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Intro

In lesson 204, you will learn how to develop a letter writer in Microsoft Access as part of our ongoing contact management system. I will show you how to create and store letters for your customers, set up a report to print those letters in a mail-ready format, and build a query to select records for printing. We will also cover macro basics, including how to create and use a simple macro to automate refreshing records before printing. This lesson uses Microsoft Access XP but is applicable to all versions of Microsoft Access and Windows.

Transcript

Welcome to Microsoft Access 204, Intermediate Microsoft Access, brought to you by 599CD.com. I am your instructor, Richard Rost.

In today's class, we are going to develop a letter writer. We have been building a contact management system for our database where we can type in all these contacts, things we talked about with our customers, and things they might have said when they came in or talked on the phone.

Today, we are going to take it one step further and make it so we can actually type in letters to our customers, store them in that contact table, and then print them out in a letter format that we can actually drop in the mail and send to them.

We will develop a report that we can print out as a letter based on our contact data. We will develop a query that allows us to select a specific record to be printed.

In order to do this properly, we are also going to need to learn about some macro basics. Remember, macros are one of those things we have not talked about much. Macros are used for repeating automated tasks and for doing certain things we cannot do with the database by itself.

We will build a basic macro. I will teach you how macros work, and we will use a macro to refresh our records in our table before we print out the data. You will see how all this works in just a few minutes.

This class follows Microsoft Access 203. I strongly recommend that you do all the Microsoft Access courses 101 through 104, and 102 and 3, before taking this class. You will get the most out of it if you build the databases in those classes. We will be using that database today.

In class, we will be using Microsoft Access XP and Windows XP. However, this lesson is valid for every version of Access and Windows; it does not matter which versions you have.

Remember to sit back and watch the lessons the first time through, just to get what I am doing. Then go through a second time and try to build what I have built in the previous lesson. Watch the whole course through one time, then go through a second time and build the database as you go through the second time. Much easier.

A copy of the database that we will be using in class today is on your hard drive. It should have been installed with the course. You can also find it on our website at 599cd.com/x-204. However, I strongly recommend that you build the database yourself starting with Access 101. You will get the most out of this class if you build the database.

If you have not been building a database, or if your database is a big pile of mush and you have not been going through all the examples exactly like I have, feel free to pick up on the database as it exists on your computer. You will see a pre-204 version, which is the database before this class starts, and you will find a post-204 version, which is the database at the end of today's class. Both versions will be there.

Again, you will get the most out of this course if you build the database yourself.

Quiz

Q1. What is the main new feature that will be developed in this Microsoft Access 204 class?
A. Building a contact management table
B. Creating a letter writer to store and print letters to customers
C. Learning advanced SQL queries
D. Designing an inventory tracking form

Q2. Where will the letters composed for customers be stored?
A. In a separate letter table
B. In the contact table
C. In the user profile table
D. In a Word document

Q3. What will be created to allow printing letters in the appropriate format?
A. A new data input form
B. A mail merge in Word
C. A report based on contact data
D. An Excel spreadsheet

Q4. What will be used to refresh records before printing out the data?
A. A VBScript
B. A basic macro
C. A new query only
D. A linked Excel sheet

Q5. What is the purpose of macros as mentioned in the lesson?
A. To summarize statistical data
B. To repeat automated tasks and perform actions not possible otherwise in the database
C. To improve the graphical interface
D. To create backups

Q6. What is recommended before taking Access 204?
A. Watch YouTube tutorials
B. Only read the user manual
C. Complete Microsoft Access 101 through 104 and 102 and 3
D. Skip straight to 204 if you know Excel

Q7. What versions of Access and Windows does this class apply to?
A. Only Access XP and Windows XP
B. All versions of Access and Windows
C. Only the latest version of Access
D. Only versions before Office 2016

Q8. What is the suggested way to get the most out of this class?
A. Only watch the course once
B. Build the database yourself following the previous Access courses
C. Use the pre-built database only
D. Just read the script instead of watching

Q9. What should students do if they have not built the databases along with the earlier classes?
A. Start from scratch again
B. Give up on the course
C. Use the provided pre-204 or post-204 versions on their hard drive
D. Use a different database

Answers: 1-B; 2-B; 3-C; 4-B; 5-B; 6-C; 7-B; 8-B; 9-C

DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.

Summary

Today's video from Access Learning Zone covers the development of a letter writer for our contact management system. So far, we have been focusing on building a database where we can record customer interactions, such as conversations and notes from meetings or phone calls. Now, we are going to expand this functionality by adding the ability to compose letters directly to our customers, save those letters in the contact table, and print them in a format suitable for mailing.

To accomplish this, I will guide you through creating a report that formats stored contact data into a professional letter layout. We will also set up a query that lets us select exactly which record we want to print as a letter. Along the way, you will be introduced to the basics of macros in Access. Although we have not covered macros in detail before, you will learn how they help automate repetitive tasks and perform certain actions that go beyond what is possible with standard database operations. Specifically, I will demonstrate how to create a simple macro and use it to refresh your data right before printing.

This class builds on concepts from Access 203 and the earlier courses in the series, so I recommend completing Access 101 through 104, as well as 102 and 103, before tackling this lesson. If you have followed the previous courses and built the databases step by step, you will find today's material much easier to follow since we will be working with that same evolving database.

Although I am demonstrating these techniques using Microsoft Access XP and Windows XP, the lessons are relevant regardless of which versions of Access or Windows you have.

For the best learning experience, I suggest that you first watch the entire lesson without trying to do anything yourself. This gives you a chance to see everything in context. Then, watch the video again and build the database along with me. There are copies of both the starting and ending databases—pre-204 and post-204—available on your hard drive and on our website, but building the database yourself will really help you understand the material.

If you have not kept up with building your own database, or if yours is not quite matching the examples, you can jump in using the versions provided. However, you will benefit most from constructing the database as you follow along with each course.

You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends.

Topic List

Creating a letter writer for customer contacts
Storing letters in the contact table
Printing letters in a formatted report
Developing a query to select specific records for printing
Building a basic macro in Access
Using a macro to refresh table records before printing
Understanding how macros work in Access