1. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create your tables In a relational database, tables store your data. Your data doesn’t “live” anywhere else, and that makes tables the central component of your database. If you don’t have tables, you don’t have a database.

2. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create your tables Access gives you several ways to create tables, and this course shows you how to use three of them. In Datasheet view, you build a table by entering field names and setting data types manually. All you have to do is click and type. Table templates are pre-made tables that meet several common business needs. They are Datasheet view, table templates, and Design view.

3. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create your tables Access gives you several ways to create tables, and this course shows you how to use three of them. Design view lets you control every field and property in the table. In this course, you’ll learn how to create a table and to change the values in a lookup field — a field that contains a list of choices. They are Datasheet view, table templates, and Design view.

4. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create a table in Datasheet view Datasheet view provides a visual way to create a table. The picture shows the process. You start by creating a new, blank database or by adding a new table to an existing database. The new table opens automatically in Datasheet view. Notice how the new table contains a field called ID. That’s your primary key, so you don’t need to create one.

5. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create a table in Datasheet view Datasheet view provides a visual way to create a table. The picture shows the process. To add your fields, double-click the first field header and enter the name for the field. When you finish, press ENTER. Go to the next blank field and enter a name in that header. Repeat the process until you’ve entered names for all your fields, but with a couple exceptions: don’t add any lookup fields, and don’t add foreign key fields.

6. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create a table in Datasheet view Datasheet view provides a visual way to create a table. The picture shows the process. When you’ve finished, go to the Quick Access Toolbar and click Save. In the Save As dialog box, enter a name for the table and click OK.

7. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Set data types After you enter field names, you’ll need to set the data type for each field. Data types control what you can enter into a field. Select the field that needs a data type. Just click the field header. If it isn’t already selected, click the Datasheet tab. In the Data Type & Formatting group, open the Data Type list and select an option.

8. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Set data types After you enter field names, you’ll need to set the data type for each field. Data types control what you can enter into a field. If you’re unsure about which data type to choose, look at your field names. If you’re unsure about which type to select, stay with the Text data type because it’s the most flexible.

9. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create a table using a table template Table templates are a fast way to build a new table. The templates capture data for common business needs, and all the fields and data types are set up for you. Click the Create tab. In the Tables group, click Table Templates, and then click the template you want to use.

10. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create a table in Design view Design view allows you to build a table from scratch and set or change every available property for each field. On the Create tab, in the Tables group, click Table Design. In the Field Name column of the designer, enter the names of your table fields. As a rule, the first field you create should be your primary key field.

11. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Create a table in Design view Design view allows you to build a table from scratch and set or change every available property for each field. In the Data Type column, use the list next to a field name to choose a data type for that field. Optionally, use the Field Properties pane to set properties for individual fields.

12. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Add a lookup field to a table The first course in this series mentioned that you can sometimes use a lookup field instead of a table. Lookup fields can store a list of options internally, or they can look up data from fields in other tables.

13. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Add a lookup field to a table These steps explain how to create a lookup field that stores options internally, in what Access calls a value list. Switch your table to Datasheet view. You can do that by right-clicking the tab for the table and clicking Datasheet view. Click the Datasheet tab, and in the Fields & Columns group, click Lookup Column to start the Lookup Wizard.

14. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Add a lookup field to a table These steps explain how to create a lookup field that stores options internally, in what Access calls a value list. On the first page of the wizard, click I will type in the values that I want and click Next. On the next page of the wizard, make sure the Number of columns box contains a 1 and then enter your options in the grid, one option per row.

15. Build a database II: Create tables for a new Access database Add a lookup field to a table These steps explain how to create a lookup field that stores options internally, in what Access calls a value list. On the third page of the wizard, enter a name for the new field and click Finish.