Microsoft Access 2010 Crash Course Part 1 Academic Health Center Training (352)

Database Vocabulary What is a database? A structured collection of related data Filing cabinets, address books, etc. In Access, your Database is your collection of related tables

Database Vocabulary Table Name: Barry Harris Phone: Name: Barry Harris Field Record –A collection of data about an individual item –A single item of data common to all records – A set of related records

Example of a Table Records Fields

Why Use Access? Familiar look and feel of Windows Easy to start building simple databases Can build sophisticated systems It’s already on your computer True relational database

What is a Relational Database? A relational database is a collection of tables from which data can be accessed in many different ways without having to reorganize the database tables. – That is, once relationships are created, tables can “talk” to each other. We can link (relate) the tables to find: Which doctors have seen a patient Which students are in a class Which item is selling the most on Friday’s

Basic Design Rule LastName Smith Thomas Van Winkle If you want to link multiple tables together, you need establish unique records, otherwise the database can’t tell which record you may be referring to. LastNameEmergencyContact SmithMary Anne Smith Unique Records

Primary Keys LastNameGatorLinkPhoneCollege Smithrsmith Pharmacy Thomasbthomas Medicine Van Winklesleepyguy PHHP To ensure that each record is unique in each table, we can set one field to be a Primary Key field. A Primary Key is a field that that will contain no duplicates and no blank values. Looking at the table above, what would be the best Primary Key?

Primary Keys LastNameGL IDPhoneCollege Smithrsmith Pharmacy Thomasbthomas Medicine Van Winklesleepyguy PHHP While each column in this particular data set has unique data, the field that will work best for us is GL ID (GatorLink). Many employees will work for the same college, have the same last name and possibly even share telephone numbers, but each employee should have a unique GatorLink ID. When there is not a unique field in your data set, you can use an AutoNumber. Access can create incremented or random AutoNumbers for your primary key.

Basic Design Rules Unique Records IDLastNameGatorLinkPhoneCollege 1Smithrsmith3-5051Pharmacy 2Smithrsmith COP 3Smithrsmith Pharmacy 4Thomasbthomas Medicine 5Van Winklesleepyguy PHHP We use the unique primary key as our link between our tables, this helps ensure we connect to the correct record. Emp IDEmergencyContact 2Mary Anne Smith

Data View/Design View TablesForms QueriesReports

The Access Database Window The navigation pane on the left side of the window organizes all the database objects

Introducing Tables Database is a collection of Tables Data Storage The foundation of your database

Introducing Queries A means of asking questions (querying) of your data Can look across a number of Tables and other Queries Can perform Calculations and Combine fields

Introducing Forms A friendlier view of the database Used for data input, menus, display and printing Can perform Calculations and Combine fields

Introducing Reports Output of information in a printed report Allows you to group and summarize data Can perform Calculations and Combine fields Cannot Edit Data Can Make Labels

Working Together Tables Queries Patients First Name: Last Name: Gender: Birth Date: Phone #: Forms Reports Patients Report