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.

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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 ...

Navigating the Access Workspace

In This Chapter Getting started Checking out the tabs, buttons, and menus Using your mouse to get from here to there Letting your fingers do the walking If you skipped Access 2007 and 2010 and are coming to Access 2013 from the 2003 version, you’re probably surprised by the new interface, which was introduced with Microsoft Office 2007. If you did upgrade to Access (or Office) 2010 when it first came out, then the 2013 interface looks very familiar — and you’ll find much of it to be the same as what you’re accustomed to. For those to whom the Office 2013 is a big change, take note of the following changes to the interface, which is strikingly different from what you may have used in previous versions: Menus have given way to tabs and buttons arranged in a strip across the top of the screen — known as the Ribbon. Toolbars are no longer made up of distinct 3-D buttons. Instead, there are buttons and graphic examples of formatting, pictures of what the buttons create, and d...

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...

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