Applies to
Microsoft Office Access 2003 Microsoft Access 2002

You can create reports in Access to meet a variety of requirements. This article provides basic information about how to create reports, and it describes the various types of reports you can create by using Access 2002 and 2003.

Get started creating reports

Access provides several ways to create reports:

• AutoReport  Use AutoReport to quickly create a report that includes all the data in a given table, or the data extracted by a query. You can only use one table or query as the basis for the report.

  How?

  1. In the Database window (Database window: The window that appears when you open an Access database or an Access project. It displays shortcuts for creating new database objects and opening existing objects.), click Reports under Objects.
  2. Click New on the Database Window toolbar.
  3. In the New Report dialog box, click one of the following wizards:

     AutoReport: Columnar  Each field appears on a separate line with a label to its left.

     AutoReport: Tabular   The fields in each record appear on one line, and the labels print once at the top of each page.

     If the wizard doesn't start (Access 2003 only)

     This could be due to the fact that Access is running in sandbox mode but Microsoft Jet 4.0 SP8 or later is not installed on your computer. Jet 4.0 SP8 or later is required for Access to be fully functional when sandbox mode is enabled.

     For more information about installing the Jet upgrade, see the topic About Microsoft Jet 4.0 SP8 or later.

     For more information about sandbox mode, see the topic About Microsoft Jet Expression Service sandbox mode.

  4. Click the table or query that contains the data you want to base your report on.
  5. Click OK.

     Access applies the last autoformat (autoformat: A collection of formats that determines the appearance of the controls and sections in a form or report.) you used to the report. If you haven't created a report with a wizard before or haven't used the AutoFormat command on the Format menu, Access uses the Standard autoformat.

• The Report Wizard  Use the Report Wizard to quickly create reports that use data from multiple tables or queries. You can use a combination of tables and queries.

  How?

  1. In the Database window (Database window: The window that appears when you open an Access database or an Access project. It displays shortcuts for creating new database objects and opening existing objects.), under Objects, click Reports .
  2. Click New on the Database Window toolbar.
  3. In the New Report dialog box, click the wizard you want to use. A description of the wizard is in the left side of the dialog box.
  4. Click the table or query (query: A question about the data stored in your tables, or a request to perform an action on the data. A query can bring together data from multiple tables to serve as the source of data for a form, report, or data access page.) that contains the data you want to base your report on.

     Note  You don't need to do this step if you clicked Report Wizard in step 3 — you can specify the record source for the report in the wizard.

  5. Click OK.
  6. Follow the instructions in the wizard.

     If the resulting report doesn't look the way you want, you can change it in Design view (Design view: A window that shows the design of these database objects: tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and data access pages. In Design view, you can create new database objects and modify the design of existing ones.).

  Notes

  • If you want to include fields from multiple tables and queries in your report, don't click Next or Finish after selecting the fields from the first table or query in the Report Wizard. Instead, repeat the steps to select a table or query, and pick fields that you want to include in the report, until you have selected all the required fields.

  • If you click one of the AutoReport options, Access uses the autoformat you last specified, either in the Report Wizard or by using the AutoFormat command on the Format menu in Design view.

• Manually, by using Design view  Creating reports in Design view takes more time than using a wizard or AutoReport, but you can customize your reports to meet almost any need. For example, you can sort and filter data to a greater degree than you can with the Report Wizard. You also have complete control over the visual appearance of your reports.

  How?

  1. In the Database window (Database window: The window that appears when you open an Access database or an Access project. It displays shortcuts for creating new database objects and opening existing objects.), under Objects, click Reports .
  2. Click New on the Database Window toolbar.
  3. In the New Report dialog box, click Design View.
  4. Click the table or query that contains the data you want to base your report on. (If you want to create an unbound report (unbound form or report: A form or report that isn't connected to a record source such as a table, query, or SQL statement. (The form's or report's RecordSource property is blank.)), don't select anything from this list.)

     Tip

     If you want to create a report that uses data from more than one table, base your report on a query.

  5. Click OK.

     Access displays the report in Design view (Design view: A window that shows the design of these database objects: tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and data access pages. In Design view, you can create new database objects and modify the design of existing ones.).

Get started creating queries

One of the features that makes Access reports so flexible and powerful is their ability to use queries (query: A question about the data stored in your tables, or a request to perform an action on the data. A query can bring together data from multiple tables to serve as the source of data for a form, report, or data access page.) as their data sources. For example, a query can extract, sort, and filter the data from your database when you run a given report. Queries can also allow users to define parameters, such as starting and ending dates, for the data in reports.

Some types of reports, such as the flat and hierarchical reports discussed later in this article, can take their data from a combination of tables and queries. However, some types of reports, such as crosstab reports and reports that use sorted and grouped data, rely solely on queries. For that reason, it helps to know how to create queries.

For more information about creating queries:

• Create a select or crosstab query (MDB)
• Create an append query
• Create an update query
• Create a parameter query
• Delete one or more records from an Access database
• Stop a query (MDB)
• Troubleshoot queries (MDB)
• About designing a query (MDB)
• About types of queries (MDB)
• About select and crosstab queries (MDB)

A quick look at the report types in Access

The following sections list and describe the various types of reports that you can create by using Access 2002 and 2003. Each section provides links to how-to information for creating a given type of report.

Flat reports

A flat report contains controls that are bound (connected) to different tables and queries. An example of a flat report is a report that shows products and categories.

The data in these fields comes from a table called Products.

The data in this field comes from a table called Categories.

Hierarchical reports

A hierarchical report contains other reports, called subreports. You embed subreports in reports when you need to display data from tables that have a one-to-many relationship (one-to-many relationship: An association between two tables in which the primary key value of each record in the primary table corresponds to the value in the matching field or fields of many records in the related table.). For example, you could have a Food Fairs report that includes data from two tables —Fairs and Employees.

The main report takes its data from the Fairs table, and it lists the name and city of each fair.

The subreport takes its data from the Employees table, and it lists the employees for each food fair.

For information about creating flat and hierarchical reports:

• Create a simple report
• Create a subreport
• About subreports
• Bind a blank form or report to one or more tables or queries
• Create dynamic reports in Access using linked tables

Reports with sorted records, grouped records, or both

You can sort and group records in a report, either in Design view or by using the Form Wizard.

A report with sorted records

You can sort on one or more fields in the underlying record source, and specify the sort order.

The report is sorted in ascending order of product names.

A report with grouped records

You can specify one or more grouping levels for the records in a report, and define sort orders for each group level. You can also display headers and footers, and calculate totals and other values for each group.

The report is grouped on the year and quarter fields.

The totals are displayed for each year.

For information about creating reports with sorted and grouped data:

Grouping records on date/time values in an Access report

A crosstab report

You can use crosstab queries to provide data for reports. A crosstab query calculates a sum, average, count, or other type of total for data, and groups the results by two fields; one field's values become the column headings, and the other field's values become the row headings.

This report, based on a select query, shows records grouped only vertically (by employee and category). This results in more records, making the comparisons between different employee's totals more difficult.

This report, based on a crosstab query, displays the same information, but the data is grouped both horizontally and vertically, so that the datasheet is more compact.

For information about creating crosstab reports

Create a crosstab report

Multiple-column reports

A multiple-column report displays data in one or more columns. You can customize the number of columns, column width, and spacing between the rows and columns.

For information about creating multiple-column reports, see the Get it done with Access column, Multiple column reports.