Grand Total at Top? 2

[AlexCuse]

Hi Guys,

I apologize if this is a silly question (well, I know it is ;-) ) but report design is not really my forte.

I have a VERY difficult client who is being spoiled by their account rep at our company, who wants to see the grand total for their report at the top (not the bottom) of the report, and only once. They also want to see column headers on both pages, which forces me to put the grand total ABOVE the column headers. Needless to say, this looks ridiculous. Now, I barely know how to get the grand total at the bottom, so I could just be missing something. Before I go back to the account rep next week, I would like to know if this is in fact a possibility. Does anyone know how I could add the grand total to the top?

I have an incredibly silly idea in mind, that involves a UNION query and a lot of kludgy nonsense, but then I would need to deal with the extra detail and other grouped rows. But it seems like a very silly request to me, and perhaps a very silly solution is in order?

Anyway, any insights on this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

Alex

Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom

 

[dhookom]

You can place totals in the Report Header or Footer sections. You can also column headers in your Page Header section.

Duane MS Access MVP
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[AlexCuse]

That seems to be my problem!

I am convinced that what I want is not possible (if it wasn't clear, I want grand total to appear only once, below page header which contains my column headers), just wanted to see if the experts had any ideas. I think you qualify Duane ;-)

My union query idea died right out of the gate, because I can't force ordering in the query if I am using sorting and grouping in the report :-(

Thanks for your reply

Alex

Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom

 

[AlexCuse]

PS - this is not what I want at all! But you know, the client is always right and all..... <walks away grumbling>

Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom

 

[Remou]

Why not include a summary subform, grand total only?

 

[AlexCuse]

I will look into that on Monday. Sounds easy enough on paper, but we'll see if my feeble design skills can figure it out.

Will this allow me to show the grand total directly below the page header, while only showing the grand total on one page?

Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom

 

[Remou]

I can't see why not. The difficulty is in juggling the controls so that they line up.

 

[dhookom]

You can create a primary sorting and grouping level on a constant like:
=1
Display the group header for this group a place your sum() in it. This =1 group header will appear only once below the Page Header section on the first page.

Duane MS Access MVP
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[SkipVought]

Alex,

I have been a HUGE advocate of Grand Totals at the TOP of reports. I regularly do this as a matter of course. I think that the totals in "Bottom Line", is a throw back to paper, pencil and adding machine.

As often happens when processes become automated, the "way we do it here" is often immortalized in the new design. I am reminded of a story regarding the person who would cut 3 or 4 inches off the end of the pork butt before loading into the roaster. When challenged regarding this practice, they replied, "It's how Mom always did it." Turns out, Mom had a much smaller roasting pan that necessitated a custom fit.

1. We have the ability put totals pretty much anywhere that makes sense.

2. Why make interested parties search for this important aggregation? Put that sucker right at the top for all to see! I'd put it on EVERY page of the report.

Of course, when you are working with subtotals, you are restricted to the top or bottom of the subtotal range.

Skip,
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[AlexCuse]

Thanks for your help all you guys! I ended up using dhookom's suggestion because it provided exactly what the client was looking for. I did not know that I could use a constant in my grouping, that seems to be the key here.

Thanks again :-D

Alex

Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom