Sub Forms in a Continuous Main Form

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Guest

I am building a Whse Inventory Status report.
The user picks assorted filtering options ,pushes abutton and the report is
generated. The detail data is held at the Sku/Whse level, and is subtotaled
at each level up the hierarchy by Whse via subreports. The hierarchy is as
follows:
Sku/ Whse (Detail Level)
Sku
Sub Dept
Dept
Company

This all works fine when generating a report.

Now, I need to duplicate the process in forms, for on-screen viewing. The
problem I am having is not being able to nest sub forms in a continuous main
form. The user having to look at 1 sku at a time is not feasable in this
application. They need to be able to scroll through the entire list.

Does anybody have any ideas on how I can accomplish this?

Thanks
Rosco
 
Rosco,

I'm afraid you can't. By definition, Access forms will host subforms
only in single form view.

Nikos
 
Thanks for the response Nikos. Any ideas on how I can accomplish this
without subforms?
Thnaks
Rosco
 
I'm afraid not... I'm not convinced you're on the right track though. If
you just want to display then use the report - that's what reports are
for! If it's for data entry / editing, then a user would be entering /
editing one SKU at a time, in which case the single form view is just
fine; for the editing, in particular, you could use a listbox or combo
for the SKU selection, which is far easier than asking the user to
scroll down contrinuous forms.
What are you trying to achieve exactly?

Nikos
 
This is actually a rebuild of an existing app. Currently the p\reports and
forms are in a crosstab format, at the insistance of the original users. This
being a non-normalized format and overly comlex in design, has reached its
limit in flexibility. So I am redesigning the app to be a more correct
design.
you just want to display then use the report - that's what reports are
for!
Click to expand...
The idea behind viewing in a form is to save paper. The full report is
very large. I find viewing reports in preview mode trying at best.

My users need to be able to scroll through and review their areas of
responsibility to spot potential issues. If they are looking for a specific
sku or set of skus, they can filter the report/form in the options form.
Rosco
 
This is actually a rebuild of an existing app. Currently the p\reports and
forms are in a crosstab format, at the insistance of the original users. This
being a non-normalized format
Click to expand...
Ouch! This hurts!

and overly comlex in design, has reached its
limit in flexibility. So I am redesigning the app to be a more correct
design.
Click to expand...
I don't envy you! I'm more inclined to start from scratch than try to
straighten up a horrible mess.

The idea behind viewing in a form is to save paper.
Click to expand...
by view I meant preview, not print!
The full report is
very large. I find viewing reports in preview mode trying at best.
Click to expand...
OK, that's subjective, I won't argue on it.

My users need to be able to scroll through and review their areas of
responsibility to spot potential issues. If they are looking for a specific
sku or set of skus, they can filter the report/form in the options form.
Click to expand...
You could always filter a report likewise!

For what it's worth, in my experience people will review bulk data on
paper anyway (and I can't blame them!). So, when I want the sales people
to review their customer base, for example, I print it out grouped by
sales person, and give each one their respective pages for review.

Regards,
Nikos
 
Rosco,
I would approach this with a "drill down" set of forms. By drill down I
mean multiple forms with each successive form having more detail than the
previous. For example, The first form would be a list of companies. The
second would be a list of departments for the company selected from the
first form. The third form would be a list of subdepartments for the
department selected on the second form, etc...

I've done this before by placing a button in the detail section of the
forms and code it to open the next form filtered on the selected record on
the calling form. A button in the detail section selects the record
"automatically" for the user and then opens the next form.

HTH
Scott
 
Hi Scott,

Nice compromise.
This precisely how I've decided to approach the problem.
Thanks
Rosco
 
I don't envy you! I'm more inclined to start from scratch than try to
straighten up a horrible mess.
Click to expand...

I only needed to rebuild about half of the data structure. The basic stuff
that runs prior to all the cross tabs were fine. I just needed to rebuild
from there. The front end of course needs a hefty redo.
For what it's worth, in my experience people will review bulk data on
paper anyway (and I can't blame them!). So, when I want the sales people
to review their customer base, for example, I print it out grouped by
sales person, and give each one their respective pages for review.
Click to expand...

True for the most part, especially for the managers to review. The actual
users like not having to print a ream of paper to do their work. I've noted
on my reply below, to break it down into chunks with pop up forms with
additional detail.

Thanks for the help, Nikos
Rosco
 
Actually, the solution is to use two sub-forms.

You can have a continuous form (sub form) on the left side, and the user is
free to navigate this data....on the right side..you put another sub-form to
show the details for each record of the left side.

I do this all the time.

Here is some screen shots:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Articles/Grid.htm

The last form "donations" is great example. on the left side is the person,
and the right side has donations details.
 
Rosco,

In the meantime Albert Kallal suggested a very interesting alternative,
have a look at it.

Regards,
Nikos
 
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