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Course Reference Handout

MICROSOFT ACCESS -
INTRODUCTION
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DAY 1
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Module 01
The File Tab The Quick Access Toolbar The Command Tabs Contextual Tabs

The Microsoft Access Office 365 Ribbon

Ribbon Command Groups

Terms and References:

Ribbon: Record:
The Ribbon in Access provides access to many (but not all) of Rows of data being stored in a table.
the commands you will need while working in a database. The
commands are organized into categories, assessable via the Data Value:
Ribbon’s Command tabs and Contextual Tabs. One singular piece of information, such as a single transaction
date or Customer ID number.
The File Tab:
The File Tab, also known as the “Backstage View”, is the essentially Auto Filters:
replaces the File Menu from Access or previous versions of Access Access Tables now have Auto Filter menus to the right of your
and replaces the Office Button from Access 2007. Here you will table fields headings to quickly filter out table data with a few
find commands related to the currently opened database file as clicks!
well as other application related commands, such as Options.
Record Navigation Toolbar:
The Quick Access Toolbar: Provides buttons to navigate your table records, add new records,
The Quick Access Toolbar is the only customizable toolbar in search for records, or indicate when filters have been applied.
Access. Add command buttons you use often to the Quick Access
Toolbar when you don’t to have to select different Command
Tabs to find commands, or when the command is not currently Record Navigation Toolbar
available on the Ribbon. To customize the Quick Access Toolbar,
click the arrow to its right.
New Records:
Database: To enter a new record, open the table you want to add the new
A file that stores data organized into tables, and the tools that record to and the click the New Record button on the Record
allow you to analyze, summarize and print your data. Navigation Toolbar or the button in the Records Group of
the Ribbon.
Table:
All data in an Access database is stored in tables. Tables consist
Data Entry:
of rows of data, known as records, which intersect with the When entering new data values, use either the [ENTER] key or
columns of a table, known as fields. Each table in the database the [TAB] key to move from one field to another.
should focus on a single topic of information.

Table Records Table Fields Auto-Filtering Menus To enter the current date into a record, use the
keyboard shortcut of [CTRL] + [;] (semi-colon)

To copy the data value from the record directly

above your insertion point, use the keyboard
shortcut of [CTRL] + [‘] (apostrophe)
Sample Table

Field:
The categories of information being tracked in a table (such as
the First Name field in the illustration above.) Fields make up the
columns of a table.

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Sorting Records:
Sorting allows you to reorganize records in a table other the
order they have been entered.
Single Level Sorting:
To sort by a single field, known as Single Level Sorting:
■■ Click anywhere in the field, or column, by which you want
to sort.
■■ Click one of the two Sort buttons located in the Sort & Filter
group of the Ribbon.
Ascending Sort Button (sorts text A-Z, numbers
0-9, dates Older-Recent)
Descending Sort Button (sorts text Z-A, numbers
9-0, dates Recent-Older)
Module 02
Designing a New Database (Terms and Concepts):
New Blank Database:
To create a new database file, select the File Tab, and then click
the New button from the list on the left.
Planning a Database:
One of the most important steps of database design is planning
what tables and fields you need before you begin creating a new
database in Access. If there will be others using your database as
well, get their input – what do they need the database to do? This
will help you to better understand what the goal of the database
is and how you need to design the database to meet that goal.
Normalising Data:
The process in which you ensure that your tables are designed
in such a way that data entry, storage & updating can be done in
the most efficient way possible. Normalize data by
■■ Removing redundant fields between different tables of
your database
■■ Moving fields that have repeating data values into new
tables
■■ Breaking down fields into their smallest meaningful values
■■ Moving fields related to topics that are different from the
tables they are currently in into new tables
■■ Ensure there are no calculated fields in a table (as tables do
not perform calculations.)
Designing Fields:
When adding new fields to a table, break your fields down into
the smallest meaningful data values.
Example:
To track names of employees use separate fields for the first
name, middle initial, and last name.
CORRECT
WRONG
Multiple Level Sorting:
To sort by two or more fields, known as Multiple Level Sorting:
■■ Click the Advanced button from in the Sort &
Filter group of the Ribbon and then select Advanced Filter/
Sort.
■■ From the list of fields provided in the top portion of the
Advanced Filter/Sort screen, double click the fields you
want to sort by (fields will be sorted from left to right)
■■ In the Sort Row of the Advanced Filter/Sort window, select
either Ascending or Descending accordingly.
■■ Click the Toggle Filter (Apply Filter) button.
Designing Tables:
Every table of a database should focus on a single topic and
should only contain information about that topic. If a table is
tracking data relating to different topics or subject matter, then
the table should be broken onto two or more separate tables.
Primary Key:
In order to relate records from one table to another, you will
need to be able to uniquely identify records in a table. To do this,
create a Primary Key field for your tables. Once a field has been
designated as the Primary Key, Access will not let you duplicate
the values for that field. Primary Key values are usually short
numerical, alphabetical or alpha-numeric entries. Examples of
Primary Key fields might include: an Employee Number field
to uniquely identify employees of an Employee Data Table; a
Customer Number field to uniquely identify customers in a
Customer Info Table; an Order Number to uniquely identify
transactions in an Orders Table.
Set a Primary Key:
In the Design View of table, click in the row of the field
and then click the Primary Key button.
Naming Conventions:
As a database designer, you may want to use Naming
Conventions to identify the objects of database or the types
of fields in a table. Keep in mind that though they can be very
useful, they are optional. Microsoft Access is not familiar with
Naming Conventions and therefore will not provide you with
tools to use this convention.
Naming Convention Rules:
When implementing Naming Conventions in a database, follow
these basic principles:
■■ Begin the object name (such as a Table, Query, Form, or
Report) or field name with the designated 3-letter tag.
■■ Use only letters or numbers in your names. The only symbol
usually accepted in this convention is the underscore
character.
■■ No Spaces.
■■ Capitalize the first letter of every word.
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Naming Convention Tags for Objects: One to One:
TABLE ..........................................................................................................................tbl A One to One relationship exists when for every record in one
table of the relationship there is only one matching record in the
QUERY .........................................................................................................................qry other table of the relationship. This is specific to the field that
the two tables share.
FORM ........................................................................................................................frm
Example:
REPORT .........................................................................................................................rpt
For every one Customer Number in a Customer’s table there is
MACRO ...................................................................................................................... mcr one matching Customer Number in a Credit Info table used to
track Customer credit card info.
Example:
Customer Info Table = tblCustomerInfo One to Many:
A One to Many relationships exists when for every record in one
Employee Data Form = frmEmployeeData table of the relationship there may be many matching records
in the other table of the relationship. This is specific to the field
Naming Convention Tags for Fields (to reference that the two tables share.
data types):
Example:
TEXT (Short Text) .....................................................................................................str
For every one Customer Number in a Customer’s table there may
DATE/TIME ..................................................................................................dtm be many matching Customer Numbers in an Orders table used
to track orders that Customers place… as in any ONE customer
NUMBER may place MANY orders.
LONG INTEGER ............................................................................ lng
Many to Many:
DOUBLE INTEGER ..........................................................dbl A Many to Many relationship exists when two tables that need to
be related can not be related because no common field to join
BINARY ................................................................................................... bin the tables exists. This can be solved be creating another table,
known as a Junction Table, which is then used to indirectly join
BYTE ................................................................................................... byt the two tables in the Many to Many relationship. (This results in
creating two separate One to Many relationships.)
CURRENCY ..................................................................................................cur

CALCULATED ..................................................................................................cal Access Relationship Window:

MEMO (Long Text) .........................................................................mem

YES/NO ..................................................................................................ysn

OLE ..................................................................................................ole

HYPERLINK ..................................................................................................hyp

ATTACHMENT ..................................................................................................att
Example:
First Name Field = strFirstName (as it contains Text)

Hire Date = dtmHireDate (as it contains Date/Time)

Establishing Table Relationships:

Create A Query:
Once you have created the multiple tables that may make up
your database, you will want to relate tables that have common ■■ On the Create Tab, click Query Design command.
fields between them. For example, you may have a Customers ■■ Select the table(s) for the query.
table used to track Customer information which includes a ■■ Double-Click each field you want to display in the
Customer Number field. In the same database, you may have an result\ .
Orders table used to information when an order is placed by one ■■ Click the Run button on the Design Tab to process
of your customers. This table also includes a Customer Number the query.
field to reference the customer that placed the order. Since both ■■ Click Save and name the query (i.e.,
your Customers and Orders table share the Customer Number qryCustomerOrders)
field, you may want to relate the two tables.

Types of Relationships:
There are three types of relationships you may encounter –

Note:
Access can only work with the first two.

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Create A Report:
■■ In the Navigation Pane, select the query (or table)
from which to design the report.
■■ On the Create Tab, click the Report command.
■■ In the Layout View, adjust size, placement, and
format of fields and titles.
■■ Click Save and name the report (i.e., rptCustomerList)

Create A Form:
Layout View
■■ In the Navigation Panel, select the table or query
from which to design the form.
■■ On the Create Tab, click the Form command.
■■ In the Layout View, adjust size, placement, and
format of fields and titles.
■■ Click Save and name the form (i.e., frmCustomers)

Report View

Layout View

Form View

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