Need help changing file (97)

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Hi, there. Wendell and Pat helped create a file 2 months ago. It had one entry form for the results of one type chart audit. We now have multiple audit tools, and one form won’t work for all. I tried making a second entry form (ModSedEntry), but I get an error message every time it invokes the underlying query which limits the choices in the list box. In fact, once I try to use the Mod Sed form the original one also goes beserk. They even have trouble keeping the date format to mm/dd/yy – for some reason in the middle of the screen the format will swirch to dd/mm/yy even tho’ I have never used that format for anything.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. I’ll attach the main components.

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Hi Judy,

I ran the ModSedEntry (named *ModSedEntry, why did you name it with an * in front of the name?) and it bombed on the Requery command (because of the name of the form being *ModSedEntry), so I changed the command to Me.Requery and it worked fine.

When you say you now have multiple audit tools, what do you mean, and what does the program have to do for multiple audit tools?

Which date fields do you mean (is it the DC Date and the Reviewed On date)?

Cheers,
Pat

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My undying thanks !!! I named it with an * in front so the two entry screens would be at the top of the list. The folks who will be using the db aren’t superusers but I want them to see and be able to change the other forms and queries so that eventually they tke ownership.

When I first built the db, it was to hold results for one chart audit tool with a list of y/n/blank responses. Now there are 6 audit tools which have some fields in common and others which are not in common. The results need to be calculated together, though. So I thought if I could build different entry screens which would limit the lists to the applicable items, it would make life MUCH easier for the folks doing the entering. Otherwise they would have to scroll endlessly through non-applicable items.

Yes, the DC Date and the Reviewed On date are the ones which for no known reason just switched format.

On a separate note, do you have any suggestions where I might look for a pre-built application which would display staff names, dates/times scheduled to work, work location, etc? It would need to be accesible to staff to view their schedules, and to management to input schedules and pull reports.

Thanks for your continuing help. You are a true jewel.

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Have you thought about nominating which chart audit tool to use. This can be accomplished by changing your table where you currently copy the questions ‘from’ and introduce a ‘chart audit tool’ field to identify them by chart audit tool. Then you would not have to worry about introducing a new form each time you need to introduce a new chart audit form, and they would not have to scroll endlessly through non-applicable items.

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What do you mean here?

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Have you checked your date settings in Control Panel/Regional Settings have not been changed.

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No, unfortunately I don’t know of any package like this, although I would be surprised if some other lounger didn’t know.

Just a note here, why don’t you introduce a switchboard that the users can negotiate their way around the system, in that way they don’t need to know anything about the tables/queries/forms etc (not that they should know anything about them anyway) as that’s a good way to screw the database.

HTH
Pat

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I guess I could do that for the one table, but then there are the other small bits such as the ModSed subform which only is on the ModSed entry form. Even then, I assume I’d need 6 columns to designate which TpoicIDs to include, and with the separate queries I just set the Topic# criteria I want.

When reports are generated, I need it to be able to give data both comprehensively and by tool – if item 1 is in 4 tools A, B, C and D, the results of all those audits need to be shown aggregate for the general picture, and just for audits done with tool A (for instance).

Yes, I checked my settings at home, at work, and on the other user’s computer – all are set to the US date type mmddyy. It must be the * issue Charlotte wrote about in the next post since it did not reappear today.

I’d do a switchboard if (1) I really understood how to make one that works, and (2) the other user didn’t have to learn how to change queries and make new ones based on whatever quirky way admin wants their data delivered. There’s always some new twist, or new question, or blend of X/Y that someone wants spit out, so getting behind the scenes is essential (unfortunately). Given that, this databse, like all the other ones I’ve made to hold information, will need frequent TLC and changes. And to think, this isn’t even what I am hired to do but it certainly beats aggregating buckets of data from 100s of pieces of paper.

Again, my thanks. I’ll go post a general question about scheduling software to the Lounge.

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<<>>
The Topic#, is this the dropdown box you have with Diabetes, etc., could be used to select the set of questions you need, or am I completely misunderstanding something here?

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How do propose to do this, in fact, what do you mean exactly by this sentence?

Pat

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The Topic# is the number I can change in the topics table. There is also an autoID# , but I use the Topic# as the sort # and change it if needed according to the changes to the main/general tool. It attaches to a full question (found on the tool) and an abbreviated one to display on the combo box on the entry form.

All tools include Topic# 1-3, only the insulin tool includes Topic#s 45-46, but both the general tool and the pain management tool contain topic# 26. Admin wants to look at responses for topics 1-3 regardless of the tool – so the data needs to be aggregated over all entries. They want to see aggregate responses to #26 over all the entries, but they also want to see if general charts are more or less likely to have the response be YES than those we are tracking for pain medications. And they want to look at all answers on the insulin tool, even though some of those question can be found on at least one other tool. They basically want their data limited to a tool, and over all charts audited.

And I know that after the next audit in July the questions will likely change as we try to drill down in areas where we have continuing problems, and eliminate questions where we have shown the most improvement.

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If you want objects to sort to the top, name them starting with an underscore. An asterisk is a wildcard in Access SQL so you could have very unexpected results referring to an object with an asterisk in the name.

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Thank you for the advice – I’ll go change the names.

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Hi Judy –
I’ve been out of commission for a couple of weeks while we moved, but things are starting to get back to normal. Just to expand on Charlotte’s comments about naming things, you want to avoid the ‘?’ character as well as it is also a (less frequently used) wild card character. We also use a ‘~’ prefix to indicate temporary objects – note that something in the sort sequence changes between 97 and 2000/2002 so that in some situations objects with non-alphabetic characters sort at the end instead of at the beginning as in 97.

Another possibility to consider – we put data in a separate database and then link to it from a front-end database. In those cases where people need to be able to do adhoc queries, we give them a separate front-end database where they do those kind of things. That keeps people from getting in each other’s way, and messing up something someone else did. On the other hand, if they are allowed to create queries then they can still do things that totally hose your data (like deleting it or editing every record in a table) with an action query. Just some things to keep in mind.

Sounds like they are keeping you busy!

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Thanks for the naming convention information.
Yes, I am more than busy. I figure that from now to the end of August, my boss and I will run 70+ hours/week, and we are already at the 60+ mark. Too many things to do to get ready for Joint Comission (our accrediting agency). However, we have deceided that while I may be lent out to make small dbs (nothing too complex since I really am NOT a programmer but rather a data analyst and jill-of-all-trades in Quality Management and not in IS), I will be teaching basic db information to the ‘owners/ users’ so they (don’t laugh too hard) will maintain their own software. At least that’s the plan. Can’t say it will work until we’ve tried it, so……….. Additionally, our IS group does NOT want any front-end db out there. I tried to get them to allow it when I first started to build these little ones, but their response was no dice. Ah, well. I certainly won’t run out of a job– but I may never get home again!

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