Datasheet
page numbers printed on it is much easier — especially if you have a
limited amount of time to orally guide others through your exhaustive
100-page report.
Presenting data in a logical format: You can use as much or as little
room as necessary for the fields on a report to accommodate the
amount of data that’s in each record. Compared to the single line for
each record on a printout of a table’s Datasheet view, this feature alone
is worth the effort.
Adding a title: Including a title on a report is easy. With a title, you’ll be
able to figure out the purpose of the report early on a Monday morning
before your first cup of coffee kicks in.
Using reports to show data analysis
Of course, you can summarize data in an Access report, but that’s just the tip
of the iceberg in terms of the types of data analysis you can do. Here are just
a few examples of some other ways you can use a report to analyze the infor-
mation in an Access database:
Compare similar results: You can produce a report that shows how
each salesperson’s results compare to the average of all of your com-
pany’s representatives.
Compare data over time: You can use a historical sales report to deter-
mine which ice cream flavors to stock at each of your ice cream stands.
Predict opportune moments: You can use a report to show how temper-
ature patterns affect the populations of various types of pests and use
this information to predict the best time to send out flyers for your
extermination business.
Determine the best course of action: You can create a report that tells
you whether it’s worthwhile to set up a calling committee for your club’s
annual meeting based on an analysis of the results from several past
meetings.
Using reports to preserve the moment
In most cases, an Access database is constantly changing as new data is
entered, existing data is edited, and old data is deleted. Sometimes, though,
you may have good reasons to preserve a record of exactly how things were
at a particular moment in time. Consider these possibilities:
If you maintain the membership list for the local branch of your favorite
club, you know that sometimes members can be a bit slow about renew-
ing their memberships. I’ve seen instances in which members have
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Part I: Accessing Both Ends: Getting Data In and Info Out
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