Ok, I am not sure how to do this. I have a database that I have started developing. It is for a school. What we need is a way to log in tardies. So I have two tables.

Student:

StuID

LastName

FirstName

Gender

Grade

DOB

Class Periods:

Period1

Period2

Period3

Period4

Period5

Period6

Period7

Now my question is this. How do I store the information for each student. In other words Student A may have a tardy one day for period 1, then another day for period 1. I need the Field boxes to clear everyday but save the information. I know I probably need another table. Please advise.

I know I probably need another table.

Yes, you do (at least one, if not more). You definitely should have a table of Tardies:

• TardyID (auto-enter serial number)

• StuID

• Period

• Date

Thank you. Does the other tables look fine? How do I store the information everyday? Do I use a Portal?

I am not sure what purpose the Periods table serves. What does a record in this table represent? There are fields for 7 periods (which is usually a sign of improper data structure), so it's obviously not a table of periods.

How do I store the information everyday? Do I use a Portal?

It's mostly a matter of convenience - whatever suits your workflow will work fine.

I am not sure how to set up the fields. If a student comes down we need to be able to see what period,what date and what time. It is important because if the student is later than 20 minutes it is then an absence. So I was thinking that the user could click on the corresponding period and the date and time will be entered in the field. Then that would be saved so if the student is absent another period or a different day it is stored for us to track.

I am not sure how to set up the fields. If a student comes down we need to be able to see what period,what date and what time.

But you already have that answer in the description of the Tardies table. You're done. Add that; and get rid of all the Period 1, Period 2, etc fields.

Here's one way it could work; you can enter records directly into the Tardies table or through a portal in Students. You might also build a dedicated layout for data entry - it really depends on who's entering the records and when.

Tardy.zip

Excellent. Thank you for the help. I was reading up on Timestamp which is fine when you are creating a record. But I already have 2500 records with the students info and picture. So how can I get it where the user just clicks on the period of an already existing record and it automatically puts in the date and time? Thank you.

I am afraid that's not quite clear. You have 2500 records of students? You don't want to put the tardies info there (in the Students table), because it has no room for multiple instance of tardiness of the same student. That's why you need another table of Tardies - and in this table the only information about the student should be their StudentID.

Yes, it is hard to explain. First you have to remember that most employees do not know how to use a program. So I am trying to make it easy on them. So when a student walks in and gives that person their name, they look it up, it brings up a record with their picture. Then that user clicks on the field and the date and time is put in. This is stored for later. I attached the sample database showing you what I am trying. Click on the customer tab, still working on refining this. I really appreciate it the help. Unfortunately we do not have any IT people here that know how to work with databases so I am trying.

TardyCalc_New.zip

What are they supposed to enter in the period field/s?

That is the problem. I was thinking the date and time. But that takes too much time. So what would be better. Put one field with a dropdown button to choose the period. But then is there a way to automatically put in the date and time when they choose the period?

Yes, you could automate the process for them. But I am not sure I see how this should work in practice. How much time has elapsed between the student showing up late and the data entry? Shouldn't they record something like "Student X, Date Y, Period Z, 12 minutes late" - instead of the current time?

Good suggestions. But believe me when it comes to having to argue the time with a parent it is better to show that the computer validated the time. I was looking for a way to have the user click and the date and time is automatically put in and then your field with the difference shows how many minutes they were tardy. Does that sound like it can be done? Or should I be thinking in another direction?

So how about:

Tardy2.zip

WOW, that is awesome. Let me work with this at a quick glance it looks like just what we need. Thank you for the help.

Another question. How can I add the start times on the buttons for the periods. I have the portal set up but I can't get the coding right on the start time, that way the diff would work correctly? The portal shows the date, period, and difference in time. But right now it shows the current time because the start times are not on the periods. Hope that was not confusing.

In my file, there is a Periods table where each period has a StartTime. The script compares this with the current time and writes out the difference.

Yes sir you are correct. But I do not know how to carry that over to the portal.

Try this.

Tardy2.fp7.zip

Thank you this has really helped. But I am stuck on two things. The times show correctly until I go past 12:00, I tried putting in 12:00:00 pm but it stills does not show correctly and two I cannot seem to get the 7th button to show Period 7. It copied period 4 and put it up there twice. I attached what I have so far.

TardyCalc_-_Wednesday.zip