XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 71 Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 7 – Integrating Access With the Web and With Other Programs

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 72 Export an Access table to an HTML document Access includes features that allow you to publish your Access data on the Internet. You can use a table or query to create a Web page that can be viewed online. The page can be static or dynamic: –A static page displays the table or query data exactly as it was when the page was created –A dynamic page is actually live data that can be manipulated right in the Web page Access makes it very easy to create a data access page from a table or query using the Export dialog box.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 73 The Export dialog box This figure shows the Export Dialog box in which the table, NSJI-tbl is being exported as an HTML document. Note that the Save As Type list box has been changed to HTML document. Be sure to click the Save Formatted option. This is necessary to include field names, such as column headings.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 74 An Access table viewed as an HTML page This figure shows the HTML document displayed in a Web browser.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 75 Use a Wizard to create a data access page for an Access table Access provides a Wizard that helps you create a data access page. A data access page is an HTML document that can be viewed in a Web browser and contains data from a table or query. While you can create a data access page in Design view, it is easier to use the Page Wizard. In the Page Wizard you will need to specify what table or query the data access page will be based on and which fields should be included.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 76 Set grouping levels using the Page Wizard This figure shows the third page of the Page Wizard. In this figure, the fields have already been selected for display in the data access page. It is on this page that you will choose any fields that should be grouped. In this figure, the EmployerID has been selected as a grouping level.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 77 A data access page in Page View This figure shows the created data access page opened in Page View in Access. Notice that there is a record navigation toolbar from which you can choose several navigation options.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 78 Update a data access page using a Web browser If you want to update data in a data access page you must have the page displayed in a Web Browser. If you use Internet Explorer, it must be Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. –You can use another browser but it must be able to support data access pages When the data access page is displayed in a browser, changes made to the data will be immediately written to the underlying table or query.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 79 A data access page in a Web browser This figure shows a data access page in the Internet Explorer window. Data can be changed in this view but you must press the Save button on the toolbar to save the changes.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 710 Create a custom data access page You can create a data access page in a Wizard or you can create it entirely in Design View: –Start with an empty data access page and select fields that should be included in the data access page –Select the fields from the fields list that is provided when you first created the data access page –If you add fields from more than one table, you will create a new section for the additional table When you are finished selecting fields for the data access page, close the fields list. After the fields have been selected, make modifications according to your design for the page. Select a theme for the page that will provide elements to create visual interest.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 711 The Page window in Design view This figure show the Page window in design view. Note that the fields list is displayed on the right side of the screen. Note also that there are plus signs beside each of the tables. If you click any of these plus signs, all the fields of that table will also be displayed in the fields list. You can then select these fields by dragging them to the design grid.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 712 Create and use a PivotTable on a data access page Often, the data provided on a data access page needs to be analyzed for business purposes. A PivotTable is an interactive table that you can add to the data access page. The PivotTable allows the user to dynamically analyze the data. The PivotTable can view and organize data, provide a summary, and the user can even change the contents and organization of the table. The PivotTable is created by using the PivotTable tool on the toolbox.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 713 A data access page with a Pivot Table This figure shows a PivotTable in a data access page. Notice that the PivotTable contains a toolbar, a main body, a row area, a column area, and a filter area.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 714 Create and use a PivotChart on a data access page In addition to the PivotTable, you can also create a PivotChart. A PivotChart is an interactive chart that provides capabilities similar to a PivotTable. The PivotChart is a graphical representation of the data and often provides a more analytical view of the data. There are several chart types to choose from including column charts, bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, and so on. The PivotChart includes four areas: the filter area, the category area, the data area, and the series area.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 715 A data access page with a PivotChart The PivotChart in this figure includes: the PivotChart toolbar, a plot area, a category axis, the series field, and a filter field.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 716 Add a PivotChart control to a page This figure shows what the PivotChart control looks like before any of the fields have been selected for the chart. Notice that each area has a placemarker indicating where the fields should be added.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 717 Import an XML file as an Access table XML (Extensible Markup Language) is similar to HTML but is more customizable and facilitates the exchange of data. An XML developer can customize code to describe the data it contains and how the data is to be structured. You can import an XML file into your Access database and use the file to create a new table. You can also have a special import option, Import XML, that allows you to import the XML file easily.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 718 The Import XML dialog box This figure shows an example of the Import XML dialog box. You have options to import just the table structure, to import the structure and the data, or to append the data in the table to an existing table in the database. In order to append data from one table to another, the structure of the two tables involved must be identical.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 719 Export an Access table as an XML file You can export a table in Access to an XML document. One reason to do this could be to make the data available to another user in your organization. You can either export the data and its structure together, or you can export them as two files. You can include a style sheet with the exported file, which will provide display information for the document. –If the user will be bringing the exported files directly into a software program, there is no need to export the style sheet

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 720 The Data tab of the Export XML dialog box There are three parts to the Export XML dialog box. In this figure the Data tab is selected, and therefore the options under the data tab are displayed. The Export Location indicates where the export table will be placed. The Export Data option has been selected.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 721 The Schema tab of the Export XML dialog box In this figure, the Schema tab has been selected. On this page of the dialog box, you select whether you want the structure of the exported table to be included with the table or separated into a separate file, called an XSD (XML Structure Definition) file.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 722 Export an Access query as an Excel worksheet There are times when Access is not as helpful in analyzing your data as a spreadsheet would be. You can export data from Access to Excel, which is a spreadsheet program that is especially useful in analyzing data. You can export tables, forms, and reports to Excel and to other Office programs. –Excel must be installed on your computer before you can do this When you export the data to Excel, a spreadsheet will be created placing the records in the table as rows in the spreadsheet. Each field will be represented as a column in the spreadsheet.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 723 An Access Query exported to Excel When the table was exported, Excel was launched. The data in the worksheet can now be manipulated just like any other worksheet. You could now add rows, columns, formulas, and even create charts based on the data. In the figure below, an Access Query has been exported to Excel for further analysis.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 724 Create hyperlinks to Office documents You can create a hyperlink in a table that, when clicked, will open another document. If you create a link to a document created in another program, such as Word, clicking the link will actually launch that program. Once the program is launched, the linked document will open in that program.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 725 Designate a field as a hyperlink in Design view First you must specify that a field will be a hyperlink field. Notice in the figure below that the last field in Design view has been designated as a hyperlink field.

XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 726 Specify the hyperlink target Next, you specify the target location of the hyperlink field. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, you select the location to which you want the hyperlink field to link. You can link to a existing file or Web page, an object in the database, a new Web page, or the link can be an address.