Macros are mini-programs that automate custom tasks. You can choose where the information appears on the printed page, how it’s grouped and sorted, and how it’s formatted. Reports help you print some or all of the information in a table. Forms provide an easy way to view or change the information in a table. However, you can also use queries to apply changes.įorms are attractive windows that you create, arrange, and colorize. Usually, this action involves retrieving a choice bit of information (like the 10 top-selling food items at Ed’s Roadside Diner or all the purchases you made in a single day). ![]() Queries let you quickly perform an action on a table. A fitness database could track your daily running log, your inventory of exercise equipment, and the number of high-protein whey milkshakes you down each day, as three separate tables. Tables are the heart of any database, and you can create as many tables as you need to store different types of information. You’ll learn more about sharing Access with groups of people in Part 6. Amazingly, they don’t even need to know they’re running Access at all! In fact, if the database is well designed, people who have little understanding of Access can still use it to enter, update, and look up information. If task #1 ( creating the database) is done well, task #2 (using the database) can be extremely easy. Warehouse staff can make sure stock levels are OK (again, task #2), and the resident accountant can keep an eye on total sales (task #2). The sales department can then use the database to enter new orders (task #2), while other employees look up orders and fill them (also task #2). In fact, in the business world, different people often work separately on these two tasks.įor example, a summer student whiz-kid at a beer store may build a database for tracking orders (task #1). You’ll then be ready to tackle the fine art of database design, which is covered in detail throughout this book.įREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION: Using Someone Else’s DatabaseĬan I use an Access database I didn’t design?Īlthough every database follows the same two-step process: first somebody creates it and then people fill it with information, the same person doesn’t need to perform both jobs. Along the way, you’ll get acquainted with the slick Access user interface, and you’ll learn exactly what you can store in a database. In this chapter, you’ll conquer any Access resistance you have, and learn to create a simple but functional database. All of this setup takes effort and a good understanding of how databases work. ![]() And even after you’ve defined that structure, you’ll probably want to spend more time creating other useful tools, like handy search routines and friendly forms that you can use to simplify data lookup and data entry. Before you can enter a stitch of information into an Access database, you need to create that database’s structure. Or you can start Excel, and launch right into a financial report. For example, you can fire up Word, and start typing a letter straight away. Quite simply, databases need strict rules. They’re probably right.Īccess seems more daunting than any other Office program because of the way that databases work. Even though Microsoft has spent millions of dollars making Access easier to use, most people still see it as the most complicated Office program on the block. You will also want a list box that wuold display the list of Students that are in one class or you might want one that would list all of the classes one student is taking.Although Microsoft won’t admit it, Access can be intimidating-intimidating enough to trigger a cold sweat in the most confident office worker. The you can simple select a Student and a Class and save the record, create a new record and repeat the process. Create another combo box that lists the Classes with the ClassID as the bound field. User your form to make this linking happen by creating a combo box with the list of students and make the StudentID field the bound field. ![]() There may be other information that you would want in this table but at least this is a start. Your table about the classes only needs to hold information that actually pertains to the class itself, and not anything about any students.Ĭreate a new table with a Primary Key, a foreign key: StudentID to link the student to a class and a foreign key: ClassId also used to make the link. Your table about the Students needs to only hold information about students, not the classes they take. So, you need a third table that will like each student with each classs. Many students can be taking the same class and many classes can have the same student.
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