Introduction to Database

Concepts
and Microsoft Access
2007
Health Science Center
IT Center – Training
[email protected]
352-273-5051
Database Concepts and Access 2007
 Introduction
 Database
 Microsoft Access
 Design and Creation

Plan
 Tables
 Queries
 Forms
 Reports
Things to Do
 Contact your customer support

 Talk to your ISM

 Backup

 Backup

 Backup
 What is a Database?
 A structured collection of related
data
 An filing cabinet, an address book, a
telephone directory, a timetable, etc.
 In Access, your Database is your
collection of related tables
 Data vs. Information

 Data – a collection of facts made up of text,

numbers and dates:
Murray 35000 7/18/86

 Information - the meaning given to data in the

way it is interpreted:
Mr. Murray is a sales person whose annual salary is $35,000 and whose hire
date is July 18, 1986.
 Basic Database Concepts

 Table Name: Barry Harris

 A set of related records
College: Medicine
Tel: 392-5555
 Record
– A collection of data Name: Barry Harris
College: Medicine
about an individual item Tel: 392-5555

 Field
– A single item of data Name: Barry Harris
common to all records
 Example of a Table

Fields

Records
Name GatorLink Phone College
Smith rsmith 392-3900 Pharmacy
Thomas bthomas 392-5555 Medicine
Van Winkle sleepyguy 846-5656 PHHP
Design and Document Your Database

 A designers best tools are a pencil and paper

 It is important to plan what you are going to do

 The sooner you touch the computer the sooner

you’ll make a mistake
 If you don’t plan you will often have to
start again

 Document what you are doing, will

you remember what you did in three
months time?
 Questions To Ask Yourself
 What have I got?
 (Inputs)

 What do I want?
 (Outputs)

 What do I need to do to get

there?
 (Process)

 How am I going to build it?

 (Application/Program)
 Database Options
Freeware/ Microsoft Microsoft
Oracle/SQL
Shareware Excel Access
Hire a
Intermediat
Simplicity Basics Advanced programme
e
r
Multiple of
# of Users 1 1 Multiple
Multiples

Multiple
No No Yes Yes
datasets

Always consult with your computer security team if

Security
you are working with any sensitive data.
 Why Use Access?

Familiar look and feel of Windows

Easy to start building simple

databases

Can build sophisticated systems

It’s already on your computer

True relational database

What is a Relational Database?
 A relational database is a collection of tables from which data can
be accessed in many different ways without having to reorganize
the database tables.
 That is, once relationships are created, tables can “talk” to each other.
We can link (relate) the tables to find:
 Which doctors have seen a patient
 Which students are in a class
 Which item is selling the most on Friday’s
Basic Design Rules
 Organizing Data
Once you’ve chosen your fields, you need to decide if they
belong in different tables. Data should be kept in separate tables
if you have an indeterminate number of entries. One employee
can have a number of evaluations.
EMPLOYEE TABLE
Emp ID First Last Eval 1 Eval 2
Name Name
123-456 Sallye Shapiro 1/15/2010 1/14/2011
125-985 Samuel Smith 1/12/2011 EVALUATION TABLE
248-890 Sidney Samueson Emp ID Eval Date
123-456 1/15/2010
123-456 1/14/2011
123-985 1/12/2011
Basic Design Rules
 No Derived Fields
If a field you are not using as a link exists in another table, it
should not be repeated in the current table. Listing it in both
places leads to data entry errors. Since we have the Emp ID in
both tables, there is no need to include the Employee’s Last
Name in the Evaluation table.
EVALUATION TABLE
EMPLOYEE TABLE Emp ID Last Name Eval Date
Emp ID First Name Last Name
123-456 Shapiro 1/15/2010
123-456 Sallye Shapiro
123-456 Shapiro 1/14/2011
125-985 Samuel Smith
123-985 Smith 1/12/2011
248-890 Sidney Samueson

You can use a query to pull values from both tables into one datasheet.
Basic Design Rules
 Data is broken down into Smallest Logical Parts
Each segment of data you want to sort or filter should be kept in
its own field. For example, what if I needed to sort by City or
Zip Code? Pulling fields together is fairly simple, pulling them
apart can difficult. ID Home Address
987 123 West Main Street,
Gainesville, FL 32601
654 456 South 3rd Road, Apt 12,
Newberry, FL 32684

ID Addr1 Addr2 City State Zip

987 123 West Main Street Gainesville FL 32601
654 456 South 3rd Road Apt 12 Newberry FL 32684

You can join fields together in queries, forms and reports.

Basic Design Rules
 Descriptive Field Names
Be careful of using too many abbreviations in your field
names. You have up to 64 characters, but long field names
can be difficult to use in expressions. Be Clear, Be Concise
and Be Consistent.
EMPLOYEE TABLE
ID FN LN DOB DOH SSN CMT
1234 Sallye Shapiro 6/17/1970 7/02/2001 123-450 N/A

EMPLOYEE TABLE
Emp Emp First Emp Last Emp Birth Emp Hire Emp System Emp
ID Name Name Date Date Signal # Comments
1234 Sallye Shapiro 6/17/1970 7/02/2001 123-450 N/A
Basic Design Rules
 Unique Field Names
Often we will have the same type of data in multiple tables. IDs,
Comments, First Names, Last Names could all refer to different
datasets. DOCTOR TABLE
First Name Last Name
PATIENT TABLE Sallye Shapiro
First Name Last Name Samuel Smith
Annie Adams Sidney Samueson
April Appleton
Arnold Arlington
When these two Last Name fields are pulled
into the same query they will appear with the
Bobbie Brown
table name in front of the field name:
Butch Bruce
Patient Table.Last Name
Doctor Table.Last Name
Basic Design Rules
 No Calculated Fields
In Microsoft Excel we enter the data and create our formulas all
at once. In Access you are creating a “Data” table, a table of the
raw data. If you want Access to do the calculations, you can
create an expression elsewhere in the database.
Emp ID Hourly Hours Pay
Rate worked
123 $10.00 40 $390.00

Pt Med Height Weight BMI

Rec (m) (kg)
456-456 2 91 23

You can create calculated expressions in queries, forms and reports.

Basic Design Rules
 Unique Records
If you don’t
LastName GatorLink Phone College
have unique
records, your Smith rsmith 3-5051 Pharmacy
database Smith rsmith 273-5051 COP
can’t tell Smith rsmith 273-5051 Pharmacy
which record Thomas bthomas 392-5555 Medicine
you may be Van Winkle sleepyguy 846-5656 PHHP
referring to.
LastNam EmergencyConta
e ct
Smith Mary Anne Smith
 Primary Keys
LastName GatorLink Phone College
Smith rsmith 273-5051 Pharmacy
Thomas bthomas 392-5555 Medicine
Van Winkle sleepyguy 846-5656 PHHP

To ensure that each record is unique in each table, we

can set one field to be a Primary Key field.
A Primary Key is a field that that will contain no
duplicates and no blank values.
Looking at the table above, what would be the best
Primary Key?
 Primary Keys
LastName GL ID Phone College
Smith rsmith 273-5051 Pharmacy
Thomas Bthomas 392-5555 Medicine
Van Winkle sleepyguy 846-5656 PHHP

While each column in this particular data set has unique data, the
field that will work best for us is GL ID (GatorLink). Many
employees will work for the same college, have the same last
name and possibly even share telephone numbers, but each
employee should have a unique GatorLink ID.
When there is not a unique field in your data set, you can use an
AutoNumber. Access can create incremented or random
AutoNumbers for your primary key.
Basic Design Rules
 Unique Records
We use the
ID LastName GatorLink Phone College
unique primary
key as our link 1 Smith rsmith 3-5051 Pharmacy
between our 2 Smith rsmith 273-5051 COP
tables, this helps 3 Smith rsmith 273-5051 Pharmacy
ensure we 4 Thomas bthomas 392-5555 Medicine
connect to the 5 Van Winkle sleepyguy 846-5656 PHHP
correct record.
Emp ID EmergencyConta
ct
2 Mary Anne Smith
Let’s Start Planning
Patients Appointments
Opening a Database
 To open a database when
you start Access
– Choose the database you
wish to open from the left
hand panel, or choose
More… to browse for
another database

 To Create a database, click on

the Blank Database at the top
of the middle panel

 You can also use the

Microsoft button to open
existing databases or create
new ones.
The Access Database Window

The navigation pane on

the left-hand organizes all
the database objects
 Data View/Design View

Datasheet
View

Design
View
 Navigating Fields and
Records
 To move through records and fields
 Tab  Home/End  Page Up
 Shift+Tab  Ctrl+Home  Page Down
 Enter  Ctrl+End  The Arrow Keys

 To move through records

Previous Record Next Record New Record

First Record Current Record Last Record

 Introducing Tables
 Database is a collection of TABLES
 Tables store the data
 Introducing Queries
 A means of asking questions (querying) of your data
 Can look across a number of Tables and other
Queries
 Can perform Calculations and Combine fields
 Introducing Forms
 A friendlier view of the database
 Used for data input, menus, display and printing
 Can perform Calculations and Combine fields
 Introducing Reports
 Output of information in a printed report
 Allows you to group and summarize data
 Can perform Calculations and Combine fields
 Cannot Edit Data
 Can Make Labels
Working Together
Tables Queries

Employees
Customers

Reports

Forms
Customer

Company Name
Address
City
Telephone
Contact Name
Let’s take a break!