Create an Access database from scratch or by using a template from Office. com. Multiple Column Reports in Microsoft Access. Access. Creating a Multiple Column Report in Microsoft Access There may be the time where you need to arrange data into multiple. Microsoft Access reports. There will have been times. Access database report into the standard. It is also very possible that you may have had the opposite to this. This article describes how you can combat this issue, by arranging. Some of your Microsoft Access reports may at times involve long lists. These are best arranged by using multiple columns that allow improved. How to Arrange Data in Columns on a Microsoft Access Report. Create a new Microsoft Access report in design view. In the Detail section of the report, place the controls that you. Add a group header andor group footer. Choose File Page Setup and select the Columns page. Enter the number of columns and column spacing that you would. Choose a column width for your columns. Select the column layout either Down, then Across or Across. Down. Save the report and preview. Printing Data in Columns on a Microsoft Access Report. Imagine that you need to create an internal phone list for the companys. HR Dept. The layout would need to be easily readable, and include. Over 100 tips for creating faster Microsoft Access databases by optimizing and improving their performance in your applications. Microsoft Access is one of the least used products in the Office family. But its also the most powerful. Heres how you can use them with the SQL querying language. You would initially create a Microsoft Access query that will extract. Employee Last Name, Employee First Name and their Office phone. You will also place the records in alphabetical. Employee Last Name, then Employee First Name. The select query design may look similar to Now when we create a new Microsoft Access report, in design view. In the detail section of the new report, to the left hand side, we. Employee. Last. Name, Employee. First. NameThis will display the names in the report in the format of Last. Name, comma, space, First NameTo the right of the Employee Name text box, we add the Office. Ext. field. To ensure that the report is easily readable we will also include. Group Header, that will use an expression to extract the first letter. Last Name. In the Sorting and Grouping dialog box, we can enter the following. FieldExpression row LeftEmployee. Last. Name,1We have set the Group Header property to Yes, and also selected to. Keep Together the Whole Group. Now in the report design, in the new Group Header, we add a text. This will display the. First Letter of the Employee Last Name for each group. The completed report design should now look like the following Now to ensure that the report returns the data in multiple columns. Page Setup dialog. If we go to File Page Setup and set the following options The finished report should look similar to the following. Create a new database Access. Access provides you with a wide variety of templates that you can use to speed up the database creation process. A template is a ready to use database containing all the tables, queries, forms, and reports needed to perform a specific task. For example, there are templates that you can use to track issues, manage contacts, or keep a record of expenses. Some templates contain a few sample records to help demonstrate their use. Template databases can be used as they are, or you can customize them to better fit your needs. If one of these templates fits your needs, using it is usually the fastest way to get a database started. However, if you have data in another program that you want to import into Access, you might decide it is better to create a database without using a template. Templates have a data structure already defined, and it might require a lot of work to adapt your existing data to the templates structure. If you have a database open, click the Microsoft Office Button. Close Database. to display the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page. Several featured templates are displayed in the middle of the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page, and more become available when you click the links in the Template Categories pane. You can download additional templates from the Office Online Web site. See the next section in this article for details. Click the template that you want to use. Access suggests a file name for your database in the File Name box you can change the file name, if you want. To save the database in a different folder from the one displayed below the file name box, click. OK. Optionally, you can create and link your database to a Share. Point site. Click Create or Download, for an Office Online template. Access creates or downloads the database and then opens it. A form is displayed in which you can begin entering data. If your template contains sample data, you can delete each record by clicking the record selector the shaded box or bar just to the left of the record, and then doing the following On the Home tab, in the Records group, click Delete. To begin entering data, click in the first empty cell on the form and begin typing. Use the Navigation Pane to browse for other forms or reports that you might want to use. Download a template from Office Online. If you cant find a template that fits your needs on the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page, and you are connected to the Internet, you can explore the Office Online Web site for a larger selection. On the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page, under More on Office Online, click Templates. The Templates home page on Office Online is displayed in your browser window. Use the Office Online navigation and search tools to find the Access template that you would like to use, and follow the instructions to download it. When you download a template, a database file is downloaded to your computer and opened in a new instance of Access. In most cases, the template is designed to open a data entry form so that you can begin entering data immediately. For more information about working with templates, see the article Guide to the Access 2. Top of Page. Create a database without using a template. If you are not interested in using a template, you can create a database by building your own tables, forms, reports, and other database objects. In most cases, this usually involves one or both of the following Entering, pasting, or importing data into the table that is created when you create a new database, and then repeating the process with new tables that you create by using the Table command on the Create tab. Importing data from other sources and creating new tables in the process. Create a blank database. On the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page, under New Blank Database, click Blank Database. In the Blank Database pane, type a file name in the File Name box. If you do not supply a file name extension, Access adds it for you. To change the location of the file from the default, click Browse for a location to put your database. File Name box, browse to the new location, and then click OK. Click Create. Access creates the database with an empty table named Table. Table. 1 in Datasheet view. The cursor is placed in the first empty cell in the Add New Field column. Begin typing to add data, or you can paste data from another source, as described in the section Copy data from another source into an Access table. Entering information in Datasheet view is designed to be very similar to working in a Microsoft Office Excel 2. The table structure is created while you enter data any time you add a new column to the table, a new field is defined. Access automatically sets each fields data type, based on the data you enter. If you do not want to enter information in Table. Close. If you made any changes to the table, Access prompts you to save changes to the table. Click Yes to save your changes, click No to discard them, or click Cancel to leave the table open. Important If you close Table. Access deletes the entire table, even if you have entered data in it. Add a table. You can add new tables to an existing database by using the commands in the Tables group on the Create tab. Create a table, starting in Datasheet view In Datasheet view, you can enter data immediately and let Access build the table structure behind the scenes. Field names are assigned numerically Field. Field. 2, and so on, and Access automatically sets each fields data type, based on the data you enter. On the Create tab, in the Tables group, click Table. Access creates the table and selects the first empty cell in the Add New Field column. Note If you dont see an Add New Field column, you might be in Design view instead of Datasheet view. To switch to Datasheet view, double click the table in the Navigation Pane. Access prompts you to save the new table, and then switches to Datasheet view. On the Datasheet tab, in the Fields Columns group, click New Field. Access displays the Field Templates pane, which contains a list of commonly used field types. If you double click or drag one of these fields into your datasheet, Access adds a field by that name and sets its properties to appropriate values for that type of field. You can change the properties later, if you want. If you drag the field, you must drag it onto an area of the datasheet that contains data. A vertical insertion bar appears, showing you where the field will be placed. To add data, begin typing in the first empty cell, or paste data from another source, as described in the section Copy data from another source into an Access table. To rename a column field, double click the column heading, and then type the new name. It is a good practice to give a meaningful name to each field, so that you can tell what it contains when you see it in the Field List pane. To move a column, click its heading to select the column, and then drag the column to the location you want. You can also select multiple contiguous columns and then drag them to a new location all at once. To select multiple contiguous columns, click the column header of the first column, and then, while holding down SHIFT, click the column header of the last column. Create a table, starting in Design view In Design view, you first create the new tables structure. You then switch to Datasheet view to enter data, or enter data by using some other method, such as pasting, or importing. On the Create tab, in the Tables group, click Table Design. For each field in your table, type a name in the Field Name column, and then select a data type from the Data Type list. Note If you dont see the Field Name and Data Type columns, you might be in Datasheet view instead of Design view. To switch to Design view, right click the table in the Navigation Pane, and then click Design View. Access prompts you for a name for the new table, and then switches to Design view. If you want, you can type a description for each field in the Description column. The description is then displayed on the status bar when the cursor is located in that field in Datasheet view. The description is also used as the status bar text for any controls in a form or report that you create by dragging the field from the Field List pane, and for any controls that are created for that field when you use the Form Wizard or Report Wizard.