Expert Access™ 2007 Programming

Chapter 9. Using Code to Add Advanced Functionality to Reports

Reports are an important part of many Access applications. They provide the ability to view information in the database in a manner suitable for printing. We use them for items such as invoices, calendars, and financial reporting. Access 2007 includes many new features for reports, such as improved sorting and grouping, Layout view, and Report view. In this chapter, you:

• Learn how to create interactive reports using Access 2007

• Navigate to a Web site from a report

• Simulate a new conditional formatting feature found in Excel 2007

• Utilize code to enhance reports and create different types of reports

• Create a report manager to manage reports in an application

Interactive Reports Using Access 2007

There is a new view for reports in Access 2007 called Report view. Report view provides interactivity to reports that are typically only available to forms. This new view allows you to search and copy data like you can on a form, but also allows for a nice printed view. Using code in Access 2007, you'll make these reports pop by adding rich interactive features such as sorting, filtering, and drill down.

Unlike forms, the data in a report is read-only. With Report view in Access 2007, you can create reports that contain similar functionality to forms but with a nice printed view. As a result, reports in Access 2007 can be used like a read-only form in many cases.

Sorting a Report Using Controls on a Report

For this next example, you use ...