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EcoMed Services EcoMed Services is a fictional lighting

company located in Kansas City, Missouri

It provides environmental friendly lighting to medical facilities in the United States

EcoMed opened for business in 1972 and has grown to partner with more than 150 medical facilities

Company stocks over 300 standard and specialized light bulbs

Ms. Ivon Gonzalez, company president You have been hired as an intern to help

manage and update the Access database

Microsoft® Access 2013

Lesson 01

Getting Startedwith a Database

Objectives

• Identify basic database structure1

• Work with a Microsoft Access database2

• Identify components of Access3

• Navigate Access recordsets4• Modify a datasheet’s

appearance5• Save and print a recordset6

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What is a Database? A database is a logically organized

collection of data Example: School database is used to track

courses, where you live, when you graduate, contact information, and other important academic information, etc…

Types of databases: Relational – Access is a relational database;

It’s the most common type of database; eliminates duplication of records

Flat – Excel – each database is represented as a single table

Hierarchical – data is organized into a tree-like structure

Network – each record type can have multiple owners

Dimensional – is a relational database that uses a dimensional data model to organize data

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Relational Database Access databases are organized by

major objects All data is stored in TABLES

A table is the major database object that stores all data in a subject-based list of rows and columns

Looks similar to an Excel spreadsheet with rows and columns

Objective 1

Identifying Basic Database Structure

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Data Organization Table: major database

object that stores all data in a subject-based list of rows and columns

Record: complete set of related data about one entity or activity Records = rows

Field: smallest storage element that contains an individual data element within a record Fields = columns

7Figure 1-1

Data Organization

A group of fields make up a record A group of records make up a table A group of tables make up a

database

8Figure 2-1

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Recordset A recordset is a Microsoft object—

oriented data structure consisting of grouped records

A recordset can be as small as a single field or as large as two or more combined tables

A recordset is most often displayed as either a form or a report

Major Objects in an Access Database

Major Object Purpose

TablesTables store data about people, activities, items, and events

Queries

Queries display and organize data depending on the question being queried

FormsForms display data on a screen in user-friendly formats

Reports

Reports organize and format data to be used as printable documents

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Major Object Orientation

11Figure 1-3

Objective 2

Working with a Microsoft Access Database

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Properties Dialog Box

Files are located on-line

Files are in folders matching the lesson number

EcoMed-01 is located in folder Lesson 01

Copy files to your desktop

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Exercise 1-1

Figure 1-4

Access Backstage

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Exercise 1-2

Figure 1-5

Objective 3

Identifying Components of Access

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Getting Started Window

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Exercise 1-3

Figure 1-6

Navigation Pane

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Exercise 1-4

Figure 1-7

Navigation Pane Options

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Exercise 1-4

Figure 1-8

Navigation Pane Options

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Exercise 1-5

Figure 1-9

Leszynski Naming Convention for Major Objects

Prefi

x

Object Type

Example

tbl Table tblBulbType qry Query qryInvShort frm Form frmInventory rpt Report

rptInvByVender20

Table 1-1

Open a Table

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Exercise 1-6

Figure 1-10

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Switching Views• Each database object has multiple

views• Datasheet View – records are

organized like an Excel Spreadsheet with yourrecords displayed in rows and columns

• Design View is used to modify the structure of the object; Records are NOT displayed

Objective 4

Navigating Access Recordsets

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Navigation Buttons A Record Navigation Button is an icon

that moves the pointer within the recordset to the next, previous, first, last record, or a specified record

The Navigation Buttons are located at the bottom left of a table

Table 1-2

Keyboard Shortcuts

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Action Shortcut

Ctrl + HomeMove to the first field in the first record

Ctrl + EndMove to the last field in the last record

Tab or Move to the next fieldShift + Tab or

Move to the previous field

Objective 5

Modifying a Datasheet’s Appearance

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Hide/Unhide Columns

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Exercise 1-10

Figure 1-13

You can hide and unhide columns reduce thenumber of fields displayed

Resizing a Column

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Exercise 1-11

Figure 1-14

You can resize columns to enhance thedata being viewed

Changing row height is a GLOBAL setting and affects all of the rows in the entire table

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Font Commands Font commands, such as bold, italics,

and underline affect the ENTIRE datasheet

Other commands such as align left, center, right, can be applied to selected fields

You can alternate row color to improve readability

Objective 6

Saving and Printing a Recordset

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Print Dialog Box

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Exercise 1-14

Figure 1-17

Print Dialog Box

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Exercise 1-15

Figure 1-18

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Save a Table to an External File

Rather than printing directly on paper you can create an XPS or PDF file XPS is the file extension used by XML

Paper Specification PDF is the file extension used by Portable

Document Format You can save the electronic file, print or

email it1. Click the File tab2. Click on the Save & Publish tab3. In the File Types Section, Click Save

Object As, and choose PDF or XPS

Objective 7

Managing Access Files

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Compact and Repair

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Exercise 1-16

Figure 1-19

You can use the Compact and Repair command to reclaim unused space and improve database efficiency File, Info, Compact and Repair

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Back-Up a Database You should back-up your database to

prevent data loss The backup file is saved to the same

location as the original file The default name of your backup file is

the current date and time appended to the end of the original file File, Save Database As Backup Database

Example: EcoMed-01_2014-04-25