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.

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Databases with user forms

When you’re planning your database, consider how the data will be entered: If you’ll be doing the data entry yourself, perhaps you’re comfortable working in a spreadsheet-like environment (known in Access as Datasheet view), where the table is a big grid. You fill it in row by row, and each row is a record. Figure 1-1 shows a table of customers in progress in Datasheet view. You decide: Is it easy to use, or can you picture yourself forgetting to move down a row and entering the wrong stuff in the wrong columns as you enter each record? As you can see, there are more fields than show in the window, so you’d be doing a lot of scrolling to the left and right to use this view. You may want to use a form (shown in Figure 1-2) instead. A form is a specialized interface for data entry, editing, and for viewing your database one record at a time, if Someone else will be handling data entry Typing row after row of data into a big grid seems mind-numbing Figure 1-1: Datasheet view ...

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 ...

Adding buttons to the Quick Access toolbar

Speaking of the Quick Access toolbar and all the ways you can access commands for customizing it, try this to add commands: 1. With any database open (so that the Ribbon tabs are displayed), rightclick any of the buttons on any of the tabs. You can also right-click the Quick Access toolbar or any Ribbon tab. 2. Choose Customize Quick Access Toolbar. The Access Options dialog box opens (shown in Figure 2-13), with its Customization options displayed. Figure 2-13: Pick a command category and a command to add to the Quick Access toolbar. 3. Click the Choose Commands From drop-down list and choose a command category. A list of Popular Commands appears by default. 4. From any (or each) category, choose the commands you want to see at all times in the Quick Access toolbar by clicking them one at a time and then clicking the Add button. As you click the Add button, the command you chose is added to the list on the right. Note that you have up- and down-pointing triangles o...

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