Anyone have any experience customizing MS Outlook forms for use in conjunction with MS Access? I was thinking about using this for engineering requests, corrective action reporting, design reviews, etc. If anyone knows where I might be able to find some templates or reading material along these lines it would be greatly appreciated.
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MS Outlook Forms 1
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Is there any particular reason why you prefer MS Outlook for those purposes or would you consider other options?
Tell me more about your requirements/limitations (e.g. software; is this to be e.g. a dept-wide project or is this to help make tracking these tasks easier for your job -- may times this info is necessary to determine the scope/direction of the request; are ALL of those persons who need access to this data on the same computer system (hardware/software) and/or will be using MS Outlook; will e.g. ISO auditors or process safety auditors need access to this database data?; are there others that are using other computer platforms (e.g. Macs) going to require access to this data?; etc.).
Tell me more about your requirements/limitations (e.g. software; is this to be e.g. a dept-wide project or is this to help make tracking these tasks easier for your job -- may times this info is necessary to determine the scope/direction of the request; are ALL of those persons who need access to this data on the same computer system (hardware/software) and/or will be using MS Outlook; will e.g. ISO auditors or process safety auditors need access to this database data?; are there others that are using other computer platforms (e.g. Macs) going to require access to this data?; etc.).
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DaveVikingPE
Structural
If you are trying to build an "upward reporting system" using Outlook in conjunction with Access a good source of information is the M$ forums at the company's web site. I remember reading a few years ago in some database magazine about custom web queries using access. It looked like a piece of cake to me, though I didn't have the need. In my office, people have customized outlook with acceptance buttons or something like that to register votes or repsonses or the like (votes on what? Stuff like who's going to a luncheon, that's what - but it could easily be for who has or has not seen a particular drawing).
Personally, though, I think you're asking for trouble. Unless... Unless you can devote a full-time effort to developing a custom system using Access and Outlook. Sure, it's easy, it should be as the programs are designed to mesh together. However, you need someone, perhaps it is you, who is at the "guru" level concerning Access. Additionally, you will need to maintain extremely tight control on how everyone else's computers are running Access/Outlook - if that's going to be the case. You will need a lot of troubleshooting and testing. My experience with upward reporting systems (and it looks like that's what you want) is that ultimately the project managers spend half their time finding someone who can figure out how it works, stealing time that could be better used for engineering tasks. On the other hand, if you can make it work, and get everybody on-board with it, you could publish the results in a magazine and get some serious kudos from the M$ world at-large.
Personally, though, I think you're asking for trouble. Unless... Unless you can devote a full-time effort to developing a custom system using Access and Outlook. Sure, it's easy, it should be as the programs are designed to mesh together. However, you need someone, perhaps it is you, who is at the "guru" level concerning Access. Additionally, you will need to maintain extremely tight control on how everyone else's computers are running Access/Outlook - if that's going to be the case. You will need a lot of troubleshooting and testing. My experience with upward reporting systems (and it looks like that's what you want) is that ultimately the project managers spend half their time finding someone who can figure out how it works, stealing time that could be better used for engineering tasks. On the other hand, if you can make it work, and get everybody on-board with it, you could publish the results in a magazine and get some serious kudos from the M$ world at-large.
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