How do I set up an alpha index tab for an online rolodex?

J

John Vinson

On Tue, 20 Jun 2006 14:15:02 -0700, sflatinwisdom

It's considered polite to post a comprehensible question in the big
white text area, not just in the Subject line.

Microsoft Access (the subject of this newsgroup) is a database, but
it's not an "online rolodex". Are you using Access? or some other
software? Please post back with a bit more detail about what you want
to accomplish.

John W. Vinson[MVP]
 
J

John Vinson

Can you help me with my question? Which part do you need clarification on?
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "online rolodex"? I presume you want a list of
names, with the ability to pull one up and get information about that
person; Access can certainly do that. But do you want it "online" in
the sense of a webpage? Do you want a Rolodex *appearance* (graphic
image of a circular file), or do you want Rolodex *functionality*?

Most critically, what Microsoft (or other) software are you intending
to use for this?

John W. Vinson[MVP]
 
S

sflatinwisdom

Hi John,

My boss has a regular rolodex which I created a database on Access with. It
lists their last, first, MI, so and so on. I should have had tabs to group
and allow my boss to access each letter in the alphabet by last name. Access
has already alphabetized it but I would like to group the last names for
easier access. Can you help?

Robert
 
J

John Vinson

Hi John,

My boss has a regular rolodex which I created a database on Access with. It
lists their last, first, MI, so and so on. I should have had tabs to group
and allow my boss to access each letter in the alphabet by last name. Access
has already alphabetized it but I would like to group the last names for
easier access. Can you help?
Click to expand...

The simplest way to do this would be to create a Form based on a query
(sorted by lastname/firstname); use the Combo Box wizard to create a
Combo Box on the form, using the option "Use this combo to find a
record".

If your boss types L into the combo box, it will jump to the first
entry with a lastname starting with L. If s/he keeps typing (say types
LEW) it will jump to the first name starting with those letters (Lewis
say). Tabbing out of the combo or pressing Enter will bring up that
person's record.

If you really want alphabetical tabs, you can do it with some
considerable amount of work and VBA code - but in my opinion the
result will be harder to use than the combo. You could put 26 command
buttons, A to Z, on a form, and set the Filter property of the form to
limit the records to names beginning with that letter.

John W. Vinson[MVP]
 
S

sflatinwisdom

Thank you so much John

John Vinson said:
The simplest way to do this would be to create a Form based on a query
(sorted by lastname/firstname); use the Combo Box wizard to create a
Combo Box on the form, using the option "Use this combo to find a
record".

If your boss types L into the combo box, it will jump to the first
entry with a lastname starting with L. If s/he keeps typing (say types
LEW) it will jump to the first name starting with those letters (Lewis
say). Tabbing out of the combo or pressing Enter will bring up that
person's record.

If you really want alphabetical tabs, you can do it with some
considerable amount of work and VBA code - but in my opinion the
result will be harder to use than the combo. You could put 26 command
buttons, A to Z, on a form, and set the Filter property of the form to
limit the records to names beginning with that letter.

John W. Vinson[MVP]
Click to expand...
 
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