Order form to BOL?

[jpletting]

I'm not exactly a novice with Excel, but there are quite a lot of functions I haven't yet needed to use in the various positions I've held. What I'm trying to do now is very, very different from anything I've done before, so I hope this is the proper forum.

I have been handed the opportunity to redesign the processes by which our Traffic office runs. What I would like to do is create an Excel order form, which could then be used to automatically generate a Bill of Lading. I will need to pull specific data entered by the customer in the form to a template worksheet in the same file. I'm not sure how to request that Excel retrieve this data to populate specific cells, nor am I sure how best to go about designing the form to allow this to be done. I'm really not familiar with the limitations of Excel in this regard, but I feel this is the best way to go about this project and will make future transitions to better software easier.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? I'd greatly appreciate the help. Thanks.

J

[Anne Troy]

Will you be using the file to create multiple BOL? IF NOT, I would begin by
creating a BOL by simply using links. You can hide it, make a Create BOL
button that just unhides it, or just prints it. If we're talking about more
than a half-dozen potential line items, then you'll probably want to go to
the VBA group and find out how to copy "from here down" (see xlUp in VBA) to
capture all the populated rows. As for limitations, this can certainly be
done, it's just a matter of VBA, likely.
************
Anne Troy
www.OfficeArticles.com

"jpletting" <[email protected]> wrote
in message news:[email protected]...
>
> I'm not exactly a novice with Excel, but there are quite a lot of
> functions I haven't yet needed to use in the various positions I've
> held. What I'm trying to do now is very, very different from anything
> I've done before, so I hope this is the proper forum.
>
> I have been handed the opportunity to redesign the processes by which
> our Traffic office runs. What I would like to do is create an Excel
> order form, which could then be used to automatically generate a Bill
> of Lading. I will need to pull specific data entered by the customer in
> the form to a template worksheet in the same file. I'm not sure how to
> request that Excel retrieve this data to populate specific cells, nor
> am I sure how best to go about designing the form to allow this to be
> done. I'm really not familiar with the limitations of Excel in this
> regard, but I feel this is the best way to go about this project and
> will make future transitions to better software easier.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? I'd greatly appreciate the
> help. Thanks.
>
> J
>
>
> --
> jpletting
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> View this thread: http://www.excelforum.com/showthread...hreadid=466244
>

[Casey]

J,
I see that you have just joined the forum and this is in fact your first post. I have been somewhat active in this forum for a year or so, and I can tell you that the help I have recieved here has been tremendous. It has enabled me to do things with Excel that save me so much time and energy. So I encourage you to keep at it, the people on this site are great.
That being said; I wanted to comment on your question. First I'm convinced that the Excel Gurus on this site could program Excel to wash my car if they were so inclined, but if I asked them how to do that, I probably wouldn't get an answer, because the answer could be hundreds of formulas or hundreds of lines of Code. The idea here, is to ask as specific a question as you can, about the project your working on. Your question is kind of all - inclusive and when I read it, I don't no where to start answering your question.
For instance when you ask about how to get data from one worksheet (customer form) to another worksheet (Bill or Lading) the answers are many. Data can be "transfered" by formulas or inported by Visual Basic Code (Macros) at the press of a button or a keyboard shortcut.
Excel probably would be an excellent platform for what you want to do. So start by putting some stuff in a spreadsheet and then think about how you want things to work, then come to this forum and ask a specific question and you will no doubt get one or more great answers.
Welcome

[jpletting]

Casey,

I don't have a specific question because I don't know where to start. I have created a draft of what I would like the order form to look like, just a sample, to be edited later, but I don't know what to do to generate a BOL from it. I don't know how to pull information, create a button to do it automatically, work with links, etc. I don't know where to get those instructions, either. That's why I'm here.

Anne,

Each order received will generate a unique BOL. I like your idea of using links, as the BOL will generally already BE everything that's on the order form, just in a different template. But I don't know anything about Excel links, or how to use them. I would rather create the BOL after I've received the order. It would be really nice to just have a button to press, for my own convenience.

Thanks, both.
J