Office Management Tools II Ms Saima Gul

Office Management Tools II Ms Saima Gul

 Often you will need to move data from another application or file into your Access database, or vice-versa. You can reenter all the information by hand—or have it imported into your database.  Access has tools that enable you to move data from a database table to another table or file. In fact, Access can exchange data with more than 15 different file types. 3

 You can import data from Excel spreadsheet to a new or existing table.  The key to importing spreadsheet data is that it must be arranged in tabular (columnar) format. Each cell of data in a spreadsheet column must contain the same type of data.  Table on next slide demonstrates correct and incorrect columnar-format data.  Table represents cells in a spreadsheet, in the range A1 through F7. Notice that the data in columns A, B, and C and rows 2 through 7 is the same type. Row 1 contains field names. These columns can be imported into an Access table.  Column D is empty and cannot be used. Columns E and F do not have the same type of data in each of their cells; they may cause problems when you try to import them into an Access table. 4

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 To import the Excel spreadsheet, follow these steps: 1. Open a database and select File ➪ Get External Data ➪ Import. 2. In the Import dialog box, select Files of type: Microsoft Excel. 3. Double-click the excel file that you want to import in the select box.  Access closes the Import box and displays the first Import Spreadsheet Wizard screen; the screen resembles the one shown on next slide.  This screen displays a sample of the first few rows and columns of the spreadsheet. You can scroll the display to see all the rows and columns if you want. 7

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4. Click Next button to move to the second screen. 5. In this screen, click the check box to use the first row of the spreadsheet to name fields in the table. The display changes to show the first row and column headings. 6. Click Next to display the third screen. This screen enables you to determine where the data will go. You can create a new table (the default radio button) or add to an existing table. 7. Click Next to accept the default value of creating a new table and display the third screen.  This screen enables you to click each column of the spreadsheet to accept the field name, change it, and decide whether it will be indexed; the Wizard determines the data type automatically. You can also choose to skip each column if you want. You will specify the Primary Key field after this screen. 9

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8. Click Next to display the next Import Spreadsheet Wizard screen.  This screen enables you to choose a field for the primary key. You can let Access create a new AutoNumber field (by choosing Let Access Add Primary Key), enter your own (by selecting Choose My Own Primary Key and selecting one of the columns), or have no primary key. 11

9. Select Choose my own Primary Key and select the appropriate field. 10. Click Next to display the last Import Spreadsheet Wizard screen. The last screen enables you to enter the name for the imported table and (optionally) run the Table Analyzer Wizard. 11. Click Finish to import the spreadsheet file. Access informs you that it imported the file successfully in an information box. Simply click OK to have Access return to the database.  The filename now appears in the Access database window. A standard Access table has been created from the original spreadsheet file. 12

 You can copy data from an Access table or query into a new external file. This process of copying Access tables to an external file is called exporting.  To export, simply follow these generic steps: 1. Select File ➪ Export from the Database menu. 2. Select the type of file you want the object to be saved to and specify a name. 3. Click the Save button. 13

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Office Management Tools II Ms Saima Gul

 Form in Access can be easily created through the form wizard. 1. In the database container window, on the Objects menu bar, click on Form, and then double click ‘create form by using wizard’. 2. Select the table name for which you want to create form, and the fields that you want to appear on the form. 3. Select the layout of the form whether you want it to be columnar, tabular, datasheet etc. 4. Select the style for the form, i.e. the color and fonts etc. 5. Give a title to your form and click the finish button. The form is created. 16

 Although the Form Wizard can quickly place your controls in the design window, you still may need to add more controls to a form, or start with a form design that is different from what the wizard can create.  You will now learn how to add controls to a form and how to manipulate them in the form design window without using the wizard.  To create a new form for this example, follow these steps: 1. Select the Forms object type from the database window. 2. Click on the New icon in the database window. 3. Select Design View in the top portion of the New Form window and select ‘basic info’ from the bottom portion of the New Form window. 4. Press OK to create the blank form.  If the Field List window is not displayed, press the Field List icon on the toolbar. You screen should as on next slide. 17

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 You add a control to a form in either of two ways:  Drag a field from the Field List window to add a bound control.  Click a button in the toolbox and then add new unbound control to the screen.  A bound control is one that is linked to a table field, while an unbound field is one that is not bound to a table field. A control bound to a table places the data directly into the table by using the form. 19

 Generally, dragging a field from the Field List window adds a bound text box to the Form Design window.  If you drag a Yes/No field from the Field List window, you add a check box.  If you drag a field that has a Lookup property, you add a list or combo box control.  If you drag an OLE field from the Field List window, you create a bound object frame.  Optionally, you can select the type of control by selecting a control from the toolbox and dragging the field to the Form Design window. 20

 By using the toolbox buttons to add a control, you can decide which type of control to use for each field.  If you don’t create the control by dragging it from the Field List window, the field is unbound (or, not attached to the data in a table field) and has a default label name like Field3 or Option11.  After you create the control, you can decide what field to bind the control to, enter text for the label, and set any properties.  The deciding factor of whether to use the field list or the toolbox is this: Does the field exist in the table/query or do you want to create an unbound or calculated expression? 21

Office Management Tools II Ms Saima Gul

 A report can be easily created in Access by following the following steps: 1. Click on the Report object from object menu bar in the database container window. 2. Double click ‘Create report by using wizard’. 3. Select the table for which you want to create report and the fields that you want to appear in the report. 4. (Optional) Select the field on the basis of which you want the report to be grouped, e. g. you want the records to be grouped address wise, records of students living in Bannu will be displayed first, then of Charsadda and so on. 5. (Optional) Select the fields on the basis of which you want the records to be sorted. You can specify up to 4 fields for sorting. 6. Select the layout (columnar, tabular etc.) and orientation (landscape, portrait) for your report page. 7. Select the style (font, colors etc.) for your report. 8. Give a name to your report and click the finish button. 23

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