Use custom field headers to create more professional Access reports
Thursday, December 11, 2008 03:13 PM
Query-based reports give you the opportunity to turn those unfriendly field names into better-looking headers.
Microsoft Access
Use custom field headers to create more professional Access reports
See how this quick tweak can polish up your reports.
When you run a report, the report field headers are based on the field names in the source table. If you base your report on a query, you have an opportunity to change the field headers.
For example, say you're basing your report on a query that includes the fields CompanyName, ContactName, and ContactTitle.
Follow these steps:
- Open the query in Design mode.
- Right-click the CompanyName field and select Properties.
- Click in the Caption property box and type Client Company.
- Right-click the ContactName field and select Properties (Figure A).
Figure A
- Click in the Caption property box and type Name (Figure B).
Figure B
- Right-click the ContactTitle field and select Properties.
- Click in the Caption property box and type Title.
- Run the Query (Figure C).
Figure C
Although the query results and any report based on the query use the new caption names, the field names remain unchanged in the source table.
Microsoft Excel
Quickly move data to another Excel workbook without copy and paste
Let's say you keep all records for your clients for the Philadelphia region in one Excel workbook. The first worksheet lists the company name, address, and contact name and title. The second worksheet keeps a record of the clients' sales transactions. You would like to use the information in the Excel workbook to send weekly reminders of weekly promotions to your clients. However, you don't want the marketing staff to work with the same workbook as the sales staff. Using Excel's worksheet copy/move feature, you can quickly create a workbook that contains only the information needed to address your weekly promotional mailings. Follow these steps:
- Open the workbook containing the customer data.
- Right-click the first worksheet tab.
- Select Move Or Copy from the shortcut menu (Figure A).
Figure A
- Click the To Book drop-down list and select (new book).
- Select the Create A Copy check box (Figure B) and click OK.
Figure B
Excel creates a new workbook (Book1) and copies the data from the first worksheet to Sheet 1 of the new book. Save the new workbook as Mailing Lists.
To add another list of clients from another workbook -- say, one containing records on customers from Cherry Hill, NJ -- follow these steps:
- Open the Mailing Lists workbook.
- Open the second workbook containing the customer address listing for Cherry Hill on Sheet 1.
- Right-click the Sheet 1 tab.
- Click Move Or Copy from the shortcut menu.
- Click the To Book drop-down list and select Mailing Lists.
- From the Before Sheet list box, select (move to end).
- Select the Create A Copy check box (Figure C) and click OK.
Figure C
Microsoft Word
Control when Word 2007 updates links
When you open a document, Word automatically updates any linked objects it contains, such as worksheet data. If you’d rather handle the process yourself, follow these steps to configure Word for manual updates.
If your monthly report includes a copy of the updated inventory figures from one Excel worksheet, you can save yourself some time by establishing a link to the original data. That way, you won’t have to copy and paste it each month. By default, Word automatically updates data in a linked object when you open the Word file or when changes are made to the source data while the Word file is open. However, if you only need the table updated just before you send it to the printer, you can change Word settings so you can manually control the update.
Follow these steps:
- Click the Office button.
- Click the Word Options button.
- Click Advanced.
- Under General, clear the Update Automatic Links At Open check box (Figure A).
Figure A
Now when you open the document, you won’t receive a message asking whether Word should update the information in the linked object. Additionally, while your document is open, the source file can be opened only in read-only mode; no changes can be made to the linked objected or the source while the Word file is open.
When you’re ready to update the data in the linked spreadsheet, follow these steps:
- Click the Office button.
- Point to Prepare.
- Scroll down and click Edit Links To Files (Figure B).
Figure B
- Under Update Method For Selected Link, select the Manual Update check box and click OK (Figure C).
Figure C
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