Creating an Access Database. To start an Access Database, you should first go into Access and then select file, new.

Transcription

1 To start an Access Database, you should first go into Access and then select file, new. Then on the right side of the screen, select Blank database. Give your database a name where it says db1 and save the file as a mdb file You will then be brought to the following screen: 3/2/2006 1

2 In Access, you first need to create a table with your data. The table is similar to an Excel Spreadsheet. It has rows and columns. In this menu below, Tables is selected and then you can Create a table in one of three ways. Design view, by the wizard, or by entering data. Once you create a table, you can then create queries to extract data and create a user friendly Form to enter data into your table with a visual flare. In this lesson, we will be creating a table in Design View. You can enter the field names, data type and a description of the field. 3/2/2006 2

3 Begin Entering the field names of your database in the description. In this Example we are creating a database for Software Licenses on computers. It is important to know all of your fields ahead of time. Think of the fields as column headings on an Excel Spreadsheet. The data type for each field can be straight forward text, yes or no, a memo or even a drop down for you to select from a list. When you build a table, think about how you would like the user to interface with the data. For instance, in the above example, we do not want the user to have to type in the Software type each time. So when you go to data type, you can select from the dropdown Lookup Wizard 3/2/2006 3

4 This will then generate a series of menus for you to answer questions to. Select I will type in the values that I want. When you are finished with the table, go to save and name your table Select OK. You will then be asked to create a primary key. 3/2/2006 4

5 A primary key is not necessary however when possible, you should create one. Primary keys uniquely identify each record in the table. They can be created in one of 3 ways. Auto number, Single primary key (as in a social security number) Multiple-field (two or more fields make up the record. Note that when you create a primary key, Access will not allow you to enter the same value in the primary key field more than once. We will manually assign a primary key by selecting the key on the tool bar. You must select the primary key item in the table before you hit the key. Once you select a key you must determine if duplicate entries are allowed. 3/2/2006 5

6 In this example, we want to allow duplicates because a person may be entered for more than one license. Save the table and then x out. You have now created the frame work for entering the data. You can enter the data directly into the table like you would for an Excel Spreadsheet, or you can create a User friendly form. Lets first do one entry with the table and then we will create a form. Go to File Open and you can then select Table under the object menu. Double Click on Software License Table to open it. A spreadsheet will populate for you to begin entering data the same way you would with Excel: 3/2/2006 6

7 Now we are going to switch to creating a form to appeal more to the user for data entry. Creating an Entry Form using the Wizard Select form on the left side of the database window and double click on Create form by using wizard. You will be creating the form based on the Software License Table Select the fields you want on the form. If you want all, select the double arrowseverything will move to the right. Click on next and then select the layout of your form. 3/2/2006 7

8 You can select any one of the layouts to see how it will display. Make a selection and click next. You can then select a style for the form. Select Next and Apply a name for your form 3/2/2006 8

9 Select Finish and the Option to Open the form. The form now appears in Data Entry View. In order to modify it, you have to go into Design view. Click on the Protractor to launch design view, so that you can modify it. The Protractor initiates design view. 3/2/2006 9

10 When you are in design view, you will see the grid of the form. Enlarge the form and modify it by adjusting the size of the boxes. While in the design view, you can move the various items around and you can also add buttons to Add, Delete, or Print records. When you go to add buttons, make sure you are in Design view. Select Tool box under view The tool box will appear on the tool bar. There you can select an icon and then move the cursor to the form. Double click and then you can add a button. See the example below. Select the button tool on the tool bar and then double click on the form where you would like to see the button. Select the button 3/2/

11 When you select the button feature on the tool bar, a cross will appear on the form Double click where you would like to see the button. When you do that, a screen will appear showing you the various button options. Button shows. Now decide what you want the button to do. Select a category and action. In this example we will have the button be a find next button. So now that it is selected hit Next on the wizard. Sometimes you can select different pictures for the button. Click next. Give the button a name on the next screen. 3/2/

12 Select finish. The button appears on the screen. You can move the button or resize it, just like you would any movable item in Word. We want to resize and label the button to be like the other buttons. To Create a Label, Select the icon the arrow is pointing to below. Then click on the form. 3/2/

13 Type in the label and move it over the button. You can right click on any button or label to change its properties. Filtering Data, Queries and Reports You can filter data directly in a table. First you must go to the Table and click on the data you want to filter by. Select the data you want to filter by. Here it is Adobe Creative suite. Click The results now just show you the people who have licenses for Adobe To display all of the records again, click on the remove filter icon All the records will re-appear. You can also select out specific data by other methods. 3/2/

14 Select the cell you want to filter and right click. A menu will appear In this filter, we want to filter out all software that costs more than $ You can then remove the filter again. The right click menu also allow you to Exclude or Hide certain records. You can also filter filtered data. Filter by Form When you select filter by form, the filter icon is displayed with a form along its side. 3/2/

15 Filter by form allows you to perform searches of a table, form or query in a database. It allows you to quickly find and display records that meet specific criteria. Lets try it! With our software license table open, select the Filter by form icon The filter by form window then appears as it relates to the table. To clear any previous filter, click on the Delete icon. disappear. Notice the >200 will Now we can do a new filter. Click on the cell beneath field name that you want to use to filter the records. In this example we will select Software type. A drop down appears Select one of the drop downs and then select the apply filter icon. Click again to remove the filter. Remember you can filter with more than one field. 3/2/

16 Creating A Query Using the Wizard When you create a query to find information, you ask Access to find information that meets specific criteria. It is like a filter, however it is saved, so you can run it over and over. To begin, Select Queries under the object menu and also Create query using Wizard. Make sure you have the correct table selected for your query. Select the available fields and move them to the column on the right. 3/2/

17 Click on finish. Your Query has been created. Now to run it, just go to the Database screen and double click on the Query. 3/2/

18 Going into the Design of the Query Double click on the Query and then select the protractor with the pencil The view will change to what you see below: At this point, you can change the criteria. For instance under Software type put =Contribute This would then create a Query for Contribute software 3/2/

19 Thanks for participating in the course. User Services X4397 3/2/