Sam




Ok, I definitely owe you a beer (at the LEAST). :-)


Seems Access is the simpler option for sure. Now just the particulars to sort out...


If the data source were to be a Daily Campaign Report via Facebook with a row for every active ad (exceeding 1000 per day once scaled up) - would it be best that data be continually added to a single table? If so, what field would need to be set as the Primary Key or just a simple generic number for the entry?


What would be the most organized way to log 1000s of ads' daily data - In an "Ads" table with 1000+ ads, with 365 rows worth of data each per year (or would that not work, because you couldn't have an ad number as a primary key AND multiple row of data for that same duplicate primary key in the same table)?


If all that data were accumulated in one table, could/would the programming code be set to list the averages in the next Historical Performance table, with a "cycle range" column displaying the dates the average took data from - and continually update that Historical Performance table, adding new rows and new averages for all active ads each 3 days?


I'm not sure if the 'Cycle Book' in Excel would even be required - if there's a different way to track the same data within Access (i.e. "Historical Performance" table(s)). And as for the 'Daily Overview sheet,' this could essentially be produced via a query and report...


Issue then just becomes would it make more sense to crunch the data through the budget scaling algorithm from the Historical Performance table in that table, or the query? And would it be possible to reference figures from preceding cycle ranges in the Historical Performance table in the algorithm the same way as possible in Excel? (As the algorithm references figures from both the current and preceding cycles)


(Or, would it be better to make more complex by automating the creation of a Cycle Book in Excel for every active ad to run the averages through the formula and track the results - automatically looping the results back in the Access database?)




I've begun learning from some Access tutorials, though still more on the basics and this seems like a unique application, so am sure the answers will become clearer the more I learn - as will the more clearly articulated questions to ask. However, these are the questions that have risen to the forefront so far - though can see things coming together MUCH more simply with Access than Excel...




Thanks!

(And the Spolsky stuff is good. ����)