DATABASE

RELEVANT INFORMATION

A database is an organized collection of data, generally stored and accessed electronically

from a computer system. Where databases are more complex they are often developed
using formal design and modeling techniques.

The database management system (DBMS) is the software that interacts with end users,
applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze the data. The DBMS software
additionally encompasses the core facilities provided to administer the database. The sum
total of the database, the DBMS and the associated applications can be referred to as a
"database system". Often the term "database" is also used to loosely refer to any of the
DBMS, the database system or an application associated with the database.
 DATA BASE EDITOR GENERAL
ASPECTS

• With this, you can:

• Add new data to a database, such as a new item in an inventory.
• Modify existing data in the database, for example, change the
current location of an article.
• Delete information, for example, if an item is sold or discarded.
• Organize and view the data in different ways.
• Share the data with other people through reports, email,
intranet or Internet.
 PARTS OF A DATABASE

The following information are brief descriptions of the parts of a typical Access database.
• Table: A database table is similar in appearance to a spreadsheet in Excel that the data is
stored in rows and columns.
• Forms: The forms allow you to create a user interface in which you can write and modify
data.
• Reports: The reports are used to format the data, summarize it and present it.
• Queries: Queries can perform various functions in a database. The most common function
is to recover specific data from the tables. The data you want to see is usually distributed in
several tables and the queries allow you to see them in a single data sheet.
• Macros: Access macros can be considered a simplified programming language that you can
use to add functions to the database. For example, you can attach a macro to a command
button on a form so that the macro executes every time that button is clicked.
Modules: Modules, such as macros, are objects that you can use to add functions to the
database.
 Types of Data.
 
Short text: allows to store any type of text, both characters, digits and special characters. It has a default length of 50
characters, with a maximum length of 255 characters. It is normally used to store data such as names, addresses or any
number that is not used in calculations, such as phone numbers or postal codes.
 
 Long text (formerly called Memo): used for texts of more than 255 characters as comments or explanations. It has a
maximum length of approximately 1 Gigabytes of data. Access recommends storing formatted text or long documents to
attach the file.
 
In Access 2016 you can sort or group by a Long text field, but only the first 255 characters will be taken into account for
it.
 
Types of numerical data
 Number: for numerical data used in mathematical calculations. Within the type number the property size of the field
allows us to specify more. In summary, the Byte, Integer and Long Integer types allow you to store numbers without
decimals; Simple, Double and Decimal types allow decimals; the type Replication ID is used for auto-numeric keys in
replica databases.
 
 Date / Time: for the introduction of dates and times from year 100 to year 9999.
 
 Currency: for money values ​and numerical data used in mathematical calculations in which data
 Types of Data.
Autonumbering: a sequential number (incremented one-to-one), or a random number assigned by
Microsoft Access each time a new record is added to a table. The Autonumbering fields can not be
updated.

 Yes / No: Yes and No values, and fields that contain one of two values ​(Yes / No, True / False or On /
Off).

 OLE object: object such as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, a Microsoft Word document, graphics,
images, sounds or other binary data.

If you work with databases created with other versions of Access, the files inserted as an OLE object
will continue to work perfectly. But if what you are doing is creating a new database, it is interesting
that you do not use this type of data, because from the 2007 version it started to be considered
obsolete and to use, instead, the type Attachments that we will see later .
 Types of Data.

Attachments: You can attach image files, spreadsheets, graphics and other types of
supported files, to the database records in a manner similar to how you attach files to
email messages. Attachment fields offer more flexibility than OLE Object type fields,
and use storage space more efficiently because they do not create a bitmap image of
the original file.

 Calculated: A calculated field is a field whose value is the result of an arithmetic or

logical operation that is performed using other fields. For example, it could be a Total
field that calculates its value by multiplying Price * Quantity in a line item.

 Hyperlink: text or combination of text and numbers stored as text and used
as a hyperlink address. A hyperlink address can have up to three parts.