save data daily (2007)

[peter_a]

I have a lesson register database program and I don't know how to save the data daily so that I can search through the a class or a student's attendance records.
The fields to save would be, Student, Class, Period, Date, Yes/No, Minutes Late.
If anyone could guide me to where I could learn how to do this please?

Many thanks

[MarkLiquorman]

I don't understand. You say you have a lesson register database program. What info does it save?

[peterinth]

Thanks Mark

I am building a lesson register program using MS Access.
I want to save the student name, Class name, Period (Mon 1), Date, Present mark, Minutes late (if late).

All these I have created in Access 2007 and the idea is that I can look back at any class, date, period and check if the student was present.

[MarkLiquorman]

I'm guessing that you are new to databases and new to Access?

If so, I'd suggest you take a course somewhere to get started. This will avoid alot of problems and frustration (especially the latter). Try local junior colleges, who often will have night and/or weekend classes.

Once you understand the basics, then we'd be glad to answer specific questions you might have.

[HansV]

There is no need to "save data daily". You can use forms and/or reports to view data for any date, including "historical" dates.

[peterinth]

Thanks for the reply Hans. I'm not a complete novice with Access, but I've never used it with dynamic data in that every day there needs to be a clear Date field so that an attendance mark can be entered for that day and that class.
At present the new data entered overwrites yesterday's date. I need to look at the data historically, if that makes sense.
I think there is an important concept I'm missing here and really need a push or pointer in the right direction.

[HansV]

Instead of overwriting existing records, you should add a new record for each period for each date for each student, like this:

<table border=1><td>Student</td><td>TheDate</td><td>Period</td><td>Class</td><td>Present</td><td>Late</td><td align=right>1</td><td align=right>14-Jan-09</td><td align=right>1</td><td>A</td><td>True</td><td align=right>5</td><td align=right>1</td><td align=right>14-Jan-09</td><td align=right>2</td><td>B</td><td>True</td><td align=right>Â*</td><td align=right>1</td><td align=right>14-Jan-09</td><td align=right>3</td><td>C</td><td>False</td><td align=right>Â*</td><td align=right>1</td><td align=right>15-Jan-09</td><td align=right>1</td><td>B</td><td>False</td><td align=right>Â*</td><td align=right>1</td><td align=right>15-Jan-09</td><td align=right>2</td><td>D</td><td>True</td><td align=right>10</td><td align=right>1</td><td align=right>15-Jan-09</td><td align=right>3</td><td>E</td><td>True</td><td align=right>Â*</td><td align=right>2</td><td align=right>14-Jan-09</td><td align=right>1</td><td>A</td><td>False</td><td align=right>Â*</td><td align=right>2</td><td align=right>14-Jan-09</td><td align=right>2</td><td>D</td><td>True</td><td align=right>Â*</td><td align=right>...</td><td align=right>...</td><td align=right>...</td><td>...</td><td>...</td><td align=right>...</td></table>
This setup will enable you to create overviews by student, or by period, or by date, or by class, etc.

[peterinth]

That's terrific Hans thanks.
This certainly sets my thinking in the right direction.
The field I was missing was the Class. The question I must answer now is where these fields should live. The only unique fields would be Date and Period.

Anyway many thanks for your help Hans.

[HansV]

The primary key in the table I proposed would be a composite key consisting of three fields:
- The student ID,
- The date,
- The period.

The combination of these three fields uniquely identifies the record. There should be no identical combinations of these three fields in the table.

The class, presence and lateness are attributes that belong to this combination.

[peterinth]

That's great Hans thanks. I'll give that a go.