Storing and Retrieving customer

Data
Getting Started

This week I want you to start using MS Access and go over a series of very
basic practical exercises.
Open Microsoft Access. You may be using versions 2010, 2007, or 2003.
I am writing this assignment sitting in front of my Windows 7 computer
running Access 2010. Your version may use slightly different set of menus or
icons, but they all are very similar.
In case if you have trouble locating a particualr function, I want you to post
your question on the CIT-122 Discussion Board.
Students who will provide timely and helpful answers on the Discussion Forum
will earn xtra points towards their final grade.

Creating New Database

I am opening MS Access 2010. I would like you to follow along and repeat all
of my steps on your own computer. Alternatively, you can use BCC labs in K
building or in the library, or anywhere else where you can practice with a
working Access product.
After starting the program, it displays the screen with a variety of available
templates, in other words - prototypes of popular databases. I am not planning
to use any of these.

 Instead, I want to work with an empty database from scratch. I am doubleclicking "New Blank Database" button to get started.

Saving the Database File

The new table named "Table1" is displayed in the so-called "Datasheet view" as
soon as the new database is created.
Since I am planning to manipulate everything by SQL, I am closing "Table1"
by right-clicking on the tip of its tab and then choosing "Close." (Please note
that right-clicking on the tab may offer some really useful choices in many
Microsoft products.)
Now I have a blank screen with an empty list of "All Access Objects" pane on
the right side of the screen.
I am clicking "File" tab and then "Save Database As." (How you get to this
option may differ slightly depending which version of MS Access you are
using, but it is very consistent with other Microsoft Office products, such as
Word or Excel.)
The Save As dialog box opens. Please do not just accept the default location
and file name! This is your homework in progress, and you should have a
particular Windows folder already created for CIT-122 class work. I am saving
my file in "My Documents\CIT122" folder, and changing the file name to
"sql_101.accdb". You shoud always be aware of the exact location of your files!
In Access 2003 and earlier the file name will be "sql_101.mdb". That's okay it's an older format of the database which is still usable in later versions of
Microsoft Access.
For a completely unknown reason Access displays a Security Warning that says
"some active content has been disabled..." Apparently, Microsoft is afraid of
their own products, but pardon my ignorance, I am not reading any of this
foolishness and just clicking "Enable Content." By the way, this Security
Warning is going to show up every time I re-open Access or open a new

database, so I will "Enable Content" every time this happens -- otherwise

certain SQL commands may be disabled by Access!

Opening SQL Query Window

Click Create tab on top of the ribbon.

Click Query Design icon.
A tab named "Query1" opens. On top of it, a "Show Table" dialog is displayed.
This is an annoyance, because we have no tables and we don't want to use any
helpers in specifying what to do.
Dismiss the "Show Table" dialog box simply by closing it. You will do this
every time you need to create a new query.
By the way, the whole notion of a "query" is misleading at this point, because
"query" means "an inquiry", but we know our database is empty at this point,
so it's kind of meaningless. However, this is not Access's fault; in SQL, all
commands are called "queries," this is just a technological term.
An empty "Query1" tab opens in the so called "Design View". We need to
switch to the "SQL View." To do this, locate the "View" in the "Results" group
of the "Design" tab. Here is how it looks like on my screen:

After switching to SQL View, the "Query1" changes to a simple text entry
window with a SELECT keyword and a semicolon ";" like this:

A semicolon can be entered at the end of any MS Access SQL statement. In

many cases it is optional, so when you enter your own SQL commands you
don't have to type the semicolon. Some textbooks use the semicolons, but I will
avoid adding them at the end of my SQL examples.

CREATE TABLE Customer

With "Query1" SQL View open, type in the following command (you can copy
and paste it from this handout, but I would also recommend keeping your own
text file with queries that you use in this course.)

CREATE TABLE Customer

(
CustomerID INTEGER,
LastName TEXT
)

It looks like this on my screen:

You can execute this query simply by clicking "Run!" in Access 2010:

However, in Access 2007 this will give you a strange error message about nonexisting database object. To stay consistent and trouble-free across multiple
versions of MS Access, I want you to save your query by right-clicking on the
"Query1" tab and selecting "Save."

 Instead of just saving what you have so far, the database asks you to
specify the Query Name:

I am saving my query with the descriptive name CREATE_TABLE_Customer. This

should always be the case when you work with Access. Never save your
database objects as "Query1" or "Table1" - this is a very poor choice. You could
also notice that instead of spaces between words I am using the underscores. In
some databases, spaces are not allowed anywhere in the names of tables or
queries. So my habit is to use the underscore characters instead. Although I am
not encouraging it, it's probably okay for you to use spaces if you prefer. (More
on this later.)

Running CREATE TABLE

Once the query is saved, you can execute it like this:

The result of CREATE TABLE query is a new, empty database table named
"Customer". The table has two columns: the "CustomerID", which is
an INTEGER, that is, a numerical field, and "LastName", which has
a TEXT type - accepting strings of characters. (More on data types later.)
If you double-click the "Customer" on the list of tables, it will open in a
separate tab in "Datasheet View". There you can actually input some data into
the table.
Close the "Customer" table tab. (In fact, once I am done using a database
object, such as a query or a table, I have a habit of closing it for two reasons: to
reduce clutter, and often to avoid warnings that Access needs to close it before
running a particular command. As you try different things, you will see this
kind of message quite often in Access.)

DROP TABLE Customer

 Click Create tab on top of the ribbon.

Click Query Design icon.
Again, a tab named "Query1" opens. On top of it, a "Show Table" dialog is
displayed, which you need to close.
Switch to "SQL View" and enter the following SQL statement into the query
text window:

DROP TABLE Customer

Save the query as DROP_TABLE_Customer

Click the "Run!" icon to execute the DROP_TABLE_Customer query. In Access
2007 you get a warning that you are about to delete a database object. In Access
2010, the table is silently deleted.
Why would you want to delete a table? Perhaps you created it by mistake, or
you misspelled the table name and need to correct this mistake. Sometimes
tables are used as temporary tables. In other cases, you may wish to restructure
an existing database and delete a table that you know is no longer used.
Note that in Micrsoft Access, the table is deleted even if it contains the actual
data rows. Other SQL platforms, such as SQL server or Oracle, may refuse to
delete a non-empty table. In that case you have to delete the data from the table
first:

DELETE FROM Customer

The "DELETE FROM Customer" statement removes all data rows from the table, so
the table becomes empty.
Once the table is deleted by "DROP TABLE Customer", you can re-create it by
opening theCREATE_TABLE_Customer and then again choosing "Run!"

INSERT INTO Customer

 Our next step is to populate some data in the "Customer" table. This can be
done by opening the table and entering the data directly. However, our goal is
to keep using the SQL for every manipulation of the content in our database. So
instead of using the "Datasheet View", we will create a new query.
Do all the steps to create the new query as outlined above. Switch to SQL view
and paste in the following command:

INSERT INTO Customer ( CustomerID, LastName )

VALUES ( 1001,
'JONES' )

The INSERT statement inserts a single row into the database table. This is very
tedious and may seem much less convenient rather than entering the data
directly (like you do in Excel.) However, the INSERT statement is exactly the
way the data is manipulated when you go to an ATM machine and withdraw
$20.00 dollars from your bank account, or when you register your Facebook
account, or in general, when you create new record in any software that runs on
top of some relational database.
Save the query as INSERT_INTO_Customer, and "Run!" Typically, Access gives
you a warning telling that you are about to insert a row into a table. Why this is
happening is beyond my ability to know. You will never see this warning if you
wrote a program in a different programming language and invoked your SQL
query from that program. I prefer when programs are less verbose and
generally keep their message boxes away from what I am trying to do. 'Nough
said.
You can open the "Customer" table and see the results. There should be one
row of data present there with "1001, JONES" entered there.
Next, change your SQL command to

INSERT INTO Customer ( CustomerID, LastName )

VALUES ( 8027,
'SMITH' )

then save it, and run it again. This will insert another row into the table -- you
get the idea.
Modify your INSERT query to insert a couple more rows with different data.

SELECT FROM Customer

Now it's time to run a query that returns back the data that was already inserted
into the database table.
For example:

SELECT * FROM Customer

The above is a typical SELECT statement that returns all data columns and
rows from the table. As before, you should create a new query, enter the SQL
command, and save it asSELECT_ALL_CUSTOMERS. As was explained in the
previous handout, the asterisk (*) is a shorthand notation for selecting all
columns from the table.
Create one more query and enter SQL

SELECT
LastName
FROM
Customer
WHERE
CustomerID = 1001

Decide what name would you like to use when saving this query. If you run this
query, it should yield result 'JONES', which is the value stored in the
"LastName" column of the "Customer" table in the row identified by the unique
customer ID 1001.

More Practice On Your Own

Think about another table that could be used with a "Customer" table.

 It could be a "Sale" in a supermarket, a "SavingAccount" at a bank, or anything

else.
Make sure you have at least two columns in the new table.
Create, save and run the following SQL queries using the new table:
1. A query containing CREATE TABLE SQL statement
2. A query containing DROP TABLE statement to remove the table
3. A query containing INSERT statement that inserts a data row into the
table.
4. A query containing DELETE statement that removes all data from your
table.
5. A query containing SELECT statement that returns some data from your
table.