UTS-Training Northeastern Illinois University

Microsoft Access 2007

Create Reports For A New Access Database

Prepared by: UTS-Training

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Table Of Contents

Course Objectives and Pre-requisites 3

Overview: Help Others Understand Your Data 4

Reports, The Easy Way 5

Start With a Design 6

Create a Tabular Report With The Report Tool 7

Group and Sort Data 8

Add Sums To Your Report 9

Create a Report From Scratch 10

Create a Report With The Report Wizard 11

Ways To Change a Report 12

References 13

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Pre-requisites

Microsoft Access 2007 - I (Introduction)

Be able to demonstrate the basic database principles by designing and creating a new database

with at least 4 tables.

Be able to create tables in a database and set various attributes of the fields in the table.

Be able to establish relationship among the different tables.

Be able to create tables by importing data from Excel and then updating the table properties.

Be able to create a table and then import data from Excel.

Course Objectives

•Create tabular reports.

•Group the data in a report.

•Create stacked reports.

•Use Layout view and Design view to change a report.

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Overview: Help Others Understand Your Data

Previous courses in this series showed you how to plan and build tables and relationships, and how

to create queries and forms. Now it is time to give your data meaning and put it to use in a report.

Why reports? Because they present complex data in a way that others can understand quickly and

easily.

This course explains the basics of reports, and shows you how to create several different types.

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Reports, The Easy Way

Your boss likes what you have done with the asset-tracking database, but she needs to present

some information at a meeting, soon.

It is time to build reports.

Reports are the end product of your database. They combine the raw facts in your database with

enough information to give those facts meaning, and they present the results visually.

Reports are also the best way to format and print your data, and they are a good way to summarize

data.

In Access, a report is made up of sections, as shown in the picture.

Header sections can appear at the top of a report, or in the case of Page Header sections, at

the top of each page in the report.

If you want to group the data in a report, you will see a Group Header. The section will list

the fields on which you group your data.

The Detail section is the body of your report, the data your users need to see. All reports must

have a detail section.

Footer sections can appear in several places. For example, you can create group footers that

display sums, counts, or averages for a group of data.

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Start With a Design

So how do you make your asset data meaningful and easy to understand? With a design.

Start by deciding on the data you need to include in the report, and then on the sections you want in

the report. For example, all reports need a detail section, but do you need a header? How about

grouping?

From there, you decide on a layout.

Access provides several basic layouts, shown here, but you can arrange your data in almost any

way you want.

Tabular layouts resemble spreadsheets. Use them when you need to present your data in a

simple list format.

Stacked layouts resemble the forms you fill out at a bank or when you buy something online.

Use a stacked layout when your report contains too many fields to display in tabular form.

Mixed layouts use elements from tabular and stacked layouts.

Justified layouts use the full width of your report page and display information as compactly

as possible. You use this layout when you need to display a large number of fields.

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Create a Tabular Report With The Report Tool

The Report tool is the easiest way to create a report.

Like the Form tool that you saw in the previous course, the Report tool automatically creates a re-

port that is bound, or connected, to a single data source, either a table or query.

All you have to do is select the table or query and click a button.

The picture shows how the process works.

In the Navigation Pane, select the table or query that you want to use as the data source for

the report.

Click the Create tab, and in the Reports group, click Report. Access creates a report that in-

cludes all the fields in your data source.

The report opens in Layout view, which gives you a chance to change it.

While you work, you can switch to Report view at any time to view your changes.

The report that is created automatically uses the tabular layout; if your data source contains enough

fields, Access creates the report in landscape format.

What kinds of changes might you make in step 3? You could resize a field by clicking and drag-

ging a single control, or you could switch to a stacked layout.

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Group and Sort Data

One of the more powerful things you can do in a report is group and sort your data.

One of the more powerful things you can do in a report is group and sort your data.

For example, if you want to know which supplier provided a given set of computers, then grouping

your assets by supplier can give you that information quickly and easily.

You can group tabular or stacked reports, as shown here.

Open your report in Layout view. On the Format tab, in the Grouping & Totals group, click

Group & Sort. The Group, Sort and Total pane appears below your report.

Click Add a group, and then select the field by which you want to group your data. Access

groups your data to reflect your choice.

If you want to sort your data, click Add a sort, select a field, and again Layout view shows

you your changes.

You can add 10 grouping levels to a report, and you can sort each level if you need to.

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Add Sums To Your Report

In addition to grouping and sorting, you can add subtotals, grand totals, and other calculations to

your reports.

For example, you can calculate how much you spent on a given model of desk or office chair.

The picture shows the process.

With your report still open in Layout view, click a grouping level, and then click More.

Locate the totaled field and click the arrow next to it.

Use the Totals dialog box to select the field you want to calculate, the type of calculation you

want to use, such as a sum or average, and to set options such as subtotals and grand totals.

When you finish, your report displays the calculations.

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Create a Report From Scratch

If you do not like the results you get with the Report tool, you can use Layout view to build a re-

port manually, a process that gives you more control.

You drag fields from a list, arrange them to your liking, and group them.

The picture shows the process in more detail.

On the Create tab, in the Reports group, click Blank Report. Access creates a blank report

and displays the Field List task pane.

In the Field List task pane, open the table you want to use as a data source, then drag fields to

the report. Access automatically uses the tabular layout.

If you want to use a different layout, highlight the fields in the report by pressing SHIFT and

clicking each field header, and then…

On the Arrange tab, in the Control Layout group, click Stacked. Access rearranges the

fields.

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Create a Report With The Report Wizard

The Report Wizard is a fast way to create a report with a large number of fields and a complex lay-

out.

The picture shows the steps.

Click the Create tab, and in the Reports group, click Report Wizard.

Complete the wizard. As part of that, you select a data source, and then …

… the fields you want to use, grouping options, a style, and more.

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Ways To Change a Report

You can use Layout view or Design view to change a report.

Layout view works best when you need to change the look and feel of a report. For example, you

can rearrange fields, change their sizes, or apply a pre-made style.

In contrast, Design view gives you control over every facet of your report. For example, you can

add text boxes that display the date and time that you ran a report.

The picture how to get started in each view.

To open a report in Layout view, go to the Navigation Pane, right-click the report, and click

Layout View.

Use the commands in the Format, Arrange, or Page Setup tabs. For example, on the For-

mat tab, in the AutoFormat group, click a style to apply it to the report.

Follow the same steps to open a report in Design view.

Once you are there, you can insert a number of controls, such as check boxes or date and

time controls.

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References

The contents of this handout are obtained from free tutorials that are available on Microsoft’s web-

site at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/download-office-2007-training-

HA010192650.aspx. Some minor changes were made to the content.