Introduction to Microsoft Access 97

Microsoft ACCESS 97
Microsoft Access 97 is a Database Management System (DBMS), it consists of a
database(s) and the information handling applications needed to access it. MS Access can
help you create, maintain, and report on data and table relationships in a database.

An Overview of Database

Database
A database consists of one or more than one tables in which data are stored and managed.
Inside the database, tables work together with queries and reports to produce the required
output.

Table
A table consists of records, which is the data about a particular subject. E.g. a database
might contain a table of data on students (names, student ID, address, telephone number)

Field
A field is a single unit of data, such as a person's name or an address or even a telephone
number. A field generally appears as a single column in a table.

Primary Key field

A primary key field is one that uniquely identifies each record in a table. Your HKID
number is an everyday example of a primary key field, because it uniquely identifies you
on the government's database.

Form
A form is an interface, which display data or allow users to input and edit data.

Query
A query is a special database feature that allows a user to ask questions and execute
commands. When performing a query, you can set conditions for selecting records. It is
usually used to summarise or update data such as sorting, filtering, joining tables, and
performing calculations.

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Create a database

To create the database

1. Choose File -> New Database from the Access menu bar, or press Ctrl+N
2. In the file name text box, type Employee and then choose OK.
You will see an empty Database window title Employee : Database, as in the figure
shown below. Each database object that you create in these lessons will be added to the
Database window.

Create a table

To create a table

1. In the database window, click the Tables tab.

2. Click the New button in the database window.
3. In the New Table dialog box, click Table Wizards.

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Choosing Fields for your table
1. Click the Business option button
2. In the Sample Tables list, click Employees.
3. In the sample fields list, double-click the field names listed in the table below to add
them to the table you are creating. Fields are:
EmployeeID, FirstName, LastName, Title, Salary.

4. Click the Next button to continue to the next wizard screen.

5. When asked what you want to do after Access creates the table, choose Enter data
directly into the table and then finish. This will take you to the design window
shown in the figure below.

Adding, changing and deleting records

To add new records to a table of a database

1. Click the Tables tab in the Database window, select a wanted table, and chick the
Open button
2. A Datasheet view of the table will be shown

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3. Move the cursor to the last row and enter a new record

To change the contents of a record

1. Go to the required record
2. Click the required data field(s) to change the contents
3. Move the cursor out of the record will update it

To delete record
1. Position the mouse pointer on the row selector of the record to be deleted
2. Click the row selector to select the whole record

3. Press the DEL key to delete it

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4. Click the Yes button to complete the deletion, or click the No button to cancel
deletion

Use a form to view and edit data

To use Form View, a form that associates a table of a database must be created in
advance.

To create a form
1. By clicking the AutoForm button in the toolbar, or from menu Insert -> AutoForm,
Access instantly creates the form for entering and editing Friends data. The form
contains one control for each field in your table, though some of those might be
scrolled off the bottom of the form window at the moment.
Toolbar Menu

2. Close and save the form as Employees.

Adding and editing data

Open the form

1. Start from the database window, and click the Forms object tab.

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2. Double-click the Employees form name, or highlight the form name and choose
Open. Your data will appear in form view.

Sorting and filtering

Sort records by Last Name

1. In the database window, click the Tables tab.

2. Select table Employees and click the Open button in the database window.
3. Click any person's surname to move the cursor into the Last Name column.
4. Choose from menu Records -> Sort -> Sort Ascending

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Records are sorted by surnames. You can follow steps 1 through 4 to sort on any field in
your table. To put records back in their original order, choose Records -> Remove
Filter/Sort.

Filter records in table

1. In the database window, click the Tables tab.

2. Select table Employees and click the Open button in the database window.
3. Click any person's surname, which you want to filter, say "Chan", into the Last
Name column.
4. Choose from menu Records -> Filter -> Filter By Selection.

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To show all records, choose Records -> Remove Filter/Sort.

Filter your records by form

1. In the database window, click the Forms tab.

2. Select form Employees and click the Open button in the database window.
3. Right click the field you want to filter such as the Last Name field. You should see a
quick menu of options.
4. Type exactly the last name you are looking for in the Filter For box and press
[Enter].

Querying a database

To create a new query

1. In the database window, click the Query tab

2. Click the New button
3. With Design View highlighted, click OK button.

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4. Click Add button in the Show Table dialog box to add related table and click Close
button.

5. The Query design window will appear.

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To include fields in the Design Grid

• Drag the field form the field list to a column in the Design Grid; or
• Double-click the fields from the Field List Box;

or
• Click column in grid, click arrow and the click field you want.

• You may click * to add all fields.

Using criteria in a query

Exact value
• Click the Criteria entry in the Design Grid, type the required text or number without
any dollar signs or commas.

To use comparison operators

• The comparison operators for numeric data comparison include:
= equal to
<> not equal to
< less than

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> greater than

<= less than or equal to
>= greater than or equal to
• Click the Criteria entry, type the comparison operator and number.

To use wildcards
• The following wildcard characters are used to search field values in queries:
Character Usage Example
* Matches any number of characters. It can LIKE Ma*
be used as the first or last character in the finds Ma, Mak, and Make
character string.
? Matches any single alphabetic character. LIKE C?m
finds Cam, and Com.
[] Matches any single character within the LIKE n[iu]ll
brackets. finds nill and null
! Matches any character not in the brackets LIKE b[!ae]ll
finds bill and bull but not bell
- Matches any one of a range of characters. LIKE c[a-c]ll
You must specify the range in ascending finds call, cbll, and ccll
order (A to Z, not Z to A)
# Matches any single numeric character LIKE B#20
finds B220, B320, and B420
• Click the Criteria entry, type LIKE followed by the text with wildcard character.

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Using calculated fields

1. Save your query first

2. Click a new column for a calculated field
3. Right-click and then click the Build menu

4. The Expression Builder design window will appear

5. Entry your expression for computation and click OK. For example, in the following
figure, the Expression Builder will return a value called Annual which is computed
by multiplying Salary by 12

6. Expression will be shown in Field

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To run query

• Click the button; or

• Choose from the menu Query -> Run

Creating report
A report is an effective way to present your data in a printed format. Because you have
control over the size and appearance of everything on a report, you can display the
information the way you want to see it.

Create a report using AutoReport

1. In the Database window, click the Reports tab.
2. Click New.
3. In the New Report dialog box, click one of the following wizards:
• AutoReport: Columnar. Each field appears on a separate line with a label to its
left.
• AutoReport: Tabular. The fields in each record appear on one line, and the
labels print once at the top of each page.
4. Click the table or query that contains the data you want to base your report on.

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5. Click OK.
AutoReport: Columnar

AutoReport: Tabular

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Create a report using Report Wizard

1. In the Database window, click the Reports tab
2. Click New
3. In the New Report dialog box, click Report Wizard, select a table or query in the
drop-down list box, and then click the OK buton

4. When the Report Wizard dialog box comes up, click on the button to include all
the fields from Available Fields. Click on the Next button to continue

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5. Select a field for group level, then click the Next button to continue

6. Select the sort order on this screen

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7. Choose Layout and Orientation, a preview is shown on the left

8. Choose a style on this screen.

9. Finally, type a name for the report and click the Finish button to preview the report

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10. Preview of the report

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Exercise

Exercise 1
1. Create a new database MyData.mdb and a new table Employees with the following
fields
EmployeeID, FirstName, LastName, Title, Salary
2. Close the table

Exercise 2
1. Open MyData.mdb and the created table Employees
2. Input the following data
Employee ID First Name Last Name Title Salary
1 Bruce Lee CEO $100,000.00
2 Jackie Chan Marketing Manager $50,000.00
3 Victor Li IT Manager $50,000.00
4 Sandy Lam Personnel Manager $50,000.00
5 Shirley Kwan Accountant $40,000.00
6 Leon Lai Account Officer $15,000.00
7 Linda Wong Clerk $11,000.00
8 Alan Tam Clerk $9,000.00
9 Danny Chan Clerk $8,500.00
10 Jacky Cheung Office Assistant $6,000.00
3. Close the table

Exercise 3
4. Create a form by AutoForm and name it as Employees
5. Close the form

Exercise 4
1. Open MyData.mdb
2. Delete record number 6 in the Employees table
3. Change Jacky Cheung's salary to $6,800
4. Add the following record
Bill / Gays / Sanitary Engineer / $4,500
5. Close the table

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Exercise 5
1. Open MyData.mdb
2. Sort your records by Last Name
3. Return to the original order

Exercise 6
1. Open MyData.mdb
2. Filter records with First Name starting with "S"
3. Show all records again

Exercise 7
1. Create a query with fields FirstName, LastName, Salary
2. Only employees' first name starting with "S" and whose Salary are between $7,000
and $50,000 should be shown
3. Add a calculated field that computes employees annual payment

4. Save the query

5. Run the query

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Exercise 8
1. Create a report in your favourable format
2. Print the report

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