Introduction to

Microsoft Access 2003

Course Objectives
In this course you will learn how to:
Understand database concepts and terminology

in Access 2003
Design and create tables
Enter and manipulate data in tables
Use Access queries to select and analyze
information in a table
Create data forms for viewing and inputting data
Create reports that summarize and group data
Perform database maintenance procedures

Access 2003 Structure

What is Microsoft Access?

Powerful Relational Database Management

System (RDBMS) design to run in Microsoft

Windows
Data can be organized as a set of related
tables
Integration with other Office applications
allows seamless exchange of data with
centralized database

What is an Access Database?

Collection of data objects stored with
filename extension .mdb (Microsoft database)
Main Access data objects
Tables
Queries
Forms
Reports
Macros
Modules
Pages

Access basic Data Objects

Tables

Querie
Forms
s

Page
Repor
s
ts
Macro
Module
s
s
Database

How to open Access?

Access opens with the
dialog box shown here

Database Window
Database Window
Main database design/management window
Displayed when creating or opening an Access
database
You can use the Objects toolbar to access the
different objects that make up a database

Tables
What is table
Basic container for data, arranged as a grid of rows

and columns
Each row contains a single record
Each column represents a field within the record

Access tables
Fundamental data objects in Access
Forms,

queries and reports are all based on tables

Table Wizard provides automated table creation
Tables can also be created manually for more precise
specification

Forms
What is form
Electronic version of paper form
Used to simplify entry of data into an Access

database

Queries
What is a Query?
A question asked of the database
Used to extract specific information from database
Used to extract specific information from database
Example:What

is the three top-selling products in our

companys product line?

Queries are composed of structured query

language(SQL) statements
Example:

SELECT Products.[Product #], Products.[Product Name],

Products.Price
FROM Products
WHERE (((Products.Price)<4.75));

Access allows queries to be created graphically

Hides complexity of SQL language

Report
What is report?
Formatted template used to print reports of
database or query results
Allows user to specify fields, grouping levels,
arrangement of printed data

Macros
What is access macro?
User-defined sequence of actions to be performed by

Access 2000
Macros will not be covered

Modules
What is a module?
User-created sections of code which provide

sophisticated automation of Access functions

Written in Visual Basic for Application(VBA)

Creating New Database

Address Book

Creating Database
Case study scenario:
In this section, we will create a database
(including tables, forms, reports, and
queries).
The database we will create will have
addresses.
Creating a new database
Start Access
Select Create new database using blank
database
Assign a name for the new database
AddressBook.MDB

Tables

Create New Table

Creating a new table
In the database window, select the Tables tab,
then click on New
Table creation options
Design View
Manual table creation by user(maximum control over

table specifications)

Table Wizard
Automated table creation facility
Import table
Import data from external tables
Link Table
Link to data in external tables

Creating a new table in Design

View
For each field in new database,specify

the following items

Field Name

Descriptive name of field to be used in table

64-character maximum
Prohibited characters:period(.), accent grave(), square
brackets([]), exclamation point(!)

Data Type
Drop-down list displays available data types
Number, Date/Time, Currency,Auto number, Yes/No, OLE
Object, Hyperlink, Lookup Wizard

Description
Comment describing details of field. Appears on the

status bar in Datasheet view when you click a row in the

field's column

Access Data Types.

Data Type

Usage

Size

Text

Alphanumeric data

Up to 255 characters

Memo

Alphanumeric datasentences and paragraphs

Up to 64,000 characters

Number

Numeric data

1, 2, 4, or 8 bytes (16 bytes

for ReplicationID and
Decimal)

Date/Time

Dates and times

8 bytes

Currency

Monetary data, stored with 4 decimal places of precision

8 bytes

AutoNumber

Unique value generated by Access for each new record

4 bytes (16 bytes for

ReplicationID)

Yes/No

Boolean (true/false) data

<1 bit/FONT>

OLE Object

Pictures, graphs, or other ActiveX objects from another Windows-based

application

Up to about 1 gigabyte

Hyperlink

A link "address" to a document or file on the World Wide Web, on an

intranet, on a local area network (LAN), or on your local computer

Up to 2048 characters

Fields properties
Field Property

Purpose/Note or Example

Field size

Specifies amount of storage for data in field

Note: Test maximum field size = 255 characters

Format

Predefined formats for field data

Ex: Short date =11/25/97

Input Mask

Formatting mask for user data input

Ex:Phone number input mask = (XXX)-XXX-XXX

Default Value

Specifies default value in field

Note: Speeds up data entry.

Required

Specifies that a value must be entered in field

Indexed

Tells Access to create an index for this data field

Note: Speeds up data searches based on this field

Setting a Primary Key

What is a primary key?
Main index for table
Must be unique for each record in table
Example: Product number, Employee number, etc.

If no such field exist, create a new field with the data

type Autonumber and specify it as the primary key

Access will automatically create unique numbers for this

field

Assigning a field as the primary key

Select field
Click on Primary Key button on toolbar (or use
Edit /Primary Key)
A key symbol will appear next to selected field

Saving the table

Select File/Save or click on the close button

for the Table Design View window

Access will prompt you to enter a name for
the new table
Table name can be up to 64 characters

Entering data into a Table

Entering data using Datasheet view
From the Access database window, select the table of interest
Click on Open
o The table will be displayed in datasheet view
Type new data directly into fields on datasheet
Adding/Deleting records

Add new records in empty record at bottom of datasheet

Delete records by selecting record, then use Edit/Delete Record

Sorting records
Click on data field to be sorted
Click on sort buttons on toolbar (Ascending and Descending)
Disadvantages of datasheet data entry

Clumsy to enter data into tables with large number of fields

Forms are usually a better choice

Working with tables

Adding records Insert / New Record
Modifying the table design Format / Data Sheet
Finding and editing records Edit / Find
Deleting, adding, and copying records and values Edit /

Cut, Copy, Paste

Filtering and sorting Records / Filter

Forms

Creating Forms
Form advantages
Simplifies data entry process
Able to display many entry fields on one
screen
Most commonly used form creation

options
New form options

Description

Design View

Manual form creation (maximum

control)

Form Wizard

Automated form creation

assistant

Auto form

Automatically creates form

without user intervention

Creating forms with Form

Wizard

Using Form Wizard

From the Access database window, click on the
Forms tab, then click on New
The New Form dialog box will be displayed
Select the name of the table or query to be used to
create the new form
Form creation steps
Field selection
Form layout
Style

Form
layout
Field selection

Style

Using the New Form

Form navigation
The form wizard displays the new form at the
end of the form creation process
The contents of the first record are displayed
Record navigation controls(lover left

corner of form
Record navigation control

Action

|<

Move to first record

<

Move to previous record

>

Move to next record

>|

Move to last record

>*

Move to new blank record

Queries

Creating queries
What is query?
Structured request for specific ingomation from
database
Created in Access using New Query
Query created with graphical tools(Query by
example)
Underlying code produced in SQL
Creating a query in design view
From Access database window, select Queries tab,
then click on New
Select Design View

 Specify fields to show

Select the fields to be displayed by clicking on the Show

checkbox

Specify criteria
Enter the criteria expression for the desired field in the

query grid
In this example, we want to select all products whose
price is less than$4.75

We will set the criteria for the Price column to <4.75

if multiple fields have criteria set, they must all be

satisfied to select record (logical AND)

Viewing SQL
Use View/SQL to see a listing of the SQL statements

produced by the design

Reports

Creating Reports
Using the Report Wizard
From the Access database window, click on

Reports tab,then click

Report creation steps
Field selection
Sort order
Layout
Style
Title/preview