office 2000 query

[akiwi65]

Hi all, I have a question for the more educated users of ofice 2000, that hopefully someone can help me with. I am about to open a shop. I would like to know if there is a function on one of the office programs that will allow me to put in a product code (ie 1001 or abcd) and have the product description and price come up automatically. It would save someone entering the information in themselves once it is setup. If there is not this function in office, does anyone know of a possible shareware program out there for this operation
TIA

Greg

 

[mlesniak]

There are many ways to accomplish this but it all depends upon how much work you want to do to set it up. The quickest way I know of doing this is by using Excel and creating a 'database' in which each row is a record. If you put the field names in row 1 you can put the data in each subsequent row. So row 1 would contain:-
Product Code, Description, Price
and row 2 might contain :-
abce, A Widget in blue, £35.79
etc etc
Then you would click on 'Data' on the menu bar and from the drop down menu select 'Form'. This will display a form which uses the cells from row 1 as the field labels and the data for each subsequent row appears in boxes to the right of the appropriate label. There seven buttons on the right with which you can navigate to the appropriate record.

If this is not automatic enough for you then you can either use Microsoft Access and create a table indexed on product code or you can do some VBA coding in Excel to get what you need.

Good luck.

 

[Jocsta]

Not really a topic for this forum. Try posting the question in one of the Office or VB related forums...
<< JOC >>

 

[jlockley]

What you are looking for is a database. Excel, which is a spreadsheet program, can function as a database, but you usually don't get the fun front end. The more sophisticated db programs in common use are Access, which is hardly intuitive, and Corel/Borland Paradox, which has a daunting little learning curve, but is pretty doable for a self starter. Take a look at the Paradox group here and ask them how you would do that.

The advantage of these programs is that you or a tech person can alter them and refine them to your needs as your business grows. You can also take any business contact program (Act! for instance) and alter it with it's own interface to suit your ends.

Note that Paradox comes only boxed with the Corel Office Pro suite, which has some other useful tools, but you can get that more cheaply if you do some internet searching. The Corel suite lets you get by without a tech, if you are willing to put in the time, but you may find professional help well worth what it costs, especially if it goes over a network.

Two more programs which you can tailor (or have tailored) are Filemaker Pro for Windows and Delphi, neither of which I know. If you search ZD net, you will find a couple of other off market versions which are reportedly quite good.

I have heard that Borland, the company which created Paradox, may cease to develop the engine, which means that it may at some point become obsolete. Something more to ask a tech.

By the way, if you choose to start with a pre formated contact software, you can always export your data to another program later if you find the software does not fill your needs.

Have fun. (I think a lot of the people who hang out in the Paradox section are consultants, so I imagine you wouldn't have much trouble finding someone to do your job for you.)

 

[pweegar]

You could use Excel and make it operate as a database. It would soon grow to large and become slow and not much fun to deal with. The other solution is to use MS Access, which is a part of Office 2000 pro. It's not difficult to set up the database itself and there are wizards that will create any forms and reports you may want or need. However the wizards aren't great, but will get the job done. And as yu learn Access you can jump into VBA and do some of the coding yourself. Good luck with your vensure!

 

[tviman]

You could also use Quickbooks (and if you're serious about setting up shop, then this is a MUST HAVE tool!). In the set-up process, you'll define all your parts and services as well as their relative prices. Makes invoicing a snap! There's always a better way...