ACC: How to Print a Line Number for Each Record or Group on Report

You can add a text box control that prints a sequential number for each record to the detail section of a report. This number can be reset so that a separate set of numbers is printed for each group of records. This article explains these procedures by modifying a report in the sample database Northwind.mdb (or NWIND.MDB in Microsoft Access 2.0 or earlier).

NOTE: This article explains a technique demonstrated in the sample files, RptSampl.exe (for Microsoft Access for Windows 95 version 7.0) and RptSmp97.exe (for Microsoft Access 97). For information about how to obtain these sample files, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

145777  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/145777/EN-US/ ) ACC95: Microsoft Access Sample Reports Available in Download Center

175072  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/175072/EN-US/ ) ACC97: Microsoft Access 97 Sample Reports Available in Download Center

If you want to print an incremental counter for each record in a report group, add an unbound text box control to the detail section of the report. To begin the sequence with the number 1, set the ControlSource property to =1, and then set the RunningSum property to Over Group.

To print an incremental counter for each record in a report group, follow these steps:

1. In the Database window, open the Products By Category report (or List Of Products By Category report in Microsoft Access 2.0 or earlier) in Design view.
2. Add the following text box control before the Product Name control in the detail section:
   

         Object: Text Box
         ----------------------
         Name: MyLineNumber
         ControlSource: =1
         RunningSum: Over Group
   						

   
   NOTE: In Microsoft Access 1.x, the Name property is called ControlName.
3. Preview the report. Note that each group's records are sequentially numbered, beginning with the number 1.

You can also increment the counter number for each group in the report by changing the RunningSum property to Over All. To do this, replace step 2 above with the following step:

Repeat step 3 above. Note that each individual record now prints a unique sequential number.

For more information about printing an incremental counter for each record in a report, search for "Calculated controls, reports," and then "Number each detail record in a report" using the Microsoft Access 97 Help Index.