1. BS1904 Week 9 1 Computer Application for Business (9) l Last Week: Databases part 2 »The Relational Model »Practical: –Completing Garages tables and Queries –Final assignment workshop –Not everyone did Seminars database with multiple tables l This week: »Practical: Using Microsoft Access as a relational database »More uses of Databases »Mail Merge introduction »Practical: Putting Word and your database together Thank you to the 146 people who submitted assignment files via Learning Network

2. BS1904 Week 9 2 The Assignment l I picked up your files automatically, but »A few people forgot to put their account in the file name »Only one of the _BS1904_cover.doc files got saved l It takes 30-45 mins to mark this assignment »There are 160 to do  about 100 hours »I’ll not finish before the Christmas vacation l Current plan »Mark all on-time assignments that are complete with a cover sheet for me to feed back on »Sort out those remaining, where I have to go back to the LN to download the files manually »Chase students for missing files (so don’t delete yours)

3. BS1904 Week 9 3 Business Value of Computing l Business is driven by people l The computer rarely creates anything new »It can allow you to re-use work already done »Help you manage and store work for reference and reuse »Present information clearly »Simplify decision-taking by providing data and calculation l Repetitive tasks can be automated »Handling Orders »Creating bills »Spotting trends l And information made more timely »e.g. Web site showing stock position from database

4. BS1904 Week 9 4 Relational Database Practical l Knight’s example 7 (from p.220) involves linked tables l Problem: organizing seminars for conference delegates »Delegates’ details are held in a table (import from web) »Seminar details are held in another table (type it in) »Each delegate can attend one seminar (but we hope each seminar will attract many delegates!) Delegates DelegateRef Title Initials Surname Company Address1... Phone # SeminarRef Seminars SeminarRef SeminarName From To Fee 1 M Primary key

5. BS1904 Week 9 5 Creating the Tables Design the Seminars table according to instructions »Be sure to specify SeminarRef as primary key »Prime the table with the values given but make it refer to 2008 so you can omit the year Build the Delegates table »Use “Get External Data” to Import the data from delegates.xls on the web site for week 8 »This already has delegate name split up as advised (not as in Knight’s text) – needed for the mail-merge later »Access lets you use delegateRef as a primary key l Modify table design to match the hand-out »Ensure SeminarRef format is compatible between tables

6. BS1904 Week 9 6 Doing single-table Queries Use the Query Wizard to: l List the delegates who are attending seminar S03, showing full name and Company, and sorting them by phone number l List the titles of the seminars that start on July 26 th in order of seminar reference

7. BS1904 Week 9 7 Joining the Tables Use the Relationships tool to link the tables using SeminarRef l What happens when you “enforce referential integrity”? »The system checks that every seminar referred to in the delegates table matches an entry in the seminar table »So you can’t do this before you fill in the seminar details »Or if you mismatch “O” and “0”! l Produce queries using fields from both tables »The Query Wizard will help you do this »Who is attending a seminar starting on July 26? Show name and address, and sort by Company

8. BS1904 Week 9 8 Creating Automatic Mailings l Most companies want to communicate with customers l Best value is to target the communications: »Offer iPod accessories to those who’ve bought iPods »Don’t offer ride-on lawnmowers to flat-dwellers »Go for repeat business where appropriate l Databases let you create lists of target customers »Then you can use the fields inside to write to them l The letters you generate will be personal... »...and will be properly addressed »Nobody likes things starting “Dear Sir or Madam” l We need to use more than one package to do this

9. BS1904 Week 9 9 Integrating Packages l For one-off tasks, like writing a letter, a single package is sufficient l For decision-support, you often need to combine: »data, »computation, and »display l The data may be in a spread-sheet or database l Spreadsheets are good for calculation and generating graphics l Word-processors are good for laying out reports l Presentation graphics are better in front of an audience

10. BS1904 Week 9 10 Mail Merge l A common process that you can automate »For example, sending a form-letter to all your customers »Integrates word-processing with data retrieval l Works by creating a “Master document” »Contains all the words and layout common to all letters »and “place holder” fields for plugging in variable data l Microsoft Word will take data from various sources, usually in the form of a table: »Most often from a database or spreadsheet »Sometimes from a table in a word processor document »We’ll use a database to extend our experience of Access

11. BS1904 Week 9 11 Master Document l Word provides extensive help for building this l Best if you already have the source of variable data l Start with a document based on an appropriate template l Use Tools/Letters and Mailing to get Mail Merge wizard »Step 3 is where you select the data source »Often this will be a Query combining multiple tables, like the “people attending seminars” one you created »Warning: Word XP always looks in “My Data Sources” –Doesn’t look in the last place you got data from –You can’t alter this in Tools/Options/File Locations –If you have several merges to do with the same data, it may be best to move your database there

12. BS1904 Week 9 12 Step 4: Write the document l Type the common text l Use “More items” to plug in external data »Avoid “Address block” unless all addresses are in USA »More items lets you select individual fields to insert »You can’t flip between inserting fields and editing the document, so you may want to insert (say) the whole address, then add the spacing and new-line marks later l Try the button on the Mail Merge toolbar to preview the merged result »You can move through the data checking each letter l Once you’ve reviewed the results, you could print, but don’t bother doing so in this exercise

13. BS1904 Week 9 13 Mail Merge Database Practical l Start with the conference database you created l Generate a letter to each delegate confirming the seminar chosen »(see BS1904w9.doc for problem description) l If you didn’t import my data, you may need to extend the database first, restructuring names to avoid nasties like “Dear Marghanita Laski” (she’d bin your letter unread) l Create a query that contains fields from both tables, joined by the SeminarRef value l Then create a suitable master document »Test it out for layout and validity, »can merge into a file to check that all letters get created