Transcript Introduction to MS Access2003

Microsoft Access 2003
Introduction To Microsoft Access
2003
Define some key Access
terminology
• Field – A single characteristic or attribute
of a person, place, object, event, or idea.
• Record – A set of related field values.
• Table – A collection of records that identify
a category of data, such as Customers,
Orders, or Inventory.
Illustration of fields, records
and a table
Relational database and keys
• A relational database is a collection of
tables that are related to one another
based on a common field.
• A field, or a collection of fields, is
designated as the primary key.
– The primary key uniquely identifies a record in
the table.
• When the primary key of one table is
represented in a second table to form a
relationship, it is called a foreign key.
Relating tables using a common
field
Open an existing database
• To open an existing database, you must first
start Access.
• When Access is launched you will see the
Access window, with the task pane on the right
side of the window.
Open an existing database
• From the task pane you can open an
existing database by:
– Selecting the database you want from the list
of Recently opened databases
– Selecting “Look in” list arrow to choose a
database you want to open from a storage
location
• If you choose the Look in list arrow, you will
browse to the correct location of your database,
click on it, and then click on Open to open the
database
The Access window
• When a database is opened, the Access window
and the Database window will be displayed.
• The Access window contains a menu bar, a
toolbar, a task pane, and a status bar.
• In the Access window, use the task pane to
create a new database or to open an existing
database.
– To create a new database, make a selection from the
New section of the task pane
– To open an existing database, select from the list of
Recently opened databases or from the More files
option
The Database window
• The Database window is the main control
center for working with an Access
database.
• The Database window contains a menu
bar, an objects bar, and a groups bar.
– The Objects bar lists all the objects available
in the database
– The list of objects consists of tables, queries,
forms, reports, pages, macros, and modules
– You can click on any of the objects in the
Objects bar to obtain a list of objects of that
type
Use the task pane to open a
database
Open an Access database table
• To open a table you must first open a
database:
– In the database window, select Tables on the
objects bar
– In the list of tables, select the table you want
to open and click on the Open button
– When a table is open it is in Datasheet view,
which shows the table's data as a collection of
rows and columns
– Each row in the Datasheet view represents a
record in the table
Navigate a database table
• You can navigate through the records by
using the navigation buttons displayed at
the bottom of the Datasheet view window.
• The navigation bar allows you to:
– Go to the first record in the table
– Go to the previous record in the table
– Go to the next record in the table
– Go to the last record in the table
– Create a new record for the table (sometimes
called an append record)
A table in datasheet view
The navigation bar buttons
Learn how Access saves a
database
• The Save button in Access differs from the Save
button in other Windows programs.
• When you press the Save button in Access, you
are saving the design of the Access objects and
NOT the data itself.
– Access saves data as it is entered
• For this reason, the location at which you are
storing your database must always be
accessible while working with a particular
database.
– If the database is located on a diskette, the diskette
must be in the diskette drive at all times while working
with this particular database
What is an Access query?
• If you want to see just a portion of the data
in a table you can create a query.
• A query is a question you ask about the
data stored in a database table.
• Access responds by displaying the data
according to your question.
– For example, if you ask to see all the
customers from New York, the response
would be to display only the records whose
state field matches with NY
Open an existing query
and create new queries
• You can open an existing query by clicking
Queries on the Objects bar and then
selecting the query you want to open.
• You can also create your own queries by
clicking New on the Database window.
• To create a new query, you can use the
Simple Query Wizard, which will bring you
through the selections you want for your
query.
Navigating a query and
sorting the results
• When you run and get the results of your
query, you can reorganize the data by
sorting the datasheet in either ascending
or descending order.
– Click the pointer anywhere in the column you
wish to sort
– Click the Sort Ascending or Sort Descending
buttons on the Query Datasheet toolbar to
sort the results in the desired sequence
• You can navigate through the records by
using the navigation buttons on the
Navigations toolbar.
Sample Query Datasheet view
Selecting fields to include in a
query
• You can create a query that will display only
selected fields from a table instead of displaying all
fields.
• In the Simple Query Wizard dialog box, select which
fields you want included in the query.
– Move all the fields into the Selected Fields box
– Move the fields one at a time
– Remove fields out of the Selected Fields box by
pressing one of the remove buttons
• If you wanted to select all the fields except one, you
can move them all to the selected fields list and
then remove the one field you don't want.
• Once you have made your selections, press Next to
move to the next dialog box in the Wizard.
The Simple Query Wizard
Create an Access form
• A form allows you to view your data one
record at a time.
• Forms are useful for maintaining, viewing,
and printing records in a database.
• You can create your own form in the
Forms Design window or you can use the
Forms Wizard to create a form.
• The easiest way to create a form is to use
the AutoForm Wizard.
Use the AutoForm Wizard
• The AutoForm Wizard uses a table (or
query) you select as the basis to create a
form that displays all the fields of the table
(or query).
• Once you have created your form, you can
view the records one record at a time.
• The form has a navigation bar just like the
navigation bar you have already used in
the Table or Query Datasheet view.
Access Form View
Create, preview, and navigate a
report
• You can create a report, which is a printed
version of your data, that is formatted
according to your specifications.
• The data in the report can consist of data from
a single table or multiple tables.
• Access has a Reports Wizard that allows you
to easily create a report.
• The report can be based on a table or it can be
based on a query.
– If the report is based on a query, it will contain the
same fields that were selected for the query
The Report Preview window
Backup and restore a database
• You may want to create a backup of your
data so that if you lose or damage your
database, you can recover from the backup.
• You can use a backup tool, such as the
Microsoft backup tool, or some other backup
program.
• To restore the data from the backup, you
need to use the same backup tool according
to the instructions associated with that tool.
Compacting a database
• It is a good idea to periodically compact and repair a
database to recover wasted space created by
adding, deleting, and modifying records.
• Access has a Compact and Repair feature:
– Open a database
– Click on Tools and then Options
– On the Options menu, select Compact on Close.
Selecting this option will cause your database to
be compacted and repaired every time you close
it
Setting the Compact on Close
option
Compacting reduces
database storage size
Convert an existing database
to Access 2003 format
• It is possible to convert a database created in
Access 2000 or 2002 to an Access 2003
database.
• To convert an Access 2000 or 2002 database
to Access 2003 format:
– Make certain the database to be converted is closed
– Click Tools on the menu bar, then point to Database
Utilities
– Point to Convert database and choose the format to
convert to
– Enter the name of the database to convert, and a
name for the converted database to be stored under