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From: BruceM via AccessMonster.com on 5 Nov 2009 09:06
Generally you would have something like the following:

tblInvoice (Invoice header table)
InvoiceID (primary key, or PK)
CustomerID
InvoiceDate
InitiatedBy
Other information specific to the invoice

tblDetails (line items or details for the invoice)
DetailID (PK)
InvoiceID
Item
UnitPrice
Quantity

InvoiceID needs to be the same data type (Number, Text) in both tables. If
InvoiceID is an autonumber in tblInvoice, it needs to be Number (Long Integer)
in tblDetails. Note that Number can be of various types. Long Integer,
Double, and Currency are the ones used most of the time.

Go to View >> Relationships. Add both tables. Drag InvoiceID from one table
to InvoiceID on the other. Click Enforce Referential Integrity when the
dialog appears. Note that the fields do not need to be the same name, but it
may be easier to keep track of that way.

Create a main form based on tblInvoice. From the toolbox, add a
subform/subreport control, just as you would add a text box, line, or anthing
else. With the subform control selected, click View >> Properties. Set its
Source Object to tblDetails, and its Link Child and Link Master fields to
InvoiceID if it is not already done. Click the three dots next to either
Link property, and it should take you through the rest of the process.

Add an Invoice record on the main form. On the subform, add a few line items
(details). Create another Invoice record (main form) with a few line items.
Go back to the first record. The line items should still be there. Look at
the tables. Each Detail record should have a value in InvoiceID
corresponding to an InvoiceID value in tblInvoice.

In many cases there is a listing of items that may be added to Details. If
you were dealing in products it would be a Products table. In the case of
services there may be a listing of services and prices. In this case you
would have a Services table:

tblService
ServiceID (PK
Description
UnitPrice
Quantity

tblDetails would look like this:

tblDetails (line items or details for the invoice)
DetailID (PK)
InvoiceID
ServiceID
UnitPrice
Quantity

Add tblService to the Relationship window, and create a relationship between
the ServiceID fields.

Base the subform on tblDetails as before. Rather than Item you will be
linking to tblService. Make a combo box. Set its Row Source to a query
based on tblService. The first column (hidden) in the combo box is ServiceID.
The other column(s) are visible, allowing you to select the item by name
rather than number. Set the combo box Control Source to ServiceID.

This is just a sketch, but I will have to leave it at that for now. For more
information about design and general database principles, this is a list John
Vinson often provides:

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

Roger Carlson's tutorials, samples and tips:
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/

A free tutorial written by Crystal:
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

A video how-to series by Crystal:
http://www.YouTube.com/user/LearnAccessByCrystal

MVP Allen Browne's tutorials:
http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials

Crystal's tutorial is as good a place as any to start, IMHO.

To set up an incrementing Invoice number, one technique may be found here:
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=395


gorsoft(a)hotmail.com wrote:
>> Had I been asked I would have recommended against adding the last sentence to
>> the previous posting, but the other points are valid.  My understanding of
>[quoted text clipped - 76 lines]
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
>Hi Bruce, Thanks for your detailed post. You make a much more
>convincing argument which has won me over. Part of my reticence to
>construct an invoice header table and a separate one for invoice item
>lines lay in my ignorance of the approach I should take. I did say I
>was not designing an accounting system here but just the ability to
>print invoices. Can you give me some advice?
>I understand what fields should be in the 2 tables but am unclear how
>to populate them.
>
>The nature of the business is a service based one - charges are made
>to a range of clients for each enquiry handled. These are captured
>through a basic data entry screen, allocated to a client and populate
>an enquiries transaction table. What is the best approach then to
>populate the invoice header and invoice lines tables?
>
>Gordon

--
Message posted via AccessMonster.com
http://www.accessmonster.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/access-tablesdbdesign/200911/1

From: gorsoft on 5 Nov 2009 14:51
On Nov 5, 2:06 pm, "BruceM via AccessMonster.com" <u54429(a)uwe> wrote:
> Generally you would have something like the following:
>
> tblInvoice (Invoice header table)
>    InvoiceID (primary key, or PK)
>    CustomerID
>    InvoiceDate
>    InitiatedBy
>    Other information specific to the invoice
>
> tblDetails (line items or details for the invoice)
>    DetailID (PK)
>    InvoiceID
>    Item
>    UnitPrice
>    Quantity
>
> InvoiceID needs to be the same data type (Number, Text) in both tables.  If
> InvoiceID is an autonumber in tblInvoice, it needs to be Number (Long Integer)
> in tblDetails.  Note that Number can be of various types.  Long Integer,
> Double, and Currency are the ones used most of the time.
>
> Go to View >> Relationships.  Add both tables.  Drag InvoiceID from one table
> to InvoiceID on the other.  Click Enforce Referential Integrity when the
> dialog appears.  Note that the fields do not need to be the same name, but it
> may be easier to keep track of that way.
>
> Create a main form based on tblInvoice.  From the toolbox, add a
> subform/subreport control, just as you would add a text box, line, or anthing
> else.  With the subform control selected, click View >> Properties.  Set its
> Source Object to tblDetails, and its Link Child and Link Master fields to
> InvoiceID if it is not already done.  Click the three dots next to either
> Link property, and it should take you through the rest of the process.
>
> Add an Invoice record on the main form.  On the subform, add a few line items
> (details).  Create another Invoice record (main form) with a few line items.
> Go back to the first record.  The line items should still be there.  Look at
> the tables.  Each Detail record should have a value in InvoiceID
> corresponding to an InvoiceID value in tblInvoice.
>
> In many cases there is a listing of items that may be added to Details.  If
> you were dealing in products it would be a Products table.  In the case of
> services there may be a listing of services and prices.  In this case you
> would have a Services table:
>
> tblService
>    ServiceID (PK
>    Description
>    UnitPrice
>    Quantity
>
> tblDetails would look like this:
>
> tblDetails (line items or details for the invoice)
>    DetailID (PK)
>    InvoiceID
>    ServiceID
>    UnitPrice
>    Quantity
>
> Add tblService to the Relationship window, and create a relationship between
> the ServiceID fields.
>
> Base the subform on tblDetails as before.  Rather than Item you will be
> linking to tblService.  Make a combo box.  Set its Row Source to a query
> based on tblService.  The first column (hidden) in the combo box is ServiceID.
> The other column(s) are visible, allowing you to select the item by name
> rather than number.  Set the combo box Control Source to ServiceID.
>
> This is just a sketch, but I will have to leave it at that for now.  For more
> information about design and general database principles, this is a list John
> Vinson often provides:
>
> 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
>
> Roger Carlson's tutorials, samples and tips:http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/
>
> A free tutorial written by Crystal:http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html
>
> A video how-to series by Crystal:http://www.YouTube.com/user/LearnAccessByCrystal
>
> MVP Allen Browne's tutorials:http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials
>
> Crystal's tutorial is as good a place as any to start, IMHO.
>
> To set up an incrementing Invoice number, one technique may be found here:http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=395
>
>
>
>
>
> gors...(a)hotmail.com wrote:
> >> Had I been asked I would have recommended against adding the last sentence to
> >> the previous posting, but the other points are valid.  My understanding of
> >[quoted text clipped - 76 lines]
>
> >> - Show quoted text -
>
> >Hi Bruce,  Thanks for your detailed post.  You make a much more
> >convincing argument which has won me over.  Part of my reticence to
> >construct an invoice header table and a separate one for invoice item
> >lines lay in my ignorance of the approach I should take.  I did say I
> >was not designing an accounting system here but just the ability to
> >print invoices. Can you give me some advice?
> >I understand what fields should be in the 2 tables but am unclear how
> >to populate them.
>
> >The nature of the business is  a service based one - charges are made
> >to a range of clients for each enquiry handled.  These are captured
> >through a basic data entry screen, allocated to a client and populate
> >an enquiries transaction table.  What is the best approach then to
> >populate the invoice header and invoice lines tables?
>
> >Gordon
>
> --
> Message posted via AccessMonster.comhttp://www.accessmonster.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/access-tablesdbdesign/20...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Hey, thanks for taking the time to spell all that out for me. I
really appreciate that. I think I was looking for a different
solution, which reflected the work flow process. You see, all those
enquiries I talked about are entered through the month, then at the
end of the month I was looking to devise a routine that with the click
of a button would print out for each client an invoice (Access report)
listing the summary details of each charged for enquiry processed that
month with a unit price etc and a total invoice charge. The enquiries
table would then be updated with a flag (tick box) or the invoice no/
ID showing that the enquiry had been invoiced.

Perhaps that solution is a bridge too far and I should concentrate on
devising a main form/subform combination - combo box with clients in
the main form, enquiries relative to that client in the subform, with
a button to click to produce an individual invoice for that client for
all outstanding (ie uninvoiced) enquiries. In doing that I could put
some codein ther at the same time to write the relevant data to an
invoice header file and an invoice transactions file. Does that seem
feasible to you or can you think of a better approach?

Gordon
From: BruceM via AccessMonster.com on 5 Nov 2009 15:34
Are you saying there are invoices with several line items, and that there may
be several such invoices per month for a client? If so, are you further
saying that if there are three invoices per month for a customer, each
invoice with three line items, that you want the summary report to show all
nine line items, or that you want it to show three lines: the summaries of
the individual invoices?

Either may be done, but if you are summarizing an invoice into a single line
what detail information can you show other than grand total? You could add
up the total quantity, but that may not make sense if the three line items
are for different things.

It could be that the report's Sorting and Grouping capabilities could give
you what you need. However, I need to stress that if you have a conventional
invoice system with several line items grouped under a single invoice number,
you should proceed with related tables. If you are set up properly on that
first level any big picture data can be produced. This is true on every
level. If your design is properly normalized you can do almost anything with
the data.

I am struggling to convert a project from my earlier Access days that is not
properly normalized. On some things I knew better but decided it was too
much bother. On others I just didn't know better. Both are proving equally
vexing now.

gorsoft(a)hotmail.com wrote:
>> Generally you would have something like the following:
>>
>[quoted text clipped - 112 lines]
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
>Hey, thanks for taking the time to spell all that out for me. I
>really appreciate that. I think I was looking for a different
>solution, which reflected the work flow process. You see, all those
>enquiries I talked about are entered through the month, then at the
>end of the month I was looking to devise a routine that with the click
>of a button would print out for each client an invoice (Access report)
>listing the summary details of each charged for enquiry processed that
>month with a unit price etc and a total invoice charge. The enquiries
>table would then be updated with a flag (tick box) or the invoice no/
>ID showing that the enquiry had been invoiced.
>
>Perhaps that solution is a bridge too far and I should concentrate on
>devising a main form/subform combination - combo box with clients in
>the main form, enquiries relative to that client in the subform, with
>a button to click to produce an individual invoice for that client for
>all outstanding (ie uninvoiced) enquiries. In doing that I could put
>some codein ther at the same time to write the relevant data to an
>invoice header file and an invoice transactions file. Does that seem
>feasible to you or can you think of a better approach?
>
>Gordon

--
Message posted via AccessMonster.com
http://www.accessmonster.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/access-tablesdbdesign/200911/1

From: gorsoft on 6 Nov 2009 04:35
On 5 Nov, 20:34, "BruceM via AccessMonster.com" <u54429(a)uwe> wrote:
> Are you saying there are invoices with several line items, and that there may
> be several such invoices per month for a client?  If so, are you further
> saying that if there are three invoices per month for a customer, each
> invoice with three line items, that you want the summary report to show all
> nine line items, or that you want it to show three lines:  the summaries of
> the individual invoices?
>
> Either may be done, but if you are summarizing an invoice into a single line
> what detail information can you show other than grand total?  You could add
> up the total quantity, but that may not make sense if the three line items
> are for different things.
>
> It could be that the report's Sorting and Grouping capabilities could give
> you what you need.  However, I need to stress that if you have a conventional
> invoice system with several line items grouped under a single invoice number,
> you should proceed with related tables.  If you are set up properly on that
> first level any big picture data can be produced.  This is true on every
> level.  If your design is properly normalized you can do almost anything with
> the data.
>
> I am struggling to convert a project from my earlier Access days that is not
> properly normalized.  On some things I knew better but decided it was too
> much bother.  On others I just didn't know better.  Both are proving equally
> vexing now.
>
>
>
>
>
> gors...(a)hotmail.com wrote:
> >> Generally you would have something like the following:
>
> >[quoted text clipped - 112 lines]
>
> >> - Show quoted text -
>
> >Hey, thanks for taking the time to spell all that out for me.  I
> >really appreciate that.  I think I was looking for a different
> >solution, which reflected the work flow process.  You see, all those
> >enquiries I talked about are entered through the month, then at the
> >end of the month I was looking to devise a routine that with the click
> >of a button would print out for each client an invoice (Access report)
> >listing the summary details of each charged for enquiry processed that
> >month with a unit price etc and a total invoice charge.  The enquiries
> >table would then be updated with a flag (tick box) or the invoice no/
> >ID showing that the enquiry had been invoiced.
>
> >Perhaps that solution is a bridge too far and I should concentrate on
> >devising a main form/subform combination - combo box with clients in
> >the main form, enquiries relative to that client in the subform, with
> >a button to click to produce an individual invoice for that client for
> >all outstanding (ie uninvoiced) enquiries.  In doing that I could put
> >some codein ther at the same time to write the relevant data to an
> >invoice header file and an invoice transactions file.  Does that seem
> >feasible to you or can you think of a better approach?
>
> >Gordon
>
> --
> Message posted via AccessMonster.comhttp://www.accessmonster.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/access-tablesdbdesign/20...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Normally only 1 invoice per client per month - that invoice could have
one or more item lines (each one representing a unique enquiry with
its own characteristics). I have a table of those enquiries - what I
am struggling with is how do I convert the enquiries into invoice item
lines and invoice headers without going through each client and
creating an invoice header and then selecting the item lines to add to
that invoice or worse still re-keying the item lines (enquiries).
Unless you can suddenly see what I am driving at (which cannot be easy
I know), I will adopt the approach I outlined in my previous post
above.


Gordon
From: BruceM via AccessMonster.com on 6 Nov 2009 07:43
It sounds as if your term for line items is enquiry. It would help to know a
little more about the structure, but I will use part of the field list you
showed in an earlier post as a starting point. Work on a copy of the
database, of course.

invoice date
invoice no
customerID
productID
item description
Quantity
Unit price

I will assume InvoiceDate, InvoiceNo, and CustomerID are header items, and
the rest are line items, or enquiries. I will asume further that the
InvoiceDate is the same for all records with a particular InvoiceNo. Same
for CustomerID. You could make a SELECT DISTINCT query of InvoiceDate,
InvoiceNo, and CustomerID, or a totals query in which you group on those
three fields. In any case the query will include just the header fields, and
will show only unique records. Use the query to make a table containing the
same information. This could be a make-table query, or I think you can copy
a query and paste it as a table. There are other adaptations you could use,
but in the end there will be only one record per InvoiceNo.

Now make a copy of the original table. Delete InvoiceDate and CustomerID
fields. Create a one-to-many relationship between CustomerID in the Header
table created from the query and CustomerID in this new Details table. Use
the Header table as the basis for an Invoice form, and the Details table as
the basis for a subform as described in the posting in which I sketched the
table structure.

This should leave you with Header (Invoice) information on the main form and
related LineItem/Detail/Enquiry records on the subform.

Whatever the details, the general idea is that repeated Header information
will be consolidated into one table with no repetition, and Header fields
deleted from a copy of the original table to leave you with the Detail
information.

As for printing a report, you could filter or group the records as needed,
but I am not clear on how TransactionDate from your original posting of table
structure fits into this. I assume it is part of a Detail record, but I
don't know if the TransactionDate month will always be the same as the
InvoiceDate month. You can make it do what you want either way, but it is a
little more involved if the Header and Detail months are not the same in all
cases.

BTW, whenever I mention basing a form on a table you could (and probably
should) use a query based on the table instead. This will allow you to sort
by InvoiceNunber, among other things.

gorsoft(a)hotmail.com wrote:
>> Are you saying there are invoices with several line items, and that there may
>> be several such invoices per month for a client?  If so, are you further
>[quoted text clipped - 54 lines]
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
>Normally only 1 invoice per client per month - that invoice could have
>one or more item lines (each one representing a unique enquiry with
>its own characteristics). I have a table of those enquiries - what I
>am struggling with is how do I convert the enquiries into invoice item
>lines and invoice headers without going through each client and
>creating an invoice header and then selecting the item lines to add to
>that invoice or worse still re-keying the item lines (enquiries).
>Unless you can suddenly see what I am driving at (which cannot be easy
>I know), I will adopt the approach I outlined in my previous post
>above.
>
>Gordon

--
Message posted via http://www.accessmonster.com

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