Access Database Tutorial: microsoft access database.
Access database tutorial: articles and code samples cover a range
of access database design and implementation issues. The site also
contains toturials tips, tricks, and downloadable database examples.
Access is not just a database. It is a Relational Database Management
System (RDMS). Its management tools are extensive. While Excel is
easier to use for small amount of information, the true power of
Access becomes readily apparent when you work with large amounts
of information. Let's begin by looking at the main elements of Access,
with tips for each.
Access Database Tutorial: The database window
1. In Access, you store all objects of a database in a single
file that has an MDB extension. You manage these objects through the database
window. If Access is confusing, thinking of it in this perspective will help
clear that up.
2. The six tabs at the top of the database window give you
access (no pun intended) to each of the six main object types: Tables, Queries,
Forms, Reports, Macros, and Modules.
3. Once you have selected an object type, click on the New
button to start creating an object of that type.
4. Clicking on the Design button takes you to Design view
(duh!). This allows you to modify an object's structure and properties.
This is important to remember, because if you aren't altering the structure
or properties, you should not be in this view.
5. Clicking on the Tables button takes you to, you guessed
it, Table view. It is here where you enter data into your tables. Don't attempt
to do this in Design view, as many who are unfamiliar with Access attempt to
do.
Let's look at the tabs across the top of the database window
and see what they mean:
Access Database Tutorial: Tables
1. You store all of your data in tables--nowhere else.
2. Give each table its unique focus. For example, tblEmployees
would contain employee names, addresses, and other information. You would also
have tblVendors, tblSuppliers, tblInvoices, tblProducts, and so on. Notice the
nomenclature, here. Start each table with "tbl," never use spaces
in the name, and capitalize the first letter of the unique part of the name.
Use mixed case, never all caps.
3. Within each table, you have fields--just as you do in
a spreadsheet. To add a field, go into Design view.
4. Every row in a table is a record.
5. The first column in each row should contain a Primary
Key, which is a unique identifier. For a table of employees, you would use employee
Social Security Numbers. For Vendors, you would use their tax ID numbers. For
Customers, you'd need to come up with a different system. For products, use
a meaningful number, rather than number them sequentially. If you sell
magazine articles, for example, you might have this number: 1960201. Let's look
at this number from left to right. 1 means the millenium prior to the year 2000.
If you had a 2, then you'd be good for another 100 years. After that,
this technology will not be in use, so who cares? Anyway, you can add another
digit and not have data integrity problems. 96 means 1996, 02 means February,
and 01 means this is the article that appeared first in the magazine when counting
from front to back. Using numbers that have meaning allows you to check for
missing data at a glance, and it has other benefits as well.
Access Database Tutorial: Queries
1. "Query" is not techno-speak. This word is very
similar to "question." In Access, you write a question in a structured
way, so you can get information from your database.
2. In Access, you can query across more than one table--this
is where much of the real power in Access comes from. Also, you can use queries
to grab all the information from specific fields, and place it into one datasheet--no
matter how many tables are involved. What you end up with is what database people
call a "recordset"--a set of records compiled from a database.
3. Database queries have never been straightforward. Access
tries to correct this with the Query By Example (QBE) feature. Go into the Access
help menu if you want to grasp what this is about. If you cut your teeth on
other database programs, this is a delight to work with. If you are new to databases,
it sucks.
4. You use the Design view and the Datasheet view to build
Queries, just as you do to build Tables. Fair enough!
5. Use the Help menu to understand the types of Queries
you can make. You may inadvertently create a nonupdatable Query, when an updatable
one is what you really wanted.
6. Keep this idea of a Query in mind. It is the question, not the data. You
do not store data in a Query. Your Query runs every time you open
it, and it will reflect only what is in the current set of data.
--> Part 2 : Microsoft
Access Reports
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