Review of Syllabus

What we will not cover. – Win98 Tutorials 1 & 2 – Use as a reference as
needed.

What is a database? – a collection of related information

Access is often referred to as a disk based DB – results in only about 10 to
20 users being able to access it at a single time. Not good for large projects,
companies, yet it can be expanded easily with a few small tools.

Field – a single characteristic or attribute of a person, place, object,
event, or idea. – Pg. AC 1.04

Table – a collection of fields that describe a similar object.

Record – a set of all fields relating to one object.

Database is a collection a related tables – Pg. AC 1.05

Multiple tables can be linked together through a common field Figure 1-2

A primary key is a key unique to the table from all other records.
Examples are SSN, VIN, etc.

A primary key used from another table to link to one is a foreign key.
– Pg. AC 1.06

DBMS – Database Management System – Pg. AC 1.06 Common features

Access Limits – Pg. AC 1.07

How to start Access

• From Start Menu
• From double clicking on a file

Opening an Existing DB – Pg. AC 1.09

The Access and DB window. (Objects Bar) – Pg. AC 1.10

Opening an Access Table – Pg. AC 1.11

• By Dbl Clicking
• By Selecting Open
• By Selecting Design

Parts of the datasheet view Pg. AC 1.12

Navigating an Access datasheet

Query – A Question you ask about a set of data stored in a database.
Sometimes referred to a "Views". – Pg. AC 1.14

Note: Queries for DBs are built upon a language called SQL
(Structured Query Language)

You can custom design your own queries, or you can use a query wizard.

• Working through a Simple Query Wizard – Pgs. AC 1.14 – AC 1.16

A simple way to sort your data – Pg. AC 1.16

Forms – an object used to maintain, view, and print records (although
rarely print) in a DB. Most useful for checking and entering information. – Pg.
AC 1.17

• allows you customize what data is shown
• allows you to customize how data is viewed
• can be manually created or done through a wizard

Maneuvering though records in a form. – note only one record is shown at a
time… Pg. AC 1.19

Getting Help – Not always helpful…sometimes you have to rely on other
books, MSDN, etc. to get you where you need to go…

Reports – a formatted printout of the contents of one or more tables. Pg.
AC 1.23

Compacting a DB. – Pg. AC 125 (rearranges data and objects to make them
stored smaller on the disk)

• reasons why
• why doesn’t it shrink automatically
• how do you compact/repair
• auto compact on close