Creating Reports with Access

Long time ago, some one asked me whether we could export data from SharePoint to Access and my answer was "Yes, we can. Export data to spreadsheet using the Export to spreadsheet link and then manually import data from the Excel sheet into the Access database.". That was long time ago, I didn't know at that time that it was possible to export data to Access directly from with in SharePoint. Not only that, you can create reports easily from with in SharePoint. For example, you have a document library with a long list of documents, you want to create and present a report containing this list of documents to your manager. You can create a beautifully formatted report using Access. Here is how you do it: 1. In document library, click "Edit in Datasheet". 2. Click Task Pane to open it. It will show you office links.

3. Click "Report with Access". You can export data to an existing database or if you don't have an already created database, you can create a new one. When you  click "Report with Access".  SharePoint asks you whether you want to export to an existing database or create a new database. Select your option and click OK. SharePoint does the remaining work. It will create a table in Access, add data to that table and then create a clean simple report for you. Now if you want to format the report, click the Design button and add the header and footer of your choice. Add colors, borders or what ever you like in the report template. Save it and you are done.

This tip shows you how you can create a report containing data from a document library. You can use same functionality to create reports for other lists. I think this is a very easy way of creating cool reports.

-SSA