BRIDGEPORT HIGH SCHOOL
Information Technology
Database Management (Microsoft Access)
Microsoft Access is a relatively easy program. With Microsoft Access you can use tables to
store data such as students in a school, members of a church, vehicles in a garage, your friends or
the types of vehicles in your neighbourhood. You can then perform searches, do mathematical
operation and arrange your data using simple commands from customized menus.
A database is an organized set of records (data) held in tables that can be easily managed. It is a
container in which your information resides.
A Database Management System (DBMS) is any program that handles the storage,
modification and retrieval of data, as well as controlling who has access to the information.
Examples of database programs includes:
Microsoft Access
Lotus Approach
FileMaker Pro
Corel Paradox
Objects that can be created in a database:
Tables
Queries
Forms
Reports
Macros
Modules
Purposes of an electronic database system
Databases can store millions of records
Databases can be designed so that data is never duplicated
Powerful and flexible sorting can be applied to the data very quickly
Records can quickly be selected from the database based on given criteria
Selected records can be viewed in different user-friendly ways
Calculations can be performed automatically and the results presented
Differences between Database and Spreadsheets
Databases are more often used for applications with a large amount of text, whereas
spreadsheets can handle complex numerical calculations more easily
Very large applications with thousands of entries are more often handled in databases
The way they work in the background is different as when you work in a spreadsheet,
you view the data you are entering. In a database you see only the data you are entering at
a time (you have to request a report or different display to see more of the information).
Examples of how we use large databases include:
Booking holidays and airline tickets
Using an online store to search a range of millions of products for a particular item
Accessing police computer database, with requests from police officers who want
information about criminal suspects or stolen items
Terminologies commonly associated with a database
Table-a table contains all the information about a specific subject. Each row in a table is
called a record. Every record is unique and is made up of elements called fields. A table
consist of a collection of records
Field-is the smallest piece of data that can be stored
Field Name-this is a descriptive name given to a field.
Field Type -describes what kind of data to use for a field based on the kind of value to
allow in the field
Field Description-this is optional and is used to describe the field
Primary key-is a field whose values are unique so that they can be used to identify a
particular record
Secondary key-is a field whose values are not unique so a particular value may identify
several records
Foreign key-appears in a table where it doesn’t really belong but allows two tables to be
linked
Composite key-is a primary key that is made up of two or more fields. For eg First
Name or Last Name
Candidate key-can also be a primary key if it is unique. However, only one key must be
chosen as the primary key. Candidate keys are entirely optional, so a table may contain
none, one or several of them.
Common data types found in tables
Text long or short text (a combination of letters, numbers and special
characters)
Number numbers for eg 12345
Date/Time date (eg day/mnth/yr)
Time eg 9:15
Currency Dollar and amounts of money
AutoNumber A number that increases automatically as each record is added
Yes/No Only one of two values(for eg a checkbox or a tick,
yes/no
Starting Database
Another name for a Database is Microsoft Access. All software used for Microsoft applications
are colour coded. Therefore Microsoft Access is BURGUNDY RED, WORD IS BLUE, EXCEL
IS GREEN, POWERPOINT IS ORANGE etc.
1. Select Microsoft Access from the Microsoft Office suite or you can type the name in your
search engine.
2. Once it comes up select blank database name the database and select where you
would like to save it by clicking the open folder shown below:
Select where to save file
Name of database
3. Once you select where to save the database you are then shown a blank database in
DATASHEET VIEW. You would need to be in DESIGN VIEW in order to enter your
field names as well as their data type, description and any other data that is required for
your database.
4. To go to design view simply go over to the left hand side where you see view, click on it
(it’s a dropdown option) then select design view.
Click on to go to datasheet view
5. When you select design view a dialog box will appear for you to name the table you are
about to create. Give the table a name and then enter your fields and their corresponding
information as shown below:
Default primary key enter field
information
6. Once all fields are entered and their corresponding data then simply save the data by click
the diskette at the top. Or once you are closing the table the dialog box will appear asking
you to save.
7. Once you click on the save option, double click on the table over the left hand side. The
table will open in datasheet view for you to enter the information for your database.
8. Enter your data and then click save.
DESIGN VIEW VS. DATASHEET VIEW
Design View is used to create your fields. For eg, Field name, data type, description.
Datasheet View is used to enter the information under each filed name created in Design View
into your database. For eg.
DESIGN VIEW
FIELD NAME DATA TYPE DESCRIPTION
FNAME Short text First name of client
LNAME Short Text Last name of client
AGE Number Age of client
GENDER Short text Gender of client
A record would then be shown in DATASHEET VIEW. For example,
FNAME LNAME AGE GENDER
David Franklin’s record
David Franklin 19 Male
Creating Forms and sub-forms
A form is a user-friendly interface to a database system. Forms can be used for inputting data or
simply viewing data in a user-friendly way.
To create a simple form
1. A simple form may be based on a table.
2. Simply click on the table that you want to use to create the form, then click the create tab,
then select more forms, form wizard, a dialog box will appear then you
3. select the >> for all the fields you want to display, then select next for the next options,
to name the form type form beside the table name then select finish. Your form will be
displayed.
