Microsoft Access XP/2003, Level I

Basic Level
Updated 5/27/05

Navigate Access
To work with all the objects in a Microsoft Access database, use the Database window.

VIEWS: Large Icons, Small Icons, List or

Select the object type to

display a list of those objects

Navigate the Screen

• Go to the View menu and select Arrange Icons f to select to arrange the icons in the Database windows in another order.
• Go to the Tools menu and select Options. On the View tab, select what objects to show and whether you single or double-
click to open an object.

• Return to the Database window by clicking Database window on the Standard toolbar.

View Objects
• Double-click an object in the Database window to open it OR select the object and then click Open

• To open the object in Design view, select the object in the Database window and then click Design OR hold [Ctrl]
when you double-click the object.
• Switch views by clicking the View button on the Standard toolbar. It’s the first button on the toolbar when an object is open.
Its icon image will change based on which view you are currently in.
• When an object is open, you may use the navigation buttons in the lower-left corner of the window.

Total Records
First Next New Record

Previous Last

Enter the record number and press [Enter]

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Print Objects
• Preview an object by clicking Print Preview on the Standard toolbar OR go to the File menu and select Print Preview
OR right-click the object in the Database window and select Print Preview.
• Click Close on the Print Preview toolbar to return to Design view.

• Print one copy of your document on the default printer by clicking Print on the Standard toolbar.
• Change your print options by going to the File menu and select Print OR press [Ctrl][P] OR right-click the object in the
Database window and select Print .

Create a Database
Click New on the Standard toolbar or press [Ctrl][N]. You must first save your database before you can create any objects.

TABLES
A field is represented as a column in a table. Fields are small items of information such as the last name or the date of birth of a
person. The same field can appear in more than one table in a database, which then enables those tables to be linked.
Records are represented as a row in a table. A record is a set of information about one particular item. For example one record about
a person could contain their title, initials, last name, address, city, postcode and date of birth.

Design a Table
1. Click Create table in Design view in the Database window.
2. Give each field a Name (it’s best to use single words or use the underscore to create a space).
3. Choose a Data Type. The field properties below will change depending on the data type chosen.
Data type Use for Size
Text Text or combinations of text and numbers, such as addresses. Also numbers that do not Up to 255 characters. Microsoft Access only stores the
require calculations, such as phone numbers, part numbers, or postal codes. characters entered in a field; it does not store space
characters for unused positions in a Text field
Memo Lengthy text and numbers, such as notes or descriptions. Up to 64,000 characters
Number Numeric data to be used for mathematical calculations, except calculations involving money 1, 2, 4, or 8 bytes
(use Currency type).
Date/Time Dates and times. 8 bytes
Currency Currency values. Use the Currency data type to prevent rounding off during calculations. 8 bytes
Accurate to 15 digits to the left of the decimal point and 4 digits to the right.
AutoNumber Unique sequential (incrementing by 1) or random numbers automatically inserted when a 4 bytes
record is added.
Yes/No Fields that will contain only one of two values, such as Yes/No, True/False, On/Off. 1 bit
OLE Object Objects (such as documents, spreadsheets, pictures, sounds, or other binary data), created Up to 1 gigabyte (limited by disk space)
in other programs using the OLE protocol, that can be linked to or embedded in a table. You
must use a bound object frame in a form or report to display the OLE object.
Hyperlink Field that will store hyperlinks. A hyperlink can be a UNC path or a URL. Up to 64,000 characters
Lookup Wizard Creates a field that allows you to choose a value from another table or a list of values using The same size as the primary key field that is also the
a combo box. Choosing this option in the data type list starts a wizard to define this. Lookup field; typically 4 bytes
4. Give each field a Description. What you type as a description will appear in the Status bar when that field is active, so you can
include instructions as well.

Set the Primary Key

The Primary Key is an important aspect of a relational database. The primary key is an index where no duplicates and no blank fields
are allowed, i.e. it must be unique to a particular record. To assign, in Design view of the table, select a field and click Primary Key
on the Standard toolbar.

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Enter and Delete Data
• Repeat a value from the previous record, press [Ctrl][‘] (apostrophe).
• Enter the current date, press [Ctrl][;] (semicolon).
• Move to the next field, press [Tab] or [Shift][Tab] to move to the previous field.
• Delete the current record, press [Ctrl][-] (hyphen) OR click Delete on the toolbar.
• Paste the cut/copied information to the end of the datasheet, go to the Edit menu and select Paste Append.
Freeze columns in Datasheet view Format Datasheet View
1. Select the field column in Datasheet view. • To change the font and size, right-click the table’s
2. From the Format menu, select Freeze Columns. title bar and select Font.
3. To return the view to normal, go to the Format menu and • To customize the background and color, right-click
select Freeze Columns. NOTE: Although the columns the table's title bar and select Datasheet.
are no longer frozen on the screen, Access doesn’t return
them to their original positions within the Datasheet view.

Use a Table Wizard

• In the Database window, double-click Create table using wizard. Follow the steps filling in the appropriate information and
click Next> to continue to next step. Click Finish to complete the wizard.

TABLES: Field Properties

Edit Field Attributes
In Design view, click the field to modify and press [F6] or click the Properties pane. Property options will WARNING!
vary depending on the data type of the field. Changing the field
properties after
Field Properties records have
AllowZeroLength – specify whether a zero-length string (" ") is a valid entry in a table field. been entered
Caption - a string expression that can contain up to 2,048 characters and specifies the text that could result in
appears in the label of a control, or the status bar of a form or table. data loss
DecimalPlaces - specify the number of decimal places Microsoft Access uses to display numbers.
FieldName - specify the name of a field within a table.
FieldSize - set the maximum size for data stored in a field set to the Text, Number, or AutoNumber data type.
Decimal Storage
Setting Description
precision size
Byte Stores numbers from 0 to 255 (no fractions) None 1 byte
Decimal Stores numbers from-10^28 -1 through 10^28 -1 (.mdb) 28 12bytes
Integer Stores numbers from –32,768 to 32,767 (no fractions) None 2 bytes
Long Integer (Default) Stores numbers from –2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 (no fractions) None 4 bytes
Single Stores numbers from –3.402823E38 to –1.401298E–45 for negative values and 7 4 bytes
from 1.401298E–45 to 3.402823E38 for positive values
Double Stores numbers from -1.79769313486231E308 to -4.94065645841247E–324 15 8 bytes
for negative values and from 1.79769313486231E308 to
4.94065645841247E–324 for positive values
Format - customize the way numbers, dates, times, and text are displayed and printed. (see below)
Indexed - set a single-field index. An index speeds up queries on the indexed fields as well as sorting and grouping operations.
NewValues - specify how AutoNumber fields increment when new records are added to a table.

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Change Format Properties

Format - customize the way numbers, dates, times, and text are displayed and printed. You can use one of the predefined
formats (date/time, currency, etc.) or you can create a custom format by using formatting symbols.
Placeholder characters for the Format property field
0 Displays a digit, if one exists in the position. A zero displays if no digit exists.
# Displays a digit, if one exists in the position. Equ9valent to 0, except that leading and training zeros are not displayed.
$ Displays a dollar sign in the position.
. Displays a decimal point in the position.
% Multiplies the field value by 100 and adds a percent sign to the end of the resulting value.
, Add commas as thousands separators in placeholder stings.
m The month placeholder for date field. Display options: m=1, mm=01, mmm=Jan, mmmm=January
d The day placeholder for date fields. Display options: d=1, dd=01, ddd=Mon, dddd=Monday
y The year placeholder for dates. Display options: y=1, yy=01, yyyy=2001
@ Indicates that a character is required in a Text or Memo field.
& Indicates that a character is an option in a Text or Memo field.
> Changes all text character to uppercase.
< Changes all text characters to lowercase.
“ABC” Displays anything inside quotation marks as literal characters.
[color] Displays the result in the color specified. (red, yellow, blue, green, black, white)
; Separates values in a Yes/No field.

Validate Data Entry

ValidationRule – specify requirements for data entered into a record,
field, or control. When data is entered that violates the
ValidationRule setting, the ValidationText property will specify the
message to be displayed to the user. The maximum length is 2048
characters. You can use mathematical operands such as greater than
(>), lesser than (<) and equal (=) in the validation equation.
ValidationText – specifies the message to be displayed to the user when
the ValidationRule is not met. The maximum length is 255
characters.
Restrict Date Entries
ValidationRule: DatePart(“w”,[yourfieldname],7)>2
ValidationText: The date you entered is a Saturday
or Sunday. Please enter a date corresponding
to a weekday.
The DatePart function returns a number from 1 to 7,
corresponding to the days of the week. A Saturday date returns 1,
and a Sunday date returns 2. Therefore, checking for a value that’s
greater than 2 eliminates any entry that equals 1 or 2

Use Default Values „ To enter the default value in a record

DefaultValue – specify a value that is automatically entered in a field when a new that existed prior to setting the default
record is created. Whenever a new entry is created, the default value will value, press [Ctrl][Alt][Spacebar] when
automatically be entered, however, it can be edited if needed. in the field.

Create Required Fields

Required – specify whether a value is required in a field.
Use Input Masks
InputMask – make data entry easier and to control the
values users can enter in a text box control (i.e. zip
code, SSN and phone numbers).
Valid input mask characters
Microsoft Access interprets characters in the first part of the
InputMask property definition as shown in the following table.
To define a literal character, enter any character other than
those shown in the table, including spaces and symbols.

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Character Description
0 Digit (0 - 9, entry required; plus and minus signs not allowed).
9 Digit or space (entry not required; plus and minus signs not allowed).
# Digit or space (entry not required; blank positions converted to spaces, plus and minus signs allowed).
L Letter (A through Z, entry required).
? Letter (A through Z, entry optional).
A Letter or digit (entry required).
a Letter or digit (entry optional).
& Any character or a space (entry required).
C Any character or a space (entry optional).
. , : ; - / Decimal placeholder and thousands, date, and time separators.
< Causes all characters that follow to be converted to lowercase.
> Causes all characters that follow to be converted to uppercase.
Causes the input mask to display from right to left. Characters typed into the mask always fill it from left to right. You can include the exclamation point
!
anywhere in the input mask.
Causes the character that follows to be displayed as a literal character. Used to display any of the characters listed in this table as literal characters (for example,
\
\A is displayed as just A).
Password Creates a password entry text box. Any character typed in the text box is stored as the character but is displayed as an asterisk (*).

FORMS
Design a Form
• Make sure Forms is selected and click New in the Database window. You can create the form in Design view, using a Wizard
or choose an Autoform. When creating a form in Design view, choose the table or query where the data comes from. The field
list should be visible with the form. If not, click Field List to view.
• Drag the fields from the field list and place them in the approximate location you’d like them displayed.
• If you delete a control’s label during the design process, you can easily attach a new label to the control.
Create a label, select it, and cut it from the form. Then select the control that needs the label and paste.
Use the Toolbox tools to create objects. If the Toolbox is not visible, click Toolbox .

Label displays descriptive text. Use [Shift] Text Box (unbound to any existing field in the Option Group used along with check boxes,
[Enter] to create line breaks in the label. underlying record source) display the results of a option buttons, or toggle buttons to display a set of
calculation, or accept input from a user alternative values

Toggle Button used as a stand-alone control Option Button used as a stand-alone control Check Box used as a stand-alone control
bound to a Yes/No field bound to a Yes/No field bound to a Yes/No field

Combo Box combines the features of a list List Box displays a scrollable list of values to Command Button used to perform actions,
box and a text box where you can type in the text box select from to enter a value into a new record or to such as Submit, Print or Apply Filter
or select an entry in the list box to add a value to an change the value in an existing record
underlying field

Image displays a static picture on a form or Unbound Object Frame displays an unbound Bound Object Frame used to display OLE
report OLE object, such as a spreadsheet, on a form or objects, such as a series of pictures, on a form or
report and the object remains constant as you move report and is for objects stored in a field in the form’s
from record to record or report’s underlying record source

Page Break begins a new screen on a form or Tab Control used to create a tabbed form with Subform/Subreport used to display data from
a new page on a printed form or report several pages more than one table on a form or report

Line used to emphasize related or specially Rectangle used for graphic effects, such as More Controls
important information or to divide a form or page into grouping a set of related controls, or used for
different sections emphasizing important data

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Move, Size or Align Controls
• To move a control with it’s label, place the cursor on edge of the control until you see the move cursor (open hand 1).
• To move a label or control independent of the attached label or control, place the cursor on the top left handle (the big
square) until you see the move cursor (pointer finger /).
• To select multiple objects, hold [Shift] while clicking on the desired controls OR To have the selection marquee surround a
draw a selection marquee to partially enclose (touch) all objects you want selected. control in its entirety for it to be selected,
• To align, select the objects and then go to the Format menu and select Align and go to the Tools menu and select Options.
Click on the Forms/Reports tab and select
then either Left, Right, Top, Bottom or To Grid. They will align to the object that is €Fully Enclosed and then click OK .
furthest in the selected direction.
• To size, select the object(s), then go to the Format menu and select Size and then
either To Fit, To Grid, To Tallest, To Shortest, To Narrowest, or To Widest.
• Select the objects and then go to the Format menu and select Horizontal Spacing or Vertical Spacing, either of which can
Increase, Decrease or Make Equal.
To have a field be skipped when tabbing
between fields, right-click the control and
Change Tab Order select Properties. On the Other tab, select
In Design view, go to the View menu and select Tab Order… the Tab Stop field and change the
property to No.
• Auto Order will restore the tab order to a left/right, top/bottom sequence.
• Drag and drop the selected field to the desired order.

Use Calculated Fields

1. Create an unbound Text Box . OR Click Properties on the Standard toolbar. On the
2. Open the control in edit mode and then type your Data tab, type the expression in the Control Source field.
expression. Be sure to enclose field names within square You can also use the Expression Builder to help create
brackets. the expression.

Expression box is where you build the expression. Use the lower section of the builder
to create elements of the expression, and then paste these elements into the expression
box to form an expression. You can also type parts of the expression directly into the
expression box.

Operator buttons for commonly used operators.

Contains folders that list the table, query, form, and report database
objects, built-in and user-defined functions, constants, operators, and
common expressions.

Lists specific elements or categories of elements for the folder

selected in the left box. For example, if you click Built-In Functions in
the left box, the middle box lists categories of Microsoft Access
functions.

Lists the values, if any, for the elements you select in the left and middle boxes.
For example, if you click Built-In Functions in the left box and a category of
functions in the middle box, the right box lists all built-in functions in the selected
category

Use a Form Wizard

1. Make sure Forms is selected and click New in the Database window. Select Form Wizard then click OK .
2. Follow the directions, clicking Next > after each step is completed. Once the wizard has created your form, you can go to
Design view to modify, add or delete any elements you wish.

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RELATIONSHIPS
Establish Table Relationships
The table that initiates the relationship is considered the base or parent table and related tables are considered child or children tables.
A primary key from another table is considered a foreign key. It is foreign because it does not really belong in the table, but is used for
linking purposes only.
1. With the Database window open, click Relationships on the Standard toolbar.

2. Click Show Table and select the tables that require relationships and click Add . Close the dialog box when finished.
3. You can move and resize the tables for better viewing.
4. Select a field in one table and drag it to a field in another table. The Edit Relationships dialog box will open.
• Enforce Referential Integrity – a system of rules that Access uses to ensure that relationships between records in related
tables are valid, and that you don’t accidentally delete or change related data.
Cascaded update and deletes are only operative in the parent table.
 To print the relationships, go to the File menu and select Print Relationships… There are three types of relationships:
One to One (i.e. Employee Q Salary)
Work with Subdatasheets One to Many (i.e. Customer J Orders)
Many to Many (i.e. Products Q Orders)
In a subdatasheet, you can view and edit related or joined data in a table, query, or
form datasheet, or in a subform. You can have a total of 8 subdatasheets including the original datasheet; however, each subdatasheet
can include only one subdatasheet at a time.
• Go to the Insert menu and select Subdatasheet… A plus sign + will be in the first column in front of each record.

QUERIES & Searches

Search for Records Sort Records
1. Select the field you wish to find by.
• Select the field to sort by and click Sort Ascending
2. Click Find on the toolbar.
3. In the Find What: field, type item you want to match. or Sort Descending on the Standard toolbar.
4. Click Find Next to locate the matching record.
Filter Records
Filter by Selection
Filter by Form
1. In a field on a form, subform, datasheet, or
1. From the Records menu, select Filter and then Filter By
subdatasheet, find one instance of the value you want
Form OR click Filter By Form records to contain in order to be included in the
filter's results.
2. Use Clear Grid to clear any existing criteria. 2.Click any item you wish to filter by, and then click
3. Click the field in which you want to specify the criteria that
records must meet to be included in the filtered set of records. Filter By Selection OR go to the Records menu
4. Enter your criteria by selecting the value you’re searching for and select Filter and then Filter By Selection
from the list in the field (if the list includes field values), or by 2a. To Filter Excluding Selection, select the item you wish
typing the value into the field. to exclude, and then go to the Records menu and select
5. To specify alternative values that records can have to be Filter and then Filter Excluding Selection.
included in the filter’s results, click the Or tab at the bottom of Advanced Filter/Sort
the screen and enter more criteria. Go to the Records menu and select Filter and then Advanced
Filter/Sort… then use the or: field to create multiple criteria.
6. Click Apply Filter on the toolbar.
To save your filter, select Save As Query from the File menu.

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Create a Select Query

Design Grid Elements:
Field: Last Name First Name Job Title Hire Date The name of the field in the underlying table.
Table: Employees Employees Employees Employees The name of the table in which the field is contained.
Sort: Ascending Used to rearrange data in a more logical order.
Show: ; ; ; ; The field will be displayed in the resulting dynaset if checked.
Criteria: >=1/1/2004 A condition that must be tested before data can be retrieved.
or: Available for additional criteria which tests for multiple values.

1. Under the object Queries, double-click Create query in Design View.

2. Choose the table(s) and/or query(ies) to be used and click OK .
3. Drag and drop (or double-click) the field(s) to be included in the query to the design grid.
4. Define which fields are to be sorted and/or shown as well as set any criteria to filter the list if needed.

5. Click Run on the toolbar to run the query. The resulting dynaset will be displayed.

Define Criteria
Criteria is NOT case-sensitive and is evaluated in a left to right manner from top to bottom of the design grid. Because of this, careful
consideration is required when utilizing multiple AND/OR conditions.
LIKE with wildcards will define criteria that searches for part of a field instead of matching the whole field.
AND condition includes data where all criteria must be true to receive a resulting dynaset.
OR or IN(x,y,z) conditions includes data where only one criterion must be true to receive a resulting dynaset.
IS NULL condition finds records with empty data.
BETWEEN X AND Y condition finds records with data that falls between the values of X and Y which you provide.

Use a Parameter Query

Displays a dialog box prompting you for the criteria.
1. In Design view, drag the fields from the field list to the query design grid.
2. In the Criteria cell for each field you want to use as a parameter, type a prompt enclosed in square brackets. The prompt will
display when the query is run. The text of the prompt must be different from the field name, although it can include the field
name. You are limited to one line of text.
Search by Any Character (Wildcards)
To prompt the user for one or more characters to search for, and then find records that begin with or contain the characters the user
specifies, create a parameter query that uses the LIKE operator and the wildcard symbol (*).
LIKE [Enter the first character to search by: ] & "*" searches for words that begin with a specified character.

LIKE "*" & [Enter any character to search by: ] & "*" searches for words that contain the specified character.

Use the Query Wizard

Click New and follow the directions.

Create a Multitable Query

1. In the query’s design grid, add the tables involved in the relationship.
If necessary, create a temporary join between the related field(s) of the tables.
2. Add the desired fields to the design grid from all tables and create any criteria you desire.

Create a Totals Query

1.Click Totals on the toolbar OR go to ViewJTotals.
2.Leave Group By in the Total cell for the grouping field, and in the calculated field, change Group By to the function you wish
to use (e.g. Sum, Max, Min, Avg, etc.).
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REPORTS
Reports analyze your data or present it a certain way in print. For example, you might print one report that groups data and calculates
totals, and another report with different data formatted for printing mailing labels. Reports are created in a very similar way to forms.
A report must be based on a query or table.

Layout a Report
• Double-click Create Report in Design View under the Report objects.
• Use the Toolbox tools to create objects. (See Design a Form for toolbox tool descriptions)
Speed up design by grouping objects
1. Select the objects you want to group.
2. From the Format menu and select Group. Access displays a rectangle around the objects whenever you select an object from
that group. You can then move, size and format all of the objects in the group at once.
3. To remove a group (but retain the individual objects), select an object to display the grouping rectangle and go to the Format
menu and select Ungroup.

Modify Display Attributes

• Use the tools from the Formatting toolbar to adjust the style, size, font, color, etc.
• Use the Format menu to align, size and adjust the spacing of multiple objects as well as group/ungroup, or bring to front or
send to back.

• Open the Properties for the object to make other modifications.

• Label each page with the name of the database and/or the name of the report itself. With the report opened in Design view,
add a text box to the Page Footer. Open the text box’s Properties sheet, select the Data tab, and in the Control Source field
type =[CurrentDb].[Name] & " " & [CurrentObjectName]

Use Calculated Fields

All expressions typed into the Control Source property must begin with an equal sign [=]. The Expression Builder automatically places
the equal sign in the calculated expression. Any reference to a field in an expression must be enclosed in [square brackets] and are not
case sensitive.

Suggested placement of calculated fields:

Report Header/Footer The controls appear at the top and bottom of the first and last page of reports. This makes them a logical
place to include calculation that involve summary calculation, such as, grand totals, averages and standard deviation.
Group Header/Footer The controls appear at the top and bottom of group sections. Sections should contain calculated fields that
involve group count, subtotals, and other group-related summations.
Page Header/Footer The controls appear at the top and bottom of each page in the report and should contain subtotals per page.
Detail Section The controls appear for every record that appears in the report. Calculated fields in this area should include one or
more fields for individual records in the underlying table.

Preview and Print

• Click Print Preview on the toolbar to see a preview of the report as it would appear printed.

• Click the One-Page view , Two-Page view , or Multi-Page view to see the pages of your report.

Use the Report Wizard

• Click New in the Reports objects and follow the directions.

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IMPORTING and EXPORTING
Export a Table Import a Spreadsheet
1. Go to the File menu and select Export… 1. Go to the File menu and select Get External Data
2. Select the folder to save the file in. then choose Import…
3. Under Save as type: select the appropriate file type. 2. Click the Under Files of type: select the appropriate
4. Click Save All . file type and double-click the file name.
• You can also drag and drop a table from Access to Excel. 3. Follow the direction of the Import Wizard.
Import
Import won’t overwrite existing data. No matter how many times you import an object, it will simply append a number to the end of
the object name, so you can’t unintentionally overwrite something. You can also import multiple objects at one time.
1. Import. You can choose to import relationships between tables, associated menus and toolbars, and/or import/export
specifications. If you want to make a replica copy of your database, you should select all three. If you’re just bringing in an
object or two to reuse in another application, then you must decide which options are appropriate. For example, if you have a
form that has custom toolbars associated with it, you probably want to select that option.
2. Import Tables. You can choose to import the table definition and the data, or just the table definition.
3. Import Queries. This is probably the biggest timesaver of the three. You can choose to import your queries as queries (as you
would expect), but you can also import them as tables. Selecting As Tables can save you from going through two or three
extra steps to take the results of a select query and put it into a table—and then export the temporary table.
Export
If you try to export an object and an object of the same name exists in the destination database, your only option is to overwrite it or
cancel the export. Also, Export can only send one object out at a time.

Database Jargon
Caption — A name displayed on a label or the name displayed in the title bar at the top of a window or dialog box.
Control — An object placed within a form, report or data access page that is used to display, enter, or edit data in a table. (i.e. textbox,
combo box, command button or rectangle)
Database — A collection of information organized by fields, records, and files. Think of a database as an electronic filing system.
Datasheet — Data from a table, form or query that is displayed in a row and column format.
Dynaset — A set of records produced by running a query or by applying a filter. A dynamic set of data that is subject to change.
Expression — A combination of operators, constants, literals, functions and field names that evaluate into a single value.
Field — A space (column) allocated for a particular item of information.
Foreign Key — A primary key from another table.
Form — An object you can use to enter, change and view records of data. You can use a form to display records on the screen or in print.
Leszynski Naming Convention (LNC) — The de facto standard for most Access developers. In essence, the LNC's convention is to
name each object in your database using a three-letter prefix, called a tag. The tag identifies the object’s type. It is typed in lowercase
letters before the object’s name, which begins with a capital letter. (i.e. tblCustomers) As a general rule, you should avoid using
spaces in your object names. tbl: Table, frm: Form, qry: Query, rpt: Report, mcr: Macro
Normalize — A database technique in which duplicate or redundant information in a database is minimized.
Null Field — A field that contains no data.
Object — An identifiable unit such as a table, form report or control that you can select and manipulate as a unit.
Primary key — A way of uniquely identifying a record, such as a Social Security number or employee number.
Query — A request for information from a database.
Record — A complete set of information. Records are composed of fields, each of which contains one item of information. A set of
records constitutes a file. For example, a personnel file might contain records that have three fields: a name field, an address field,
and a phone number field.
Referential Integrity — Rules employed in relational database schemes that are used to preserve the links between tables when you
add, update or delete records.
Report — A formatted and organized presentation of data.
Subdatasheet — A view of data from a table, form, or query that relates to another table using key fields.
Table — Refers to data arranged in rows and columns. In relational database management systems, all information is stored in the
form of tables.
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