Introduction To A Microsoft Access Database

1 - Introduction:

A database is a collection of information organized as to make it easy to view it, search it, retrieve the right detail, and collect the necessary facts in an easier, timely, and effortless manner as possible.

2 - Relational Database:

An organized database is composed of inter-related parts. Since you define these parts, you also organize them in a manner that helps some parts of your database to supply specific information to others. In one part, you would cover one category of data, such as people's personal information (name, date of birth, salary, hobbies, etc), in another you would cover what they buy in a store.

3 - Microsoft Access:

Microsoft Access is a relational database used on desktop computers to manage information on different levels for different purposes.

Microsoft Access can be used for personal information management, in a small business to organize and manage all data, or in an enterprise to communicate with servers.

4 - Database Management System (DBMS):

A database is an organized collection of data. Organization means method, it assumes discipline, it also anticipates efficient manner in using that information. Unless you are creating small applications for your personal use (and I don't think you are exclusively doing just that), you will usually need to share your data either with other people (users, DB developers, etc) or other machines. To make your job easier, Microsoft Access provides in one package the database information and the tools you need to use your database. To be organized, you will divide your database in different related parts. The method of management you will use makes Microsoft Access a Database Management System.

When you create a database in Microsoft Access, you create a database file that will include different parts of your database. These are referred to as tables, queries, forms, reports, etc.

5 - Components of a Microsoft Access database:

When you open an instance of Microsoft Access, you encounter the database window, which is the control point of the different parts of your application.

From here, you can click a button to access a specific category, referred to as objects.

Microsoft Access keeps different details about your database in different formats. If you click the Tables button under the Objects button, you get to the Tables category.

Tables:

This is the central point of your development, because all data is stored in tables. The functionality of your database relies on how you design your tables. For better organization, you will have various tables in your database, each for a different purpose. For example, for a video club application, you would use one table to store employees information, another table to store customers records, yet another table to list different video tapes (their titles, ratings, actors names), etc.

A table is made of rows and columns.

A row is considered a Record, it is a group of details about one specific item of the table. It could contain a customer's name, his phone number, his member ID, his work number, his marital status, etc.

A column is a field representing one particular category of information about the records in the table. For example, it would hold the names of all actors in a particular movie, another column would hold the titles of different movies in the video store.

Queries:

A table can be large depending on the information it holds. To further organize your data, you should be able to retrieve necessary information for a specific purpose. The solution is to create a query (or queries) in order to limit part of the data in a table for a specific goal, for better management or search. That's the role of a query.

Forms:

Tables are used to create the data in your database. Sometimes, they are not very cute, as far as the users are concerned. Forms are windows objects used to view and/or enter data in your database.

A form can combine data that is part of one or more tables or queries. Forms are the window interfaces that you usually will ask your users to access when editing data in your database.

Reports:

A report is the organized document that you will print from your data. A report can include different parts or details about your database; it could include data from a table or a query, it could also get its data from various tables, queries, forms, or data that is calculated from other data coming from different tables or forms.

Pages:

New to Microsoft Access 2000, Data Access Pages allow you to publish your forms as web pages on the Internet or on an intranet.

Macros:

Using Microsoft Access, you can customize certain behaviors of your application. Some of these behaviors can be automated through a combination of buttons. For example, you might want to open one document (form) from another. You can use macros to do that; in this case, you would not have to write code.

Modules:

Modules are pieces of code used to impose particular behaviors to your application to make it better. They are written in Microsoft Visual Basic. Modules are more flexible and extensive than macros, although they are usually written for various and particular circumstances. One example is to print a receipt after a customer has bought paint in a store.

Macros and Visual Basic code can be used on the same application. Sometimes you will prefer one to the other, and sometimes you will stick to VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). Whenever possible, use VBA instead of macros.