Adding Comments/notes or Blogging on a form?

Question

Hi all, 

so i have a standard Table with some normal info,

Name

Company

Email

Project Title

Status

These things are all together on one table and thus i can have 1 form to create new records. nothing to tricky

What i want on my form is a new box that allows me to add a comment (like a Facebook post) so i have the form and this box can either be always blank (preferable) or show the last comment.

What i guess this would do is populate these comments in a new table and somehow know they are assigned to the same ID (page of the form/row of the original table)

so if i then run a report, i can print off the page with all submitted comments.

something like

Name  company  Email

Project Title   Status

comment 1 Date

comment 2 Date

etc..

Then the next guy and so on..

I hope this makes sense?

What it means is i could add constant updates against a project and then print/pdf them if i want to review the history of the project.

I cant work out how to start or reference another table or submit a comment on it.

OR if it can even be done?

Help.

Thanks,

Ben

Answer 1

Being so new to Access let's start from the beginning...

Here are some resources to learn about databases...

Jeff Conrad's resources page...

http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/accessjunkie/resources.html

The Access Web resources page...

http://www.mvps.org/access/resources/index.html

A free tutorial written by Crystal (MS Access MVP)...

http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

MVP Allen Browne's tutorials...

http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials

UtterAccess Newcomer's Reading List

http://www.utteraccess.com/forum/Newcomer-s-Reading-List-t1998783.html

Sample data models...

http://www.databasedev.co.uk/table-of-contents.html

http://www.databaseanswers.org/data_models/

Naming Conventions…

http://www.access-diva.com/d1.html

Other helpful tips…

Setting up a Model Database

http://www.access-diva.com/d11.html

My Database Standards...

http://regina-whipp.com/blog/?p=102

The other thing you need to take into consideration is field names.  Words like *Name* and *Date* are Reserved Words and you should never use them as field names.  They create problems for Access which in turn creates problems for you.  For a complete list of Reserved Words see...

http://allenbrowne.com/AppIssueBadWord.html

As for your tables, you'll be needing...

tblProjects

pProjectID (Primary Key - Autonumber)

pProjectTitle

pCompany

pStatus

etc...

tblComments

cCommentID (Primary Key - Autonumber)

cProjectID (Foreign Key - Number/Long - relate to tblProjects/pProjectID)

cComment

cDate

etc...

However, if a more than one Company can be assigned to a Project then the table set up changes...

tblProjects

pProjectID (Primary Key - Autonumber)

pProjectTitle

pStatus

etc...

tblCompanies

cCompnayID (Primary Key - Autonumber)

cCompany

etc...

tblCompanyProjects

cpID (Primary Key - Autonumber)

cpCompanyID (Foreign Key - Number/Long - relate to tblCompanies/cCompanyID)

cpProjectID (Foreign Key - Number/Long - relate to tblProjects/pProjectID)

etc...

tblComments

cCommentID (Primary Key - Autonumber)

cProjectID (Foreign Key - Number/Long - relate to tblProjects/pProjectID)

cComment

cDate

etc...

You can then use a subreports to show the comments in a Report.

Answer 2

EDIT:

Dont worry i worked it out, im just slow. I mapped a button to create a new record and then turned the view to single field.

thanks anyway!

Ben

You can make a subform in Continuous form mode, then hide the other controls so all you see is the Notes field. Since the subform can have multiple records, you want to be able to see all the notes. I would also suggest that you display the Date to know when the note was entered.

Answer 3

Hi Mimmo, 

I have done that, it works, kinda, its just that the sub form looks like a table and not just one empty field to submit new comments, it that possible?

Thanks,

Ben

EDIT:

Dont worry i worked it out, im just slow. I mapped a button to create a new record and then turned the view to single field.

thanks anyway!

Ben

Answer 4

Hi, 

Thanks for getting back to me,

So the FK links to the PK and thats how they associate, then i can add new comments in a subform as and when the project has something worth updating?

sorry to be stupid, pretty new Access.

thanks,

Ben

Answer 5

Hi,

yes uou can do :

Projects table1**:**

Id        (PK primary key ,autonumber field

Company

Email

Project Title

Status

Comments table**:**

project_Id (FK foreign key, numeric

comment

date

In a form or in a report you can use subform or subreport for show comments and date.

Mimmo