Last update: 24-Aug-1997 Next Home Previous 1 o f 17
Access Tutorial 1: Introduction to Microsoft Access
The purpose of these tutorials is not to teach you
Microsoft Access, but rather to teach you some
generic information systems concepts and skills
using Access. Of course, as a side effect, you will
learn a great deal about the software—enough to
write your own useful applications. However, keep in
mind that Access is an enormously complex, nearlyindustrial-
strength software development environment.
The material here only scrapes the surface of
Access development and database programming.
1.1 Introduction: What is Access?
Microsoft Access is a relational database management
system (DBMS). At the most basic level, a
DBMS is a program that facilitates the storage and
retrieval of structured information on a computer’s
hard drive. Examples of well-know industrial-strength
relational DBMSes include
• Oracle
• Microsoft SQL Server
• IBM DB2
• Informix
Well-know PC-based (“desktop”) relational DBMSes
include
• Microsoft Access
• Microsoft FoxPro
• Borland dBase
1.1.1 The many faces of Access
Microsoft generally likes to incorporate as many features
as possible into its products. For example, the
Access package contains the following elements:
• a relational database system that supports two
industry standard query languages: Structured
Query Language (SQL) and Query By Example
(QBE);
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• a full-featured procedural programming language—
essentially a subset of Visual Basic,
• a simplified procedural macro language unique
to Access;
• a rapid application development environment
complete with visual form and report development
tools;
• a sprinkling of objected-oriented extensions;
and,
• various wizards and builders to make development
easier.
For new users, these “multiple personalities” can be
a source of enormous frustration. The problem is
that each personality is based on a different set of
assumptions and a different view of computing. For
instance,
• the relational database personality expects you
to view your application as sets of data;
• the procedural programming personality expects
you to view your application as commands to be
executed sequentially;
• the object-oriented personality expects you to
view your application as objects which encapsulate
state and behavior information.
Microsoft makes no effort to provide an overall logical
integration of these personalities (indeed, it is
unlikely that such an integration is possible). Instead,
it is up to you as a developer to pick and choose the
best approach to implementing your application.
Since there are often several vastly different ways to
implement a particular feature in Access, recognizing
the different personalities and exploiting the best
features (and avoiding the pitfalls) of each are important
skills for Access developers.
The advantage of these multiple personalities is that
it is possible to use Access to learn about an enormous
range of information systems concepts without
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having to interact with a large number of “single-personality”
tools, for example:
• Oracle for relational databases
• PowerBuilder for rapid applications development,
• SmallTalk for object-oriented programming.
Keep this advantage in mind as we switch back and
forth between personalities and different computing
paradigms.
1.1.2 What is in an Access database
file?
Although the term “database” typically refers to a collection
of related data tables, an Access database
includes more than just data. In addition to tables, an
Access database file contains several different types
of database objects:
• saved queries for organizing data,
• forms for interacting with the data on screen,
• reports for printing results,
• macros and Visual Basic programs for extending
the functionality of database applications.
All these database objects are stored in a single file
named
Access, a temporary “locking” file named
ldb is also created. You can safely ignore
the *.ldb file; everything of value is in the *.mdb file.
1.2 Learning objectives
How do I get started?
How do I determine the version I am using?
How do I create or edit a database object?
What is the database window and what does
it contain?
How do I import an Excel spreadsheet?
How do I delete or rename database objects?
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How do I get help from the on-line help
system?
How do I compact a database to save space?
1.3 Tutorial exercises
In this tutorial, you will start by creating a new database
file.
1.3.1 Starting Access
• To start Access, you double click the Access icon
( for version 8.0 and 7.0 or for version
2.0) from within Microsoft Windows.
If you are working in the Commerce PC Lab, you will
be working with Access version 2.0. If you are working
at home, you will able be to tell what version you
are using by watching the screen “splash” as the program
loads. Alternatively, select Help > About
Access from the main menu to see which version
you are using.
All the screen shots in these tutorials are
taken from Access version 7.0 (released as
part of Office 95). Although there are some
important differences between version 2.0
and version 7.0, the concepts covered here
are the same for both. Version 8.0 (released
as part of Office 97) is only slightly different
from version 7.0.
Whenever the instructions given in the tutorial
differ significantly from version 7.0, a warning
box such as this is used.
1.3.2 Creating a new database
• Follow the directions in Figure 1.1 to create a
new database file called myfile.mdb.
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FIGURE 1.1: Select the name and location of your new (empty) database.
Create a new database by selecting File >
New from the main menu or by clicking the
“new database” button on the tool bar.
Type in a new database name and press Enter.
Note that you are limited to 8-letter names in
version 2.0.
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• Examine the main features of the database window—
including the tabs for viewing the different
database objects—as shown in Figure 1.2.
1.3.3 Opening an existing database
Since an empty database file is not particularly interesting,
you are provided with an existing database
file containing information about university courses.
For the remainder of this tutorial, we will use a file
called univ0_v7.mdb, which is available from the
tutorial’s Internet site.
If you are using version 2.0, you will need to
use the univ0_v2.mdb database instead.
Although you can open a version 2.0 database
with version 7.0, you cannot open a version
7.0 database with version 2.0. Importing
and exporting across versions is possible,
however.
If you are using version 8.0, you can use
either univ0_v2.mdb or univ0_v7.mdb for
the tutorials. When you open the file, Access
will ask you if you want to convert it to version
8.0. Select yes and provide a new name for
the converted file (e.g., univ0_v8.mdb)
• Open the univ0_v x.mdb file and examine the
contents of the Sections table, as shown in
Figure 1.3.
1.3.4 Importing data from other
applications
Access makes it easy to import data from other
applications. In this section, you will create a new
table using data from an Excel spreadsheet.
• Select File > Get External Data > Import from the
main menu and import the depts.xls spread-
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FIGURE 1.2: The database window contains all the database objects for a particular application.
The database window is always
available from the Window menu.
Tables —
contain data
in rows and
columns.
Queries — allow the
information in
tables to be sorted,
filtered, and shown
in different ways. Forms — are for
displaying
information on
the screen.
Reports —are
for organizing
and printing
information.
Macros — are sets of highlevel
commands that can be
used to process data and
perform repetitive tasks.
Modules —
contain Visual
Basic
procedures and
functions.
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FIGURE 1.3: Open the univ0_vx.mdb file for the version of Access that you are using and then
open the Sections table
Select File > Open Database
from the main menu.
Select the
correct file and
open the
Sections
table.
You can open a
database object for
viewing, for
modification, or
create a new object.
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sheet as a new table called Departments (see
Figure 1.4).
In version 2.0, the menu structure is slightly
different. As such, you must use File > Import.
• Use the import wizard specify the basic import
parameters. You should accept all the defaults
provided by the wizard except for those shown in
Figure 1.5.
• Double click the Departments table to ensure it
was imported correctly.
If you make a mistake, you can rename or
delete a table (or any database object in the
database window) by selecting it and rightclicking
(pressing the right mouse button
once).
1.3.5 Getting help
A recent trend in commercial software (especially
from Microsoft) is a reliance on on-line help and documentation
in lieu of printed manuals. As a consequence,
a good understanding of how to use the online
help system is essential for learning any new
software. In this section, you will use Access’ on-line
help system to tell you how to compact a database.
• Press F1 to invoke the on-line help system. Find
information on compacting a database, as shown
in Figure 1.6.
• Familiarize yourself with the basic elements of
the help window as shown in Figure 1.7.
1.3.6 Compacting your database
• Follow the directions provided by the on-line help
window shown in Figure 1.7 to compact your
database.
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Select File > Get External Data >
Import from the from the main menu
and move the directory containing the
file you want to import.
Select files of type *.xls (files
with that extension will show in
the file window).
Double-click depts.xls.
FIGURE 1.4: Import the dept.xls spreadsheet as a table called Departments.
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FIGURE 1.5: Use the spreadsheet import wizard to import the Excel file.
Select the first row contains
column headings option so
that the column headings in the
spreadsheet are not interpreted
as data.
Since we have not talked
about primary keys yet,
select no primary key.
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FIGURE 1.6: Use the help system to find
information on a specific topic
Type in the first few
letters of the topic you
are looking for.
Select the best match from
the list (i.e., “compacting
databases”) and doubleclick
to get a list of topics.
Double click the most
promising entry in this list
to get the actual help topic.
For most students, the help
system in Access version
2.0 is easier to navigate.
Use the “cue cards” in
version 2.0 to get step-bystep
instructions for many
operations.
The Index is the best place to
start when you are looking for a
specific topic. If you need more
structured information or are
looking for an overview, use the
Contents tab.
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FIGURE 1.7: Follow the instructions provided by help to compact your database
Press help topics to return to the
index.
Minimize (rather than close) help
when you are working so that you can
use the Back button to return to
previously visited topics without
repeating the search.
Words underlined with a dashed line
provide important definitions.
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1.4 Discussion
1.4.1 The database file in Access
The term “database” means different things depending
on the DBMS used. For example in dBase IV, a
database is a file (
single table. Forms and reports are also stored as
individual files with different extensions. The net
result is a clutter of files.
In contrast, an Oracle database has virtually no relationship
to individual files or individual projects. For
instance, a database may contain many tables from
different projects/applications and may also be
stored split into one or more files (perhaps on different
machines).
Access strikes a convenient balance—all the
“objects” (tables, queries, forms, reports, etc.) for a
single project/application are stored in a single file.
1.4.2 Compacting a database
As the help system points out, Access database files
can become highly fragmented and grow to become
much larger than you might expect given the amount
of data they contain (e.g., multiple megabytes for a
handful of records). Compacting the database from
time to time eliminates fragmentation and can dramatically
reduce the disk space requirement of your
database.
1.4.3 Renaming a database
It is often the case that you are working with a database
and want to save it under a different name or
save it on to a different disk drive. However, one
command on the File menu that is conspicuous by its
absence is Save As.
However, when compacting your database, Access
asks for the name and destination of the compacted
file. As a result, the compact database utility can be
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used as a substitute for the Save As command. This
is especially useful in situations in which you cannot
use the operating system to rename a file (e.g.,
when you do not have access to the Windows file
manager).
1.4.4 Developing applications in Access
In general, there are two basic approaches to developing
information systems:
• in-depth systems analysis, design, and implementation,
• rapid prototyping (in which analysis, design, and
implementation are done iteratively)
Access provides a number of features (such as
graphical design tools, wizards, and a high-level
macro language) that facilitate rapid prototyping.
Since you are going to build a small system and
since time is limited, you will use a rapid prototyping
approach to build your application. The recommended
sequence for prototyping using Access is
the following:
1. Model the information of interest in terms of entities
and relationships between the entities (this is
covered in the lecture portion of the course).
2. Create a table for each entity (Tutorial 2).
3. Specify the relationships between the tables
(Tutorial 3).
4. Organize the information in your tables using
queries (Tutorial 4, Tutorial 5, Tutorial 10)
5. Create forms and reports to support input and
output transactions (Tutorial 6, Tutorial 7).
6. Enhance you forms with input controls
(Tutorial 8)
7. Create action queries (Tutorial 11), macros
(Tutorial 13), or Visual Basic programs
(Tutorial 12, Tutorial 14) to perform the transaction
processing functions of the application.
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8. Create “triggers” (procedures attached to events)
to automate certain repetitive tasks (Tutorial 15).
1.4.5 Use of linked tables
Most professional Access developers do not put their
tables in the same database file as their queries,
forms, reports, and so on. The reason for this is simple:
keep the application’s data and interface separate.
Access allows you to use the “linked table” feature to
link two database files: one containing all the tables
(“data”) and another containing all the interface and
logic elements of the application (“interface”). The
linked tables from the data file show up in the interface
file with little arrows (indicating that they are not
actually stored in the interface file).
In this way, you can modify or update the interface
file without affecting the actual data in any way. You
just copy the new interface file over to the user’s
machine, update the links to the data file, and the
upgrade is done.
Do not used linked tables in the assignment.
The links are dependent on the absolute
directory structure. As a result, if the directory
structure on your machine is different from
that on the marker’s machine, the marker will
not be able to use your application without
first updating the links (a time consuming process
for a large number of assignments).
1.5 Application to the assignment
After completing this tutorial you should be ready to
create the database file that you will use for the
remainder of the course.
1. Create an empty database file called
number consists of eight digits.
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2. Import the inventor.xls spreadsheet as your
Products table.
3. Use the compact utility to make a backup copy of
your database (use a different name such as
backup.mdb).
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