View Full Version : Linking forms & Statistical Reports
neemasamuel
Oct 12, 2008, 10:50 PM
Hi,
Can anyone help me!
Need to create forms in excel, which should be updated by end-users. I need help in making a statistical report from all these forms….. there could be almost 100 forms or more, I need to collect a % or graphical report on each question present in the form. Can this be done in excel….. without enabling macros?
Hope my question is clear.
JBeaucaire
Oct 12, 2008, 11:57 PM
If you're going to dig a swimming pool, the question you ask shouldn't be "How long to dig the pool with this spoon?" The question should be, "What do I dig the hole with?"
Can what you're asking be done? Yes.
Should it be done in Excel? Probably not.
Forms implies creation of random documents... creation of a LOT of documents. To cull data from multiple and growing numbers of external documents, the spreadsheet you are using to gather the info would constantly require manual updating to accomplish this without macros. With macros... some complicated ones... the culling could happen.
Meanwhile, you should be using a different spoon... in this case a database of some kind. Forms created in a database are already connected and reports created against the data are much simpler because you're using the right tool.
I suspect the reason you want to use Excel is because you have it and are mildly experienced with it. Take it from someone who has done full programming projects within Excel... you will spend SO much time on this, in the end it is cheaper to:
Hire someone to do it FOR you in Excel or
Use a database program instead, even with the learning curve
neemasamuel
Oct 13, 2008, 12:39 AM
Thanks for the response.
JBeaucaire
Oct 13, 2008, 11:38 AM
Now, if you DO have the amount of free time needed to work something like this manually in Excel, I can help you with the cross connections and understanding them. It's just going to be a lot of manual labor on your part if new forms are being added all the time.
ScottGem
Oct 13, 2008, 11:50 AM
Can you give us more of a concrete example of the data and why you need forms? I agree with JB that you may be using the wrong tool, but I'd like to know more before being sure.