want a printed copy for a paper
file, either print the screen (File, Print), or if that loses too much of the
formatting for your taste, define a report, and print it for the current
record as I described in an earlier post.

If the answer to any of the above is No, correct the deficiencies.

Good luck.

Sprinks

ill try all that out. the point of the entire database is that we have an
invoice in microsoft word aleady but what we need was 1: a table that stored
everything we need to know about our inventory ex. distributer, product, buy
price, sell price, quantity, reorder. then i had to duplicate the existing
invoice into access where i could now select the product from drop menus that
will display the prices and a command button that will total them, the only
place ive figured out how to do this is the form. but ive already
accomplished all that. the reason im using access is because i need the
invoice to tie into the inventory so that it automatically subtracts the "in
stock" value from the database, which i will attempt to do in a few minutes
from your explinations. but now i cant save like i need it do be saved. i
dont care which format i use as long as it saves in the same view as the
printed copy. i need two ways of storing invoices: one as a hard copy print
out to put in a drawer and another as a saved copy on the computer.

My point of confusion is that you seem to be using an Access form simply as a
replica of a paper form, or a Word form. Normally, Access forms are used to
enter data into tables and/or display existing data. If your form is used in
this way, each time you entered a new invoice, the data would be stored in
tables. There would be no need to print an extra hard copy of each invoice
because the invoice could be reviewed through your form at any time. You
could, of course, print it if desired from a command button on the form that
would execute a report for the current record.

I should caution you that, unlike Excel or Word, learning Access,
particularly from the design development side, is a significant learning
curve. If you will have the responsibility of developing applications for
your company, I strongly advise that you get some Access-specific training,
and to pick up one or more good Access reference books. Trying to develop an
application from ground zero is likely to be a very frustrating process.

That said, an Update query is simply a type of query that changes data in
one or more tables. In Access parlance, a query can be a Select query (the
most common), Cross-Tab, Make-Table, Append, Update, or Delete. You can also
use a query to summarize data from your tables, for example, the total amount
sold to each customer last year.

To experiment, start a new query based on some test tables with test data in
them.
Let's say you had one called InvoiceItems that stored each item's
partnumber, order quantity, and unitprice, a primary key ID, and an
InvoiceNumber that associates the items with the Invoice. Records would look
like:

InvoiceItemID InvoiceNumber PartNumber Qty UnitPrice
---------------- -------------------- -------------- ----------- -------------
45 11111 12345 12 65.00
46 11111 24654 10 75.00

There is no need to store extended price because you can calculate in a
query as a calculated field. Similarly, the part description is not needed
because it can be obtained from the Products table through a join
relationship on the PartNumber.

Now, let's say you have an Inventory table that stores the partnumber and
the current quantity on hand:

PartNumber QtyOnHand
---------------- --------------
12345 650
24654 55

Show the InvoiceItems and the Inventory tables. If Access does not provide
a link between the two PartNumber fields, establish one by dragging one to
the other. Then drag the InvoiceNumber field from InvoiceItems to the grid
and the QtyOnHand field from the Inventory table. Execute the query by
pressing the exclamation point icon. Note the quantity on hand for the items
of one of the invoices you've entered into your test tables, and note the
invoice number.

Change to Update view by Query/Update. In the Criteria row of the
InvoiceNumber enter the number you will use. In the Update To: row of the
QtyOnHand field, type an expression that reduces the quantity on hand by the
amount in the InvoiceItems Qty field:

[Inventory].[QtyOnHand]-[InvoiceItems].[Qty]

Execute the query, switch back to select view, and execute again. The
QtyOnHand of each item on that invoice will have been reduced by the quantity
entered on the invoice.

To execute the query from a command button on the form, instead of manually
entering the InvoiceNumber criteria as you just did, use a reference to a
form control that has this information:

Forms![YourForm]![YourInvoiceNumberControl]

Use the wizard to create a command button that executes the query. To
toggle the wizard on, choose View, Toolbox, and depress the wand and stars
icon.

To avoid deducting the same amount twice, add a Yes/No field to the Invoice
table called something like InventoryAdjusted. Then change your command
button's OnClick event procedure:

' Declarations here

If Not Me![InventoryAdjusted] Then
' Wizard created code to execute the query
Me![InventoryAdjusted] = True ' Set to false so it won't be run again
End If

' Error-handling here
:

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

when i say saving i mean that aside from the printed hard copy for storage in
a cabinet or something i need another hard copy of each and every invoice i
make that i can save into a file called "customer's invoices". i want copies
of each one i make so that if ever needed we can go back on the computer and
pull one up to check that person's phone number and what they've ordered. and
btw i cant figure out the update query, i dont know how to make one because
ive been using access for like a week or two.

:

Hi, DistrautMan.

I'm not sure what you mean by "saving" it. If your form is bound to
table(s), it already is saved. You can pull that record up at any time to
look at the information or edit it if necessary. A hard copy can be printed
at any time by printing a report that is based on a query that filters your
recordset by the currently displayed record.

As far as deducting quantity purchased from available inventory, I'm not an
inventory expert, but there have been plenty of threads on this topic here
that you can search. Basically, I believe you would run an update query on
your inventory table.

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

:

ok well first how can i put my form fields like drop boxes on to a report if
i cant edit things on a report and second, each invoice contains, customer
name and number, and what they buy, i need to be able to save that so that
at anytime i can pull that information up and see what they bought. right
now i have a perfectly fine template in word but i need to make one in access
so that one, it tallies up totals automatically and i did that, and two it
automatically subtracts from the in stock value from my table when i put
something in the quantity text box for the product, and i havent figured that
out. but now ive run into the problem about being able to save it so it
looks like it does when i print it with all the information about the sale.

:

DistrautMan,

I forgot to mention that since you can recreate the report, or look at the
record on a form at any time, why would you need to store a copy of it?

Sprinks

:

Hi, DistrautMan.

I suggest you recreate the form's look in a report, and use a command button
on your form to output it in rich text format to a document. You can set the
filename in your command button procedure, or ask for a filename to be input
using the InputBox function.

Base your report on a query that contains all necessary fields, and has
selection criteria referencing the currently displayed record:

=Forms!YourFormName!YourPrimaryKey

Dim stDocName As String
Dim stFilename As String

stDocName = "YourReportName"
stFilename = "YourFileName" ' or use InputBox to get a filename
DoCmd.OutputTo acReport, stDocName, acFormatRTF, stFilename

See VBA Help on the OutputTo method for further details.

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

:

ok i have a form that i use as an invoice at work. i need to be able to
export it out of access in a seperate folder called customer invoices. two
problems: one it doesnt keep the layout format i have, it trys to convert it
and it looks completely different, so i need to know how to keep it still
looking like its a print preview, and two: how do you save it so it keeps the
values i entered in the fields, such as text boxes and drop down menus. thanx

 

[Guest]

ok well the form is bound to a query where the only thing in it is the "in
stock" field from my second table. how do i specify that the number i enter
in the text box for the quantity is subtracted from the "in stock" and that
it matches only to the product i selected in my second drop box?

Is your form bound to a table, that is, is its RecordSource property set to
the name of a table or query? If it is a query, is it "updateable"? Some
queries, for a variety of reasons cannot be updated. You can tell if it is
by executing the query by itself and attempting to change data in it.

If it is bound to a table or updateable query, are all of the form controls
(textboxes, combo boxes, checkboxes, etc.) bound to fields of the
RecordSource, that is, is their ControlSource property set to the names of
each corresponding field?

If the answer is Yes to all of the above, your data IS being saved to you
table(s). You HAVE the computer record of the invoice that you want. You
don't need to do anything further. If you want a printed copy for a paper
file, either print the screen (File, Print), or if that loses too much of the
formatting for your taste, define a report, and print it for the current
record as I described in an earlier post.

If the answer to any of the above is No, correct the deficiencies.

Good luck.

Sprinks

ill try all that out. the point of the entire database is that we have an
invoice in microsoft word aleady but what we need was 1: a table that stored
everything we need to know about our inventory ex. distributer, product, buy
price, sell price, quantity, reorder. then i had to duplicate the existing
invoice into access where i could now select the product from drop menus that
will display the prices and a command button that will total them, the only
place ive figured out how to do this is the form. but ive already
accomplished all that. the reason im using access is because i need the
invoice to tie into the inventory so that it automatically subtracts the "in
stock" value from the database, which i will attempt to do in a few minutes
from your explinations. but now i cant save like i need it do be saved. i
dont care which format i use as long as it saves in the same view as the
printed copy. i need two ways of storing invoices: one as a hard copy print
out to put in a drawer and another as a saved copy on the computer.

My point of confusion is that you seem to be using an Access form simply as a
replica of a paper form, or a Word form. Normally, Access forms are used to
enter data into tables and/or display existing data. If your form is used in
this way, each time you entered a new invoice, the data would be stored in
tables. There would be no need to print an extra hard copy of each invoice
because the invoice could be reviewed through your form at any time. You
could, of course, print it if desired from a command button on the form that
would execute a report for the current record.

I should caution you that, unlike Excel or Word, learning Access,
particularly from the design development side, is a significant learning
curve. If you will have the responsibility of developing applications for
your company, I strongly advise that you get some Access-specific training,
and to pick up one or more good Access reference books. Trying to develop an
application from ground zero is likely to be a very frustrating process.

That said, an Update query is simply a type of query that changes data in
one or more tables. In Access parlance, a query can be a Select query (the
most common), Cross-Tab, Make-Table, Append, Update, or Delete. You can also
use a query to summarize data from your tables, for example, the total amount
sold to each customer last year.

To experiment, start a new query based on some test tables with test data in
them.
Let's say you had one called InvoiceItems that stored each item's
partnumber, order quantity, and unitprice, a primary key ID, and an
InvoiceNumber that associates the items with the Invoice. Records would look
like:

InvoiceItemID InvoiceNumber PartNumber Qty UnitPrice
---------------- -------------------- -------------- ----------- -------------
45 11111 12345 12 65.00
46 11111 24654 10 75.00

There is no need to store extended price because you can calculate in a
query as a calculated field. Similarly, the part description is not needed
because it can be obtained from the Products table through a join
relationship on the PartNumber.

Now, let's say you have an Inventory table that stores the partnumber and
the current quantity on hand:

PartNumber QtyOnHand
---------------- --------------
12345 650
24654 55

Show the InvoiceItems and the Inventory tables. If Access does not provide
a link between the two PartNumber fields, establish one by dragging one to
the other. Then drag the InvoiceNumber field from InvoiceItems to the grid
and the QtyOnHand field from the Inventory table. Execute the query by
pressing the exclamation point icon. Note the quantity on hand for the items
of one of the invoices you've entered into your test tables, and note the
invoice number.

Change to Update view by Query/Update. In the Criteria row of the
InvoiceNumber enter the number you will use. In the Update To: row of the
QtyOnHand field, type an expression that reduces the quantity on hand by the
amount in the InvoiceItems Qty field:

[Inventory].[QtyOnHand]-[InvoiceItems].[Qty]

Execute the query, switch back to select view, and execute again. The
QtyOnHand of each item on that invoice will have been reduced by the quantity
entered on the invoice.

To execute the query from a command button on the form, instead of manually
entering the InvoiceNumber criteria as you just did, use a reference to a
form control that has this information:

Forms![YourForm]![YourInvoiceNumberControl]

Use the wizard to create a command button that executes the query. To
toggle the wizard on, choose View, Toolbox, and depress the wand and stars
icon.

To avoid deducting the same amount twice, add a Yes/No field to the Invoice
table called something like InventoryAdjusted. Then change your command
button's OnClick event procedure:

' Declarations here

If Not Me![InventoryAdjusted] Then
' Wizard created code to execute the query
Me![InventoryAdjusted] = True ' Set to false so it won't be run again
End If

' Error-handling here
:

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

when i say saving i mean that aside from the printed hard copy for storage in
a cabinet or something i need another hard copy of each and every invoice i
make that i can save into a file called "customer's invoices". i want copies
of each one i make so that if ever needed we can go back on the computer and
pull one up to check that person's phone number and what they've ordered. and
btw i cant figure out the update query, i dont know how to make one because
ive been using access for like a week or two.

:

Hi, DistrautMan.

I'm not sure what you mean by "saving" it. If your form is bound to
table(s), it already is saved. You can pull that record up at any time to
look at the information or edit it if necessary. A hard copy can be printed
at any time by printing a report that is based on a query that filters your
recordset by the currently displayed record.

As far as deducting quantity purchased from available inventory, I'm not an
inventory expert, but there have been plenty of threads on this topic here
that you can search. Basically, I believe you would run an update query on
your inventory table.

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

:

ok well first how can i put my form fields like drop boxes on to a report if
i cant edit things on a report and second, each invoice contains, customer
name and number, and what they buy, i need to be able to save that so that
at anytime i can pull that information up and see what they bought. right
now i have a perfectly fine template in word but i need to make one in access
so that one, it tallies up totals automatically and i did that, and two it
automatically subtracts from the in stock value from my table when i put
something in the quantity text box for the product, and i havent figured that
out. but now ive run into the problem about being able to save it so it
looks like it does when i print it with all the information about the sale.

:

DistrautMan,

I forgot to mention that since you can recreate the report, or look at the
record on a form at any time, why would you need to store a copy of it?

Sprinks

:

Hi, DistrautMan.

I suggest you recreate the form's look in a report, and use a command button
on your form to output it in rich text format to a document. You can set the
filename in your command button procedure, or ask for a filename to be input
using the InputBox function.

Base your report on a query that contains all necessary fields, and has
selection criteria referencing the currently displayed record:

=Forms!YourFormName!YourPrimaryKey

Dim stDocName As String
Dim stFilename As String

stDocName = "YourReportName"
stFilename = "YourFileName" ' or use InputBox to get a filename
DoCmd.OutputTo acReport, stDocName, acFormatRTF, stFilename

See VBA Help on the OutputTo method for further details.

Hope that helps.
Sprinks

:

ok i have a form that i use as an invoice at work. i need to be able to
export it out of access in a seperate folder called customer invoices. two
problems: one it doesnt keep the layout format i have, it trys to convert it
and it looks completely different, so i need to know how to keep it still
looking like its a print preview, and two: how do you save it so it keeps the
values i entered in the fields, such as text boxes and drop down menus. thanx