Lab Instruction:
Tasting DB With MS Access
LIS 751 Database management for information professionals
Chaoqun Ni, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Information School
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Task Description
• You will have a small taste of what a database looks like in a
database management system by:
• Creating tables
• Entering records
• Connecting tables
• Creating keys
• MS Access will be used, since it is a desktop database
management system;
• Unfortunately, MS Access is only available on Windows
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This is the database that you will build
• Three tables: STUDENT, CLASS, and
GRADE;
• StudentNumber in GRADE creates a
relationship to StudentNumber in
STUDENT;
• ClassNumber in GRADE creates a
relationship to ClassNumber in CLASS;
• StudentNumber in GRADE and
ClassNumber in GRADE are examples
of foreign keys.
Please follow the following steps...
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Step 1: Locating MS Access 2010/2013/2016
• Move your mouse to the Start icon on the left lower corner of
your screen and click it
• Choose Access from the App list
• Click Access icon
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Step 2: Creating a blank desktop database
• After clicking the Access
icon, you will see a screen
on the right
• Please double click Blank
desktop database icon to
create a blank database
Step 3: Save the database to a local path I
• Please save the
database to a
local path on
your computer.
• Make sure you
name the file to
Student_Class_G
rade.accdb
Step 3: Save the database to a local path II
• You will see a
screen like the
one on the right.
• If you see a
security warning
bar, click Enable
Content button.
Step 4: Create STUDENT Table and its fields I
• Please click Create tab and select
Table Design on the menu bar
• Enter StudentNumber in Field
Name, and AutoNumber as Data
Type
Step 4: Create STUDENT Table and its fields II
• Create another Field called
LastName, with Data Type
Short Text
• Set Field Size to 25
• Follow the similar steps and
create FirstName field: Short
Text, Field Size 25
• Create EmailAddress field:
Short Text, Field Size 50
Step 5: Setting the Primary Key I
• Move the mouse and
select the
StudentNumber row
• Set StudentNumber
as the Primary Key
of this table
Step 6: Save the STUDENT table I
• Click the Save button
on the quick access
bar
• Enter STUDENT as
the table name
• Click OK
Step 6: Save the STUDENT table II
• You will see a table called
STUDENT on the left
panel
A-12
Step 7: Create CLASS and GRADE table
• Please create CLASS GRADE table following the steps used
for STUDENT
• CLASS table fields
• GRADE table fields
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Step 8: Adding Data to Tables I
• We can add data to a table by:
• Using the datasheet view (we use this)
• Using a form
• This is the data:
A-14
Step 8: Adding Data to Tables II
• Double click the STUDENT Table on the left panel
• Enter Cooke in LastName, Sam in FirstName, and
[email protected] in EmailAddress
• When finish, press Enter. The StudentNumber field will be filled with
1 automatically (auto increment)
• Enter the rest of student data following above steps
A-15
Step 8: Adding Data to Tables III
• Enter data for CLASS and GRADE table
• CLASS table data
• GRADE table data
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Step 9: Creating Relationships I
• Click Database Tools
on the menu bar
• Select Relationships
tab
• You will see a Show
Table
• Select the table and
click Add
Step 9: Creating Relationships II
• Drag StudentNumber in
STUDENT table to
StudentNumber in GRADE
table (PK-FK)
• Drag ClassNumber in
CLASS table to
ClassNumber in GRADE
table (PK-FK)
• Check Enforce Referential
Integrity in the check box
and click Create
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Step 9: Creating Relationships III
• Click Save on the Menu bar
• This is what the what it should look like after you create
relationships among three tables
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Step 10: You can Report the database
• You have created a database with three tables. Let’s try create
a report.
• Go to Create -> Report Wizard and follow the instructions
• Please create a report (of your interest) that uses fields from all three
tables.
• Save the report as studentReport.pdf
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Deliverables
• The Student_Class_Grade.accdb file (You saved it to a
directory on your computer in the previous steps)
• The studentReport.pdf file you created from the last step.
• If you are using the virtual desktop from UI, please make sure
you save both files to your student directory so that you can
access it for submission.
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