• home
• syllabus
• grades
• reflections
• comments

MS Access - a relational database management system tool

We will use MSAccess as a tool to explore the principles of relational databases and relational database management systems.

Creating a New Database

Start Access

When Access is first opened, a dialog box will appear. To create a new database, select New Blank Database. You have several choices. But when you try to create one, Access first prompts you for a name, and for a place to save your file.

Name your databases something useful. Don't use Database1.accdb because they will be difficult to find if someone else has used the same default names. Press Create and the Database Window appears.

Microsoft Office Access 2007 creates files in a new file format that cannot be opened with earlier versions of Access.

[top]

Objects in the Access Database Window

Continuing with our color schema in which we use
terms relevant to entity relationship models
and their correlates in Access
and, when appropriate, their correlates in Excel

• a Table (an entity set or a worksheet) is a collection of data about a specific topic

  • Tables organize and store data into
    records in Access
    entities in Entity Relationship Models
    rows in Excel.
    and
    fields in Access
    attributes in Entity Relationship Models
    columns in Excel.
  • all databases contain one or more tables

• a Query is generated to view, change, and analyze data from one or more tables

  • Queries retrieve and process your data
  • Queries can combine data from different tables, update your data, and perform calculations on your data

• a Form is an object designed primarily for data input and display

  • Forms control data entry and data views
  • Forms provide visual cues that make data easier to work with

• a Report is an object designed for formatting, calculating, printing and summarizing selected data

  • Reports turn the data in your tables and queries into documents for communicating ideas

[top]

Views of each object

Tables

Design View and Datasheet View

An entity set is the list of given entities/records within a given entity class that are currently in the database/table. In Access, an entity set is a table.

Primary and Foreign Keys

• a Primary Key is a set of attributes/fields that uniquely identifies an entity/a record.
• a Foreign Key is a copy of the Primary Key of one entity class that appears as
  an attribute in another entity class
  a field in another table
  and helps define the relationship between
  entities
  records
  in the two
  classes
  tables
• these keys link together the related entity classes/tables in a relational database

Queries

Design View, Datasheet View and SQL (Structured Query Language) View

Forms

Design View, Form View and Datasheet View

Reports

Design View, Print Preview and Layout Preview

[top]

Plan the Database First

1. Determine the need or purpose of the database
2. Decide which kinds of things (the tables) the database should include
3. Specify the fields that comprise the tables and determine which fields in each table contain unique values
4. Decide how the tables are related to each other, then review and finalize the design
5. Construct and relate the tables and populate the database with sample data
6. Create forms, queries, and reports to use with the data

Access Database Design Help

[top]

---

entity relationship models | Access- a RDBMS | create a database | next session