I am working in a small law firm and my boss has asked me to put a database together to help with outgoing mail. There are 5 different tables that exist in Access. (Applicants, Attorneys, Lien Claimants, Employers and Workers Compensation Boards) All of the tables include addresses only. Each Applicant has an attorney, one or possibly more lien claimants, employer and designated board. I need to create some type of database that will allow me to create a mail merge for all applicants. Keep in mind each applicant has different addresses, employers, etc..(There are roughly 500 applicants) I need to create the database so when I change/update an address on the table in Access it will change ALL of the applicant(s) it pertains to. Tryin to only update a new address in one place instead of 50. If anyone can help please let me know. I am looking for the most efficient and effective way of doing this.
Store the address in one table and then have a join to the other tables so when you update the address it is reflected in all the other places where it is used.
Have a table "addresses" that has an ID in it. Have the "applicants" table have an ID in it that refers to the ID in the "addresses" table.
Hopefully this is making sense to you. If not add to the comments and I will try to explain in more detail.
Just to give you some ideas on setting up a database, here is a library of free database models that cover everything from access control to zoo's.
One of the models is for Lawyers, Cases and Bills, while another is for Case Management. All of these examples give you the fields and relationships. Look over these examples and you should be able to see some ideas of how to setup your tables and relationships to solve your problem.
Good luck and hope this helps some.