Question Document Filing System and authorise before publishing (noob question) (1 Viewer)

Hello all,

I have little experience with MS Access but at my new job my boss has built some great databases and this has inspired me to try and build my own to make my job easier. Sadly my boss can’t help me with this because he does not know the answer either and before I start with learning all I need I want to know if this is possible.

I work in the food-industry and for certain customers and certification standards we need to make sure that all the documents used on the floor are the latest version of the document and that the document is authorised by the “owner” of the document.
So what I want to build is a Document Filing System, simple enough to start with right.
But the thing I want is the following:
• A new version of a document is added to the database
• The owner of the document receives a notification (like an email)
• The owner goes in the database and checks the document and if this is says its okay to use by putting a time stamp in the database. This time stamp should be password protected or something.

Is this possible in access?

Hopefully I am clear enough, I have a very clear picture in my head what I would want but it’s hard to get on (digital)paper

All very possible and the answers can be found in this forum.

A word of advice: Take your time and carefully play out what you what to accomplish before you start designing. Tackle each item separately and one by one. By the time you are finished you will amaze yourself with what you were able to do...

Also, read the "stickys" before you post your questions. In particular there is one on this thread about tips on searching and another about how to get your questions answered quicker.

Reading these and adhering to them will save you some serious head-banging...I have a few lumps myself!

I believe it is posisble to do this but you need to set up something to run a few things.

Adding a new document is fairly easy.
When you do this, include a timestamp for when it was done or it is ready for approval.
Have a field for when it was sent for approval and one for when it was approved.

At regular intervals you run a query to find all documents that have an empty field on sent for approval. You could also do this immediately after saving the document or at the push of a button.

For each document, you can send out an e-mail to the owner where you ask them to review and approve the specific document.

When the owner goes into the system you can have the option to approve available to them in whatever way you like.
As they approve the document, you can timestamp the last field and run the routine to turn the old document invisible so you do not have access to the old revisions by mistake.

thank you both for the tips!
Now that I know that its possible I will go and start making some test databases.

Thanks