Skip to main content

Access 2013 Basic Training

In This Chapter

  • Deciding when to use Access
  • Discovering what’s new in Access 2013
  • Unlocking the basics of working with Access
  • Figuring out how to get started

Access 2013, the most recent version of the Microsoft Office database application, continues to be a very powerful program. You probably already know that, and perhaps that power — or your perceptions of all that Access can do — is what made you reach for this blog. We congratulate you on your wise choice!

For all of its power, Access is also very — pardon the expression — accessible. It’s pretty easy to use at the edges, where a new user will be; you don’t have to venture all the way in to its core to get quite a lot out of the software. In fact, with just the basic functionality that you’ll discover in this blog, you’ll be able to put Access through many of its most important paces, yet you’ll be working with wizards and other onscreen tools that keep you at a comfortable arm’s distance from the software’s inner workings, the things that programmers and serious developers play with. There. Don’t you feel better now?

You don’t have to use every feature and tool and push the edges of the Access envelope. In fact, you can use very little of everything Access has to offer and still create quite a significant solution to your needs for storing and accessing data — all because Access can really “do it all” — enabling you to set up a database quickly, build records into that database, and then use that data in several useful ways. Later on, who knows? You may become an Access guru.

In this chapter, you’ll discover what Access does best (and when you might want to use another tool instead), and you’ll get a look at what’s new and improved in Access 2013 (compared to Access 2010). You’ll see how it does what it does, and hopefully you’ll begin to understand and absorb some basic terminology.

Now, don’t panic; nobody’s expecting you to memorize tons of complex vocabulary or anything scary like that. The goal here (and in the next two chapters) with regard to terms is to introduce you to some basic words and general concepts intended to help you make better use of Access — as well as better understand later chapters in this blog, if you choose to follow us all the way to its stunning, life-altering conclusion.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Access Field Types and Uses

A field, you remember, is where your data lives. Each field holds one piece of data, such as Last Name or Batting Average. Because there are so many different kinds of information in the world, Access offers a variety of field types for storing it. In fact, Access puts the following field types at your disposal: Short Text Long Text Number Currency Date & Time Yes/No Lookup & Relationship Rich Text Attachment Hyperlink OLE Object Calculated There’s also an Autonumber field type, which is applied automatically to the first field in a new, blank database. The types just listed are those available for fields you create in addition to that first field — the ones that will contain your data. For now, suffice it to say that the Autonumber field is a field that contains an automatically-generated number so that each record is unique in that it has a unique autonumber, or ID. You get the word about the need for (and ways to create) unique fields later on, in Chapter ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Part 2: Setting the Table in Access 2013

In this part . . . Continue building a well-structured database through the use of multiple tables. Customize your table fields to keep data consistent. Learn to efficiently edit your data. Create primary keys to keep your table data unique. Set up relationships between your database tables. Understand relationships for any kind of database and create and maintain indexes.
Post a Comment
Read more

Building a Database in Access

So you’ve read a few posts here at the beginning of the blog, maybe you’ve leafed ahead where I’ve referred to other chapters, and now you feel ready. You want to dive in and start building a database. Keeping in mind my previous advice to take it slowly, you can take a whack at it here. In the following procedure, you set up a new database and then use the Table Wizard to build the first table in the database. Ready? Here we go . . . 1. If Access is not already running, take a moment to start it. Chapter 1 shows you how to do this. In the Access workspace, a series of large template icons appears, below a Search for Online Templates box, accompanied by links to likely searches for templates that store Assets, Business, Contacts, Employee, and so on. 2. Click the Blank Desktop Database icon. A Blank Desktop Database dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3-1. Figure 3-1: New blank databases need names. Give yours one here. 3. Type a name to replace the generic Databa...
1 comment
Read more