1. MS ACCESS 101 ACCESS vs. EXCEL - Concepts ACCESS Components 1

2. Access vs. Excel 1-to-many relationship ◦ A customer can have a basic information table, orders table, shipping address table. 2 Customer IDBilling AddressTelephoneCell Phone 1234512345 Road St.626-123-1234626-1234-1234 Order No. Customer ID Produc t QuantityCost /Item Total AmountShipping ID 87412345Pens200$1.00$200.0084 87512345Pencils300$0.50$150.0084 Shipping IDCustomer IDAddress DescriptionAddress 8412345Work23456 Circle St. 8512345Home345 Square St.

3. Access vs. Excel 3 Customer ID Billing Address Telephone # Customer ID Billing Address Telephone # Shipping Address Orders

4. Access vs. Excel Concurrent users ◦ More than one user can access the customer database file at the same time.  A sales representative and a customer care specialist can look at the history their customers at the same time. 4 DATABASE

5. Access vs. Excel Data Size & Data Entry ◦ Access is better at managing large amounts of data. ◦ A well designed database reduces repetition of data. ◦ Forms can be designed to facilitate accurate data entry. 5

6. Access vs. Excel Less about numbers and calculations, more about relationships between different records (relational database). Ideal for creating forms and reports such as invoices and statements, i.e. utility bills and bank statements. 6

7. ACCESS Components We will focus on the first four components of ACCESS. 7 Relationship DesignsVisual Designs TablesForms QueriesReports

8. Tables Think of each table like an object: Customers, Invoices, Products, etc. Separates useful units of information into columns. Columns should be made of the smallest useful bit of data, i.e. there should be at least two columns for a name, FIRST and LAST. A column that takes the entire name as the input is not useful—you will not be able to sort by last name. 8

9. Tables Each table should also have a PRIMARY KEY (PK) column. It is a number that represents one distinct record in that table. Social Security numbers are a type of PRIMARY KEY because they are distinct numbers that represent ONE distinct person. ◦ Relationships between tables can be defined by the use of the PK. ◦ PK becomes the FOREIGN KEY (FK) when used in other tables--A customer’s PK (his account #) in the CUSTOMER table will be used in the ORDER table as a FK. ◦ You can explicitly link or define the ‘relationship’ between two or more tables via PK & FK. 9

10. Queries Queries are what filters are to Excel spreadsheets. It manipulates the data in the Tables. You can pick the columns you want to see and filter by the criteria of your choice. Combines all the data from different tables. 10

11. Form Forms are more user-friendly ways to input and call out records from different tables, i.e. data entry. You can design the forms with different logos, pictures, etc. 11

12. Reports Similar to Queries, in that it can filter and display data from more than one table. You can visually design a report with different logos, font sizes, colors, etc. 12