workorder from database

[Chip Smith]

i would like to make a database that could hold information like a customers
name, address, phone, etc. then within the database either by button or thru
word, have it dump that information into a workorder or purchase order
template i've already made. and then after the workorder had been created and
saved, have that file associated with that customer in the database either in
a new field or by clicking on the customer and bringing up all the associated
documents

 

[Pat Hartman]

This is going to take some VBA. First you need to modify your template to
add form fields that will be filled with appropriate data. Make sure you
name the bookmarks with understandable names. Then in your Access
application, you automate Word and fill the bookmarks with data from a query
that selected the record you want to fill. If you have a section where you
have multiple line items, that will need to be defined in the Word document
with a plain bookmark rather than a form field. In the Access app, you
would gather together the data in a code loop separating the columns with
tab characters and the rows with carriage return, line feed characters.
When the data is assembled, you place it at the bookmark and while it is
still selected, you convert the selected text to a table. You can use the
table formatting features to add lines and header formatting if necessary.

If you don't have an items section of the workorder, you can just do a
simple mail merge which is significantly less work.

 

[Jamie Collins]

in your Access
application, you automate Word and fill the bookmarks with data

Perhaps worth considering Word's mail merge functionality i.e. pull
the data rather than push.

Jamie.

--

 

[Pat Hartman]

I didn't suggest that because the "pulling" functionality is quite limited.
For a purchase order you normally need two sets of data - the PO header and
the PO detail. Word's mail merge cannot handle this. Each document is
merged with a single record.