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MS Access Diving Right In

So you’re ready to dive in. Well done, you! It’s easy to start Access. You can start the application in multiple ways, accommodating nearly any situation you’re in. (Chapter 1 discusses most of them.) Whether you’re starting Access to view and edit an existing Access database (which gives you what you see in Figure 2-2) or are about to create your own (which opens the application and displays the list of Recent databases and template icons, shown in Figure 2-3), you can get to the tools you need right away. Figure 2-2 shows an existing database open to one of its tables; its other components are listed on the left side of the workspace.

When you first open the application (as you also discover in Chapter 1), you’re presented with a workspace that offers three basic ways to make that swan dive into the pool that is Access. You can open an existing database by double-clicking it by name in the Explorer window or from an icon on your Desktop, you can start Access from the Start menu in Windows 7 or the Start screen in Windows 8, and then pick which existing database you want to work with, you can start a new, blank database from scratch, or you can start out with one of the Access templates.

Figure 2-2: Open Access and your existing database in one fell swoop.
Figure 2-2: Open Access and your existing database in one fell swoop.

Figure 2-3 shows the various template icons displayed when you choose New from the left-hand panel.

If you opened Access by using the Start menu or Start screen or a Desktop/Taskbar icon and now you want to open an existing database, you can use the Recent list in the panel on the left (see Figure 2-4), or if you haven’t used the database in question for a while, you can use the Open Other Files command.

When you use the Recent list, clicking any one of the Recent Databases listed opens that sucker right up, displaying its parts on the panel on the left side of the workspace.

Figure 2-3: You can build a database from nothing or from something — in the form of an Access template.
Figure 2-3: You can build a database from nothing or from something — in the form of an Access template.

So that’s it, really — any way you want to get started is available either by opening the Access application from the Start menu (Windows 7) or Start screen (Windows 8) or an application icon, or by clicking the File tab once you’ve got a database open.

After you get to working, however, it’s time to use the onscreen tools that don’t appear until you open a database. Read on for a whirlwind tour of the Access workspace, including views and explanations of all the major bells, whistles, and buttons.

Figure 2-4: Open an existing or recently used database.
Figure 2-4: Open an existing or recently used database.
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