MS ACCESSHow and Why

Second Semester

First Quarter

Project One

Getting Set-up

• Go to Start• Programs• Find MS Access

– Purple Key– May be in MSOffice

• Right click to open short menu

Put MSACCESS on Desktop

• Choose “Send to”• Choose “Desktop

(create shortcut)• Go to the Desktop

Put icon on task bar

• Left click MSAccess icon and hold

• This makes a copy of the icon

• Drag the icon down to the task bar

• Release the left button

• The icon is now on the task bar

Old Methods of Data Storage…• Store information on paper

– Notecards– File folders– Sheets (scraps) of paper– Rolodex™– Post-it Notes™

• Organize information by– Shuffling papers– Sorting through a dozen file folders– Panicking

Why Use a Database?• Organize information

– Create a database for your information– Use forms for data entry– Use queries to get information– Use tables to store information– Use relationships to connect information

• Add time to set-up• Reduce time (energy, panic) and duplication• Increase availability of data

– Multiple reports, charts, forms, etc.– Multiple users at multiple sites—networking or e-mail

• Increase security—control access to different levels of data base

Database

• Database--collection of information that's related to a particular subject or purpose, such as tracking customer orders or maintaining a music collection. – Made of tables, forms, queries, etc.

Table• Table--a collection of data about a

specific topic– Use a separate table for each topic: you

store that data only once– Set of one type of data

• All the demographics of students in a class• All the grades for students in a class• All the videos in a collection

– results in a more efficient database and fewer data-entry errors.

TableTables organize data into

• columns (called fields)

–name, address, phone #

• rows (called records)

–Record: above info for one person

Similar to a spreadsheet but without the letter/number headings

Forms

• Form--type of a database object primarily (most often) used to enter or display data in a database.

• Less often as a switchboard that opens other forms and reports in the database

• Or as a custom dialog box that accepts user input and carries out an action based on the input.

Sample Data Entry Form

Sample Table with related form

Making a ReportUse wizard to choose desired fields

Can be from several tables

Report• Present data to others in some organized form• May contain information from multiple tables

Relationships

• Relationships—connections between two or more database objects—a form and a table or two tables and a report, etc.– work by matching data in key fields — a field

with the same name in both tables. • A primary key from one table, which

provides a unique identifier for each record• A matching foreign key in the other table.

Queries

• Query--used to view, change, and analyze data in different ways. You can also use them as a source of records for forms, reports, and data access pages. There are many kinds:– Select Parameter Crosstab– Action SQL – You’ll learn about them later!

Vocabulary on Quiz

• Database

• Table

• Form

• Field

• Record

• Query

• Relationship

• Report

• Keys

– Primary in original table

– Foreign in related table

• Demographics

Download files from Text Site• Go to SC Site:

http://www.scsite.com/off2000/default.cfm• Find: Advanced Data Disk Files

Access 2000 Data Disk• Click on that and choose Save• Create a folder on your drive names

“AccessFiles”• Save the Access files into your new folder• When the download is finished, click Open• Unzip the files INTO YOUR NEW

FOLDER