MS Access Reports

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Microsoft Access 2007 Tutorial

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Creating a Database using Access 2007

Created: 12 December 2006

Starting Access 2007

Double click on the Access 2007 icon on the Windowsdesktop (see right),or click-on the Startbutton in the lower left cornerof the screen, thenclick-on Programs, and then click-on Microsoft Access 2007.

The Getting Started with Microsoft Office Accessscreen will appear (image below).

For previous Access users:The above menu screen is newinAccess 2007. Take a few minutes to peruse this screen. Youwill notice that (on the top left of the screen) that the oldAccess Templates (already created databases) are still available.

As we move through this tutorial, many features of oldAccess will be familiar to you.


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Left Mouse Button

In this tutorial, whenever we indicate that you need to click the mouse, it will

mean to click the left mouse buttonunless we indicate that you should click

the RIGHT mouse button. So, always click left unless we tell you otherwise.

Creating an Access 2007 Database

This tutorial will assist you in creating a database that includes the features most often used indatabases. Once you gain skill with the database you create, you will be able to use andunderstand the already created Microsoft Access databases mentioned on the last page.

Well begin with a Blank Database and increase our database knowledge with each step.

Look at the centerof your Access screen. Youwill seeGetting Started with MicrosoftOffice Access. Below the title you will see aBlank Database button.

Clickthe Blank Database button.

As soon as you clickthe Blank Databasebutton, the right side of your Access screenwill change and look like the image on the left.

Saving your work

One of the uniquethings about Accessdatabaseis that it requires you to saveyour databaseassoon as you enter the program.

You can saveyour work on a floppy diskettein

the A: Drive, on aUSB key/Flash Drive or onyour C: Hard Disk, or in some other drive.Please save to one of these areas and substituteyour Drive in the instructions.

To choosethe Drive, on which you will saveyour Access database, clickthe small foldertothe rightof File Name:


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A New File Databasemenu screen similar to the one below will appear when you click thefolder.

In the upper left cornerof the File New Databasemenu screen that appears, you will seeaSave in: area (see upper left arrow above). Click-on the small down arrowon the rightand itwill show you the various disk drives availableon which you can save (see right upper arrowabove). Point to the drive on which you want to save your database,and click-on it. If youchoose the 3 Floppy(A:), make sure you have a formatted disk in the A drive. If you choosethe C: drive, choose the folder in which you want to save by double clicking on the folder. Yourselectionshould now appearin the Save in: area

Next click-inthe areato the rightof File Name:. Deleteany textthat is entered in the area andthen type-in the wordPERSON as shownat the bottom of the above image (see lower leftarrow).

Now click-on the OK buttonor tap the Enterkey (see lower right arrow on last page).

You will now returnto the Getting Started withMicrosoft Office Access screen. On the right sideof the screen you will see your database File Nameand belowit, the Drive on which you will createyour database.

Clickthe Create button.


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Creating a Table

When you clickthe Create buttonyour Access 2007 screen will change to the image below.This is the new look in 2007 Office. You will now see Tabsand Ribbonsthat automaticallyappear for the area in Access on which youre working. Instead of a Menu Bar and drop down

selections, youll now see these new features.

When we clicked the Create button Access assumed we desired to create within our Persondatabaseanother databasewhich is called a Table. Youll notice that at the top of the aboveimage that the Table Tools and Datasheet Tabs appeared to assist you. The Ribbon below theseTabs is composed of Groups of selections youll use to assist you as you create your Table.Well be working with theseTabs/Ribbons throughout this tutorial.

In the lower portion of the above image youll see selections that indicate we are

creating a new Table.

On the left of the Table Tools-Datasheet Tab/Ribbon youll see a View button.Click the View button.

When you click the View button the image on the left will appear.Since we want to create or design a new Table, well click theDesign View selection.

A Save As menu screen will appear similar tothe image on the right. Type personnel in theTable Name: area and then click the OKbutton.

Ribbon

Tabs

Groups


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Your Access 2007 screen will now change againto the image below.

Weve enlarged the upper left corner of this image below.

Notice(in the image above) that our Table Tools Tabstill appears. However, because we arenow in the Design process, the lower Tab/Ribbon has changedto Designto assist us withdesigning our Table.


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In the image on the last page you willnotice that the Primary Key button isorange and, in our Personnel Table, thatit is also orange with a little key to theleft of ID.

In database language this is calledkeying.

Keying, or indexing, is somewhat advanced. You can get a good description by searching inHelp for Keying or Primary Key.

To turn off the Primary Key, click the Primary Key button. Youll notice that they PrimaryKey button is no longer orange and the little key is gone from the left of ID.

If the Personnel Tableimage does not fill the screen, click-onthe small squarebetween the minus and the X in the upper righthand cornerof the screen (see arrowand imageon right). Thiswill Maximize the screen.

Notice, underthe Blue Barat the topof the Design screenthere are (3) things: Field name,Data Type, andDescription

And, in the lower halfof the window; Field Properties.

Wellbe creatingthe Field Namesthat make up a database. This is similar to creating a blankpersonnel form (on paper)that will be "filled-in" for each employee (Name, Address, PhoneNumber, etc.). The areas that will be filled inare called Fieldsin a database. When you fill inall of the fields for a person, the individual "forms" are called recordsin a database. There willbe a record, or form, for each employee. All the forms, together, make up a Table (database).


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So lets create a personnel database.

Significant Note: When creatinga databaseit is always best to break down a fieldinto its smallest parts. For example Name would break down into First Name, and LastName (you could also have Middle Initial, Title, etc.) Address would break down into Street

Address, City, State, and Zip (you could also have Apartment Number, etc). Because we areworking in Access 2007 it will be very simple to put the fields back together with a few mouseclicks when we need to do this. Trust us. This will save you a lot of time later on.

Look atthe imageon the right. Click-inthe areaor spaceunderField Name

and type-inLast Name (to replaceID). TapEnter or click-inthe areatothe rightunderData Type. The cursornow movesto the right under DataType. Clickthe down arrow under

Data Typeon right(see arrow onright). Your design screen should looklikethe one on the right.

Now well talk about Data Types.

Data Type

Text You may type in any alphabetical/numerical data that you desire - up to amaximum of 255 characters. As indicated, this is a text field, so you can't domathematical calculations. Examples of Text data are: names, addresses, stocknumbers, room numbers, zip codes, etc.

Memo This field is for lots of text. You can have up to 32,000 characters.

Number This field is for numbers where you want to add, subtract, multiply, divide,average, and do numerical calculations. This field can be a very large size, sowhen we get to Field Properties, we'll talk about "sizing" this field so it doesn'ttake up to much "space" in storage.

Date/Time Dates and Times. You may format these later, as you may desire.

Currency Dollars ($). You may format these later, as you may desire.

AutoNumber This field is an "automatic" counter that assigns a number each time youput data into a new field.

Yes/No This is a "True/False" or "Yes/No" type of field.


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OLE Object This means "Object Link Embedding" which indicates you can insert a graphic,picture, sound, etc. Pretty neat to put a photograph in a personnel record or apicture of an inventory item in the stock record (advanced stuff).

Since this is a simple, introductory Access tutorial, we wont work with Hyperlinks,

Attachments, or Lookup Wizards.

We'll leave Last Nameas a TextData Type. To the right under Descriptionyou may makeany remarks you feel are appropriate to someone who may want to know how/why you designedthe field as you did.

Now noticein the lowerpart of the screen, under Field Properties,that a box appearedwhenyou selectedthe Text Data Type. This box is "tailored" tothe TextData Type that you selectedabove. Your Field Properties should look like the one belowwhen you finishdoing the stepsindicated below.

Field Properties

Click-in each area (to the right of the words) as you read about it below

Field Size Is currently setto 255characters. That's pretty large for a name. So, click-inthis areaand changethe number to 25 (you can make this larger or smallerlater if you have to).

Format Now click-in the Format Area. Next tapthe F1function keyto activate Help.

Since you are in the Formatarea, Helpwill be "tailored to" this area. When theHelp Window appears, clickFormat Property.

Now clickText and Memo Data Types. Notice that there are several choices to make yourcharacters upper or lower case. This gives you an idea of some formats. We'll use one later.Now click-on the X in the upper right cornerof the Microsoft Access HelpFormatProperty Window to closeit.


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Input Mask We'll come back to this feature later.

Caption Look at the Light Blue Help area to the right. It explains about Caption.

Default Value We'll come back to this feature later.

Validation Rule We'll come back to this feature later.

Validation Text We'll come back to this feature later.

Required Look at the Light Blue Help area to the right.

Allow Zero Length Look at the Light Blue Help area to the right.

Indexed Look at the Light Blue Help area to the right.

Unicode Compression Look at the Light Blue Help area to the right.

IME Mode Look at the Light Blue Help area to the right.

IME Sentence Mode Look at the Light Blue Help area to the right.

Smart Tags Look at the Light Blue Help area to the right.

Now well repeatthis processand create different Field Names andData Types. Type-intheField Namesas indicated belowand set themto the Data Typesand Sizes indicated. Starteach new Field Name and Data Type - below the previous field (see example below)

Field Name Data Type Size

Last name Text 25 (Already Completed)First name Text 20

Social Security # Text 15


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We'll use anInput Mask forourSocial Security Number. Click-inthe Input Mask area intheField Properties area at thebottom of thescreen (see left arrow below).

Noticethe three "dots" (...)in a box on the right. Click-on the threedots (see right arrowabove). An Input Mask Wizardwill appear: "Must Save Table First. Save Now?".

Click-on Yes.

A Save AsWindow maynow appear. If itdoes, type-inPersonnel in the area underTable Name:, and click-on OK.

The Input Mask Wizardwillshowyou some Sample Masks(you may scroll up/down toview them). We'll use SocialSecurity Number, soclick-onit. Your screenshould looklikethe one below.

Now click-on Nextat thebottomof the Input Mask

Wizard screen.You will now seea defaultnumberof 000-00-0000usingdashes (-) between the

numbers. You can useanything you want.


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We'll leave it as is, so click-on Next> again (at the bottom of the Input Mask Wizard screen).

On this Input Mask Wizard screen youll see two choices. Click-inthe little circleto the leftofWith symbols in the mask, like this:. Sometimes, when we use Access data as a part of mailmerges or in labels, if we dont save the dashes, they wont appear in our document. So, italways a good idea to save dashes.

Click-onNext> again.

Now click-onFinish.

You will seesome special numbers writtenin the Input Mask areafor Social Security #.When you begin to enter data in this field, youll see how this works. Your Field Properties areashould look like the image below.


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Now continue entering the following information in the Field Name and Data Type areas as wedid above.

Street address Text 25

City Text 20

State Text 2

Here we'll use aFormat. First make the Field Size2then click-in the area to the right ofFormat.

A down pointingarrow, likethe one above(see arrow),will appear on the rightside of theFormat area. If you click-on the arrow, the area will appear blank (that's because we haven't

entered a Format). Tap the F1key in the row ofFunction Keys at thetop of thekeyboard. AHelp menu screen tailored to Formatwill appear)like the one below).

Since you are in the Formatarea, Helpwill be "tailored to" this area. When the Help Windowappears, clickFormat Property.

Since we are working witha Text DataType, click-on Text and Memo Data Types(see arrow below).


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Noticethat a > will change any alphabetic characteryou type into all upper case letters.Now pointand clickthe X in the upper right hand corner of the Format Help Screen(notice that the Help Window closes "automatically").

Now typea>in the Formatarea. Your Field Propertiesarea should look likethe one below.

Continue entering the following information in the Field Name and Data Type areas as we didabove.

Zip Text 5

Gender Text 1

Insert a > in the Formatarea to make all genderentries becomeupper case (capitals-like you just did for State).

Favorite Number Number (Note: this is the first Number field)

Here we'll learn about Numbers,the Validation RuleandValidation Text. We'll limitthe person's favorite number to a number between 1 and 999. Leave the Field Sizeset toLongInteger.

Now click-in the areato the rightof Decimal Places. It currently indicates Auto. When youclick, you will see a little down arrowon the rightside of the area. Click-on the little arrow.Select 0. This indicates that decimal places are not allowed in the Favorite Number.


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Next, click-in theValidation Rulearea. We'll "build" a mathematical expressionthat willonly allow numbers from 1 to 999. Typein the following expression(in the area to the rightof Validation Rule):

> 0 and < 1000

This tells Access that the number entered must be between 1 and 999.

Youll noticethat when you click-in the Validation Rule areathat three periods ()appearjust like they did in Input Mask. If you want to click-on the three periods they will bring up anExpression Builder which you can use to create the mathematical formula above. Please notethat frequently, if you are really not great at math, the Expression Builder can cause problems.Sometimes, the Expression Builder will insert an in the formula. If it does this,delete the . This will confuse Access, and will frequently cause the program to stop

until you remove . So, if you want to look at Expression Builder, please do so. Butbe careful.

If someone does notenter a number correctly, an error message will appear. Now we'll createan appropriate error message. Click-in the Validation Textarea and type-in:

Favorite Number must be between 1 and 999.


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When you finish all of the above, your Field Properties should look like the one below .

Continue entering the following information in the Field Name and Data Type areas as we didabove.

Date hired Date/Time

In Format areaclick the small down arrowon the right sideof the Formatarea and choose Short Date. In the Input Maskarea click the three dots(...),Save the table, and chooseShort Date again, clickNext>, click Next> again, thenclick Finish. (This will insert a /between the day, month, year).

Your Field Properties should look like the image below .

Salary Currency

In the Decimal PlacesField Properties area click-on the small down arrowonthe right sideand select 0this indicates no cents. Type a 0 (zero) in thearea to the rightof Default Value. This will indicate0 income if no Salary figure is

entered. Your Field Properties screen should look like the image below.


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Application Received Yes/No

Well make this a Yes/No or check box field. When we begin entering data in thedatabase, youll see how this box works.

Now that we have created our Person Database and Personnel Table it would be a good time toSave the last few changes.

Microsoft Office Button

The Microsoft Office Buttonhasreplaced Filein the Menu Bar. In theupper left cornerof your Access 2007screen you will seea button similar tothe image on theright. This is theMicrosoft Office Button.

Clickthe Microsoft Office Button.

You will now see the Access 2007Microsoft Office Button selections.

First, noticethat many of the old File-Menu Bar choicesare included in thismenu(they are all herewell showyou).

Since we Saved ourdatabaseat the

beginningof the tutorial, we only have toclickthe Savechoice.


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Quick Access Toolbar

You could also clickthe small diskettein the QuickAccess Toolbarin the upper left corner of your Accessscreen.

Entering data in the database

At this point you will still be in the Design view. To enter data into yourTable you will need to be in a Datasheet View. In the upper leftcorner of your screen (under the Home Tab) you will see that thefirstbutton on the left that has a small sheet of paper (see arrowon theright)the Viewbutton. Pointto this buttonwith the mouse and pause,you will see a "Tool Tip" that indicatesthat this button isthe ViewButton. This is logical because you have been designing your tableand now want to view the data that you will enter in your Table

(database). If you are familiar with spreadsheets it looks like a tiny versionspreadsheet. Clickthe Viewbutton.

When you clickthe Viewbutton, the top of your Access screen will look like the image below.Notice that all of the Fields you createdarein the order you created themalong the top ofthe Table.

Some of the Field Namesmay be cut off a bit. Well widen our fields in a moment.

You can enter data in each Field. But lets widen some of our columns a bit so we can see thetitles.

Widening Columns in Datasheet View

To widen columnsso you can seethe Field Namesin the DatasheetView you will need to move yourcursor over the line between

two Field Names (like we did inthe image above). When our cursor was over the line betweenStreet Address and City, itturned to a line with two arrows pointing left and right. When you see this linewith thearrows, clickand hold down the left mouse buttonand move your cursor to the right a bit.You will see the columnget largeras you move your cursor. When you have the column aswide as you desire, take your finger off the mouse button. You may desire to widen othercolumns so you can see all of your datalike First Name, Last Name, Street Address, etc. Youwiden as you desire.


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One notesince we have a Validation Rulein one of our Fields, if we try to widen a columnwe will get the Validation Rule error message. So, its best to only widen columns when

you are not entering data.

Entering Data

Under Last Nameyou will seea flashing cursor; this means that you are ready to beginentering data. You may type the dataand tapEnter,or click with the mouse in each field.If you make a mistake you may retypethe data. If you see a mistake later you can come back atany time and correct it.

Under each field,type the following in the area below the Field Name:

Field Name To be typed

1. Last Name Smith2. First Name Fred3. Social Security # 123-45-67894. Street address 100 Main Street5. City Lynchburg6. State va7. Zip 245018. Gender mor f(your choice)9. Favorite Number 200710. Date Hired 07/01/199311. Salary 4000012. Application Received Pointthe mouse to the little squareand clickthe leftmouse

button. You will seea check markappear in the square. A click

in the square indicates that the application has been received. Ifyou do not click, then that will mean the application has not beenreceived.

As you are entering this data you will noticeseveral things.

Social Security Number andDate Hired Youll see your Input Mask work.

Stateand Gender you typed in small lettersnoticehow the Format( >) forcedtheletter(s)to be capitals.

Favorite Number since the Favorite Numberis too big you willsee your error messageappear. Click-on OKin the message screen and then createa Favoritenumber that will work.

Salary - notice how your Currencyformatting created a $, commasand periods.


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Whenyou have completed typingthe information, tap Enterso the cursor will move down tothe next record. You are now ready to insert your second entry.

Note: When you tapped Enter, Access automatically savedyour first record. This can beconfirmed by the display of the hourglass.

Also note: As you began typing your first record a small pencil appeared in the left margin.

This indicates that you are "writing to" this record (editing). Below the pencil an *(asterisk)also appeared. This indicates that your next record will go below the first.

There are (2) methodsfor enteringdata into the database:

1. The method you just used is calledDatasheet Viewmethod.

or

2. You can use the Form View method (well create a Form in a bit later in the tutorial).

Exiting and Saving

Anytime you need to leave your database, clicktheMicrosoft Office Buttonin the upper left corner of yourAccess screen, thenclickExit Accessin thelower rightcorner of themenu screen. If you have not savedyour

spreadsheet, a reminder box will appear asking you to do so.

Notice the Access Options buttonto the leftof Exit Access. Earlier, we indicated that all of thechoices under File in the Menu Bar are still available using the Microsoft Office Button. Click

the Access Options button. The Access Options menu screen (top of next page)will appear.As you can see, all of the choices available under File in the menu bar are hereas well as manymore.


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If you clickthe Resourcesselection in the Access Options menu, you will see some great on-line resources available to assist you with Access.

After you have reviewed theAccess Microsoft Office buttonchoices, clickthe Exit Access

button.


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If Access asks: Do you want to save?,click. If Access shows you aSave file screen, give ita name of your choice and clickon OK. You should then exit to the Windows Screen with noproblems.

Since you have already named everything for this exercise, you should not have to name anyfiles as you exit.

Opening Access Database - again

If you decide to Exit Access 2007, and then return to continue the tutorial, refer to theinstructions at the beginning of this tutorial (Page 1) to open Access again.

A neat thingabout Access 2007 is the OpenRecent Database area on the right side of the

screen. Once you have created a database, youwill seeyour databasein the Openportion of thearea (see arrowand imageto the right). You cansimply click-on the file, in this tutorial Person, andit will open.

When Access 2007 opens, you will see that the bottom portion of your screen is blue and that thebelow message appears above the blue area. Access has long been a source for worms andviruses when e-mailed to other people, so Access 2007 has this additional feature to protect you.Clickthe Optionsbutton to the right of the Security Warning.

When youClickthe Optionsbutton to the right of the Security Warning, the Microsoft OfficeSecurity Options menu screen will appear. Take a few minutes to read this information. If youreceive an Access database from someone who you do not know, you can use the features in thisscreen to assist in protecting you. Since you are opening your own database, click the smallcircle to the left of Enable this content (see arrow below). Then click the OK button.


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When you clickthe OKbutton you will see, on the leftside of your screen, that your Personnel:Table turnsorange. This means that it is OKand that you nowcan open it again to enter more data. You have twochoices to open your Table.

1. You can moveyour cursoroverthe orange areaand click the LEFT mouse buttontwice quicklyand your Table will open in the Datasheet View.

2. You can moveyour cursorovertheorange areaand click the RIGHTmouse button. You will see adrop down menuappear. You canclickon Open

You are now readytocontinue enteringthe datain the Datasheet View.


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Form View and Datasheet View

As indicated previously, you have a choice to enter your data. You can use the Datasheet View,like we have done so far, or you can use a Form. Both methods work well.

Creating a Form in Access 2007 is really different than in previous versionsof Access. Wellnow use the new Tabs and Ribbons to Create a Form for our Personnel Table.

First, look at the topof your Access screenand clickthe CreateTab(we want toCreate a Form). Lookin the Create Ribbonin the forms Groupand youll see theForm button. Clickthe Form button.

Youll see your screen change significantlyin many ways. The first thing youll notice is thatAccess 2007knowing you were entering data from the Personnel Table created a Formwith all of the Fields in your Table! Youre all ready to enter data in this form.

Your PersonnelFormshould looksomething like the image below.


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Another new featureof Access 2007 is theTab layoutfor what youre working with.Look just above the Formand you will seetwo Tabs. Notice the small image on the leftof each Tab. The left Tabis your Personnel Datasheetand the right Tabis your Personnel

Form. You can clickon whichever Tabyou want to enter Data in your Table.

You may enter datain Form Viewthe sameas in DatasheetView. To Saveyour new Formyou can clickon the SmallSave Diskette in the Quick Access Toolbar. Since yourformwill be a part of your Person Database, it willautomatically saveas the Tab Name.

Or, you can move your cursor over the Personnel Form

Taband clickthe RIGHTmouse button. When the dropdown menu appears, clickthe Saveselection.

The data entry formis now saved as Personnel, just like the Table. Notice, at the bottomof theForm screen, that there is a status area (see below)that tells you what record you are on. Youcan use the arrows to move from one record to another, or select a new record in which toenter data. Click-on each of the arrows to see how they work. Some will take you forward orback to the next or previous record, and some will take you to the beginning or end of yourrecords. The arrow with an asteriskwill take you to a new blank record. Enter a few recordsto see how the Form View works.

When you first openyour Person Database,you may chooseyour favoritemethod to enterdata: The data Formor Datasheet. Lookon theleft sideof your screen and you will see AllTables. Under All Tables, you will see yourPersonnel Table withtwo selectionsbelow it:

Personnel: Tableand Personnel. Noticetheimageon the left of each selection(like at the bottom of Page 23). You can switch back andforthfrom the Datasheet entryto the Form entryby clickingon your choice (as outlined onPage 22).


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At the lower left cornerof the menuscreen, you will seesome text that indicates that youare either using Form or Datasheet View to enter your data.

When you have opened your DatasheetView and Form View you can switch backand forth by clicking on the Tabs.

The Viewbuttonson the upperleft indicatewhat view you areusing: Design View, Form View,orDatasheet View. You can

move back-and-forth betweenviewsby clicking-on the downtriangle(see arrows and images)and then choose the View youdesire.

Note: When you are finished entering data and preparing to exit Microsoft Access, or Close theform, if you did not save before exiting, the program will ask if you want to Save theForm. This is up to you. You may save it with your choice of names and it will then

show-up as a form when the Person Database Main Window appears. Or, you canindicate No, and re-create the form again with the Wizard.

Important

To record enough information so that you can see the power of Access database does enter

24 or more records now. You may use either Form Viewor Datasheet View.

Querying the Database

This is what a database is designed for: finding specific informationabout someof the datain the table(s) very quickly. A query is a search for general orspecific data in afield orfieldsin your database (e.g. the first and last names and birth dates of all employees, justthe Joness, the people from CA, salaries > $10,000, etc.). In order to do this, we need to clickon the fields we want to query. So, lets start by finding just Last Names in our table.


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If you are not intheDatabase: PERSONscreenwhich showsthe Tables, Queries, etc., gothere by following the instructions on Pages 21-24 .

Ifyou have the Personnel Datasheet orPersonnel Form open(to add data), closethembefore you begin your queries. The Accessprogram sometimes becomes logicallyconfusedwhen you try to do queries when it thinks you also want to add data. You may seeerror messages if you leave the Form or Datasheet open.

You can RIGHT clickon the Datasheetand Form Tabsand then select Closeif you havethem open. Your Access screen should look similar to the image below.

Clickthe Create Tabat the topof the Accessscreen (left arrow above). Then moveyour cursoroverthe Query Design Buttonin the Create

Tab/Ribbon (right arrow above).

When you move your cursor over Query Design inthe Other Group you will see an imagesimilar tothe one on the right.

Clickthe Query Design button.

Twonew windows will appear: Query 1: Taband Show Table. You will firsthave to select

the table(s) you desire to query. The Show Table screenshould look likethe one below.

Click Add First

Then click Close


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TheShow Table window will disappear, and the Query 1: Querywindow, will appear.

Click-on the expansion squarein the upper right cornerto enlargethe Query 1: Select Querywindow.

Your screen should now look similar to the one below.

Notice, in the upper half of the window,a small boxon the left indicates: Personnel. At the

top is an asterisk ( *)and below, in an elevatorbox, are the fields from thePersonnelTable(you can move up-and-down the list as you desire).

What we need to do next is place the Fields we want to queryin thelower areaof the screen.Noticethe lower areaon the left border. The first row indicates Field:, followed byTable,Sort:, Show:, Criteria:, andor:.

In the lower half of the screen click-inthe first cell to theright of Field:. We'll start with a query on Last Name, State,Favorite Numberand Salary. Now click-on the downarrow and then click-onLast Name. Noticehow Last

Name now appearsto the rightof Field: and a

(check) is seenin the Show: cell (The meansthat youwill seeLast Namesin your query.). Notice,also, to therightof Table:, that Personnel(the Table from which wequeried) is showing.

Your query screenshouldnow look likethe one on theright.

These areas

are

magnified

below


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Nowmoveto the next Field cell on the rightand, using the down arrowclick-on State. In thenext two fields to the right, insert Favorite NumberandSalary. Your Query1: Select Queryscreen should look like this:

Now, lookin theButton Bar at the top left of thescreen. In

the middleof the bar you will seean exclamation mark( ! )like the one on the right. If you move the cursor over it, the

help text box will indicate "Run." Click-on the( ! ). Thisclick executes your query.

Your query screen shouldlook similar to the one onthe left.

Notice, the screenONLYshows the four fieldsthatyou queried.

You can addor removefields,as you desire. To do this we need to returnto theDesign Viewwhere we created this query. To returnto Design Viewclick-on thesmallbuttonin the upper left cornerof the screenthat has the blue triangle,pencil, and ruler(like the oneon the right). Then, simply click-in the Field areaand select a new fieldand it will replacethe old one. Or, click-on the field youwant to removeand tapthe Delete key. Sometimes you may have a lot of fieldsand it will be too large for a single sheet of paper.


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To seehow your querywill look,ifyou printit, well show youhow toopen aPrint Preview

First, clickthe Microsoft OfficeButtonon the upper leftof your

Access Screen. Then moveyourcursorover the Print selection. APreview and print the viewarea willappearon the right. Moveyour cursorover Print Previewand clickon thisselection.

While youre in the Print Preview youll see a little magnifying glass that you can move overyour query. If you clickthe left mouse button oncethe magnifying glass will zoom inandenlargethe view. If you clickthe left mouse button againit will zoom out.

To returnto your query, click-ontheClose Print Previewbutton on the right side of the Print Preview Tab/Ribbon.This will take you back to the Normal View of your query.

Adding a Print Preview Button to the Quick Access Toolbar.

It took a lot of clicks to get to Print Preview. So, lets addthe Print Preview buttonto ourQuick Access Toolbarat the top of the screen. Then all well have to do is click this button for a

Print Preview!

Repeatthe steps at the top of thispageto get to the Print Previewselection. When you see the PrintPreview selectionclickthe RIGHTmouse button. When the dropdown menuappears, clickthe Addto Quick Access Toolbarselection.


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After you add the Print Preview button to yourQuick Access Toolbar, the toolbar will look likethe image on the right. Notice that Print Previewmay now be accessed by clicking this button.

You can use this method to addany button you desireto yourQuick Access Toolbar. There is a

small arrow on the right side of

the Quick Access Toolbar(imageon right). If you moveyourcursorover thearrow, you will see that it indicates Customize Quick Access Toolbar. Youcan work with this as you desire.

You can customize the Quick Access Toolbar in each 2007 Office application as you wish.

Sorting the Database

If you are not in the Query Design Screen, youll need to be inthat view. So, goto the Design Screen(bottom Page 28).Noticethat the third row,in thelower halfof the screen,indicatesSort: (like the imageat the right). Click-in the Sort:area under Last Name. A down arrowbox appears; click-onthe down arrow. Let's sort the Last Namesin Ascendingorder. Click-on Ascending. Notice

that Ascendingnow appears in the Sort: area. Click-on the( !) to see the new query. Noticethat the names you entered are alphabetized. Click-on the Design View button (triangle-ruler-pencil). Now changethe Ascendingunder Last Name to (not sorted). On your own, trysorting some of the other fields. When you are finished remember toset the fields to (notsorted)unless you do want to sort on those fields.

You may also sortvarious fieldsin your database whenever you are in the Datasheet View,whether you are viewing the entire Table, or a Queryfrom the Table. Notice that the FieldNamesare shown at the top of each column in gray cells.

If you click-on oneof theblue area field names(likeState), the entire column(Field) turns blue (like theimage on theright). Thisindicates that you havemarked the entire column(Field).


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On the Home Tab/Ribbon, on the right side, in the Sort &Filter Group, you will see two buttons with down arrows(like the imageon the right). When you movethe cursor overthese two buttonsa text helpbox will indicate: SortAscendingor Sort Descending. If you click-on oneof the

buttons, the Fieldwhich you selected(highlighted) will besortedin the order selected. Give this a try and see how itworks.

You can always click the Undo Arrowin your Quick Access Toolbarifyou desire to go back to the original order.

New to Access 2007A Filter/Sort Arrow for each Field!

In the imageon the rightwe clickedthe

small down arrowto the rightof State. Adrop down Filter/Sort menu appeared!This is new in Access 2007. You also use thismenu to enhance your sorts. Noticethat theA to Z and Z to A are in this menu, as well astext Filters. You can experiment with thesefilters as you desire. This is a neat newfeature that will assist you greatly in doingyour queries.

So, there are several ways you can sort yourTables and Queries.

Specific Queries

So far we have listed everythingunder each Field Namethat we selected. However, manytimes you will probably want to find somethingspecificin your Table (database - e.g. peoplefrom a certain state or city, people whose favorite number is 7 or salaries between $ 20,000

and $ 50,000). This is fairly common sense, but it can get tricky.

To get an idea of various criteria(you might want touse), click-on theHelp Question Mark in theupperright corner of theAccess Screen.


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The Access Help Task Panewillappearon the rightside of yourscreen. Noticethat there are already anumber of Help topicsalready

included in this Task Pane.

When your screen appears, click-in theSearcharea in the Task Pane. Type-inquery criteria and then taptheEnter key.

A Search for: Task Pane will nowappear (like the one on the right).

Click-on the Examples of querycriteria selection.

Another Access HelpScreen willappearsimilar to the one on theright. Clickthe Maximize squarein the upper right cornerof thisscreen so that you can see all of thecriteria examples more easily.


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Usethe Elevator Baron the rightside of this Help screento viewall of the various criteriaforqueries. This is a wonderfully updated feature in Access 2007 that really gives you an AccessManual for criteria.

When you are finished, click-on the X in the upper right cornerofthe Microsoft AccessHelp Topics menuscreen to closethe screen.

You may return and explore additional help screens as you become more accomplished withAccess 2007 database. These help screens are like having a complete Access 2007 manual onyour computer.

Now we'll try a few specific queries. First let's finda specific state.

You should be back in the Query1: Select Querymenu Designwindow. Itshould look likethe image below. If youre notthen clickthe Designbuttonin the upper left cornerof the screen(like the one on the right).

Click-in the cellto theright of Criteria:in the Statecolumn. You will see a flashing cursor(Make sure you are in the State column.). Type-inthe abbreviationfor one of the statesyou enteredin your Personnel Table. Your Query should look likethe image below.

Now click-on( !). A new Query1 window will appear. Onlypersons from thestate you selectedshould show.

This is aSPECIFICquery for that state.


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Click-on Design View Button (triangle-ruler-pencil)to return to DesignView.

Deletethe stateyou entered.

Now we'll look for Favorite Numbers larger than 600. Type-in>600 in theCriteria cellunder the Favorite Number Column.

Click-on( !). Everyone with afavorite number larger than 600should show. If no one isindicatedyou don't havea personwith a number larger than 600, oryou might have typed the >600incorrectly.

Return tothe Design View. Deletethe>600and run the query with no criteria. You shouldsee all thefieldsagain. Return tothe Design Viewagain.

Make sure all the Criteria: cells are empty.

Next we'll look for persons with salaries equal to or larger than $ 20,000 and equal to or lessthan $ 50,000. In the Salaryfield column, in the Criteria:cell type-in:

>= 30000 and


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You should now see a specific query that indicates those persons in the range you chose.

Go back to Design View. Deletethe criteriayou entered under Salary.

Now, on your own, if you desire, add or delete some fields to your query and experiment withsome combinations.

Don't get frustrated if no specific items appear. Frequently you might query for something

that can't exist(e.g. states of VA andCAa person can't be from both states at the same time)or there just isn't anything that matches. For fun, notice the or:just below Criteria to the left ofthe Design View. Try one state in the Criteria: cell under State and another in the or: cell. Go back to your Query Help (Page 32) and try some of the criteria you see.

When you have a good feel for queries youre ready toendyour query session.

Make sure that your query is completely clear of criteriawell use this query later for areport!

RIGHTclick on theQuery1 Tab. A Dropdown menu will appear. Moveyour cursorover Saveand clickon Save.

A Save Aswindow will appear. Name theQuery anything you like, were going to nameour query Test Query 2007. Click-on OK.

When you clickthe OKbutton you willnoticeseveral things -the Query1 Tabchanges to the name you chose, and onthe left side of your screen you now seeyou new query is available to use again,as you desire. You can activate thisquery and change things just like youdid above.


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You can closeyour Queryby RIGHTclicking onthe Taband then clickingClose.

Any time you desire to openthis query again, you simply click twice quickly on the queryselection on the left side of your Access screen. Or, you can RIGHTclickthe queryandchooseOpen.

Reports

Reports can be very complex. In this tutorial we'll cover the very basic steps ofcreating Reports. A good manual or some knowledgeable assistance will be essential tomastering reports.

There are several types of reports. We'll use Access Wizards andTabs/Ribbonsto designseveral simple reports.

For those who are accomplished with Access reportsfrom earlier versions of Accessthis

will be a whole new adventure with the Tab/Ribbons of 2007 Office.

First, make sure that you have closed any Tables, Forms, or Queries on which you are

open.

Your Accessscreen should look similarto the image below.

Clickthe Create Taband the Create Ribbon will appear. Lookat the Ribbon on the right

side. You will see the Create Reports Group


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The Create Reports Groupis enlarged on theright. Well begin our Report lesson using theReport Wizard. Once youve created a Reportwith the Wizard, youll be somewhat familiarwith Reports. Well then use some of the other

selections in this Group to create Reports.

Clickthe Report Wizardselection in theReports Group.

The Report Wizard Menuscreenwill appear:

Read all the information in theReport Wizard menu screen. Only the fields you selectfromyourtable will show-in the report. To bring fields into the reportindividuallyyou click-on thename of thefield(in the list of fields in the area under Available Fields:) and then click-on the

>. Theorderwhich you click-on the fieldswill be their orderin the report. The>>brings

over all of the fields. The


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Let's begin. Click-on First Name, thenclick-on>(noticehow the First Name field went fromthe Available Fields: to Selected Fields:). Now do the same with theLast Name, State,Gender andSalaryfields. These are the fields that will appear in our first report.

Your Report Wizard menu screen should look likethe one below.

If it does, click-on the Next>Button. If not, use the


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Grouping in Reports

This Report Wizard menu screen asks if you want to add Grouping. Grouping simply groupsrecords by an item in the report you are designing. Well group by state. This means thatrecords from a state will be in a group (e.g. people from Virginia will be in one group, thefolks from Washington in another, and so on). This will be easy to see when we look at the

report. So, click-on State, then click-on>. If you make a mistake, no problem, just use the again. Another Report Wizard menu screen will follow.


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First, the abovescreen requests that you indicatea Sort Order. This simply means that withineach group, the alphabeticorderin which you want the fields sorted. Well sortby LastNameand then First Name. This way youll have the names, grouped by state, in Last Nameorder and, where you have several people with the same Last Name, theyll be sub-sorted in FirstName order. Notice the Ascendingbutton to the right of the Sort boxes. This indicates that theField that you select is in A to Z or ascending order. If you click-on this button, it will reversethe order from Z to A, or descending order. Click-onthe small down arrow to the right of thefirst box and select Last Name. Leave the order as Ascending. Now, select First Namein thesecond box. When you are finished, your Report Wizard menu screen should look likethe oneabove.

Notice a Summary Optionsbutton below the sort fieldsyou have selected. Access 2007 isreally smart. Whenever you see the Summary Options box it is because Access 2007 knowsthat you selected a number field for your report. The Summary Options box ONLY appearswhen a number field is selected! Click-on theSummary Options button.


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The Summary Optionsmenu box allowsyou to entercalculationsfor numericalandcurrencyfields if you have selectedany. It will summarizethese calculations by each group,and intotal. So, since Salaryis a currencyfield, we can obtain calculations. Click-in the boxesunder Sumand Avg; this will furnish these calculations (as you will see in the report). If youwant percentages as well, click-in the box next to Calculate percent of total for sums.

Click-on OK. This will return you to the previous Wizard screen. Click-on Next>again.

This Report Wizard screen allows you to select a layoutfor your report. Click-in the smallcirclesto the leftof each choicein the Layout areaand observe the results. For the moment,well stay with the default: Stepped. So click-again it that circle. Leave the report in PortraitOrientation.


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Note: At the bottomof the last Report Wizardmenu screen(on the last page) there is acheck in the small box to the left of Adjust the field width so all fields fit on a page.

This is a very important check. This means that no matter how many fields you place inyour report, they will all fit on one page. With a few fields in the report, this is no big deal.However, if you have a lot of fields, they will be all scrunched up and youll notice thatsometimes the Field Names and data for these fields are cut-off a bit. As mentioned at thebeginning of the Reports section of the tutorial, this is where an advanced course or manualare almost essential.

Click-on Next>again.

The next Report Wizard will appear.

This menu screen allows you to select the Stylethat you would like for your report. Click-onthe choices(Apex, Aspect, etc.) and see what each looks like. Choose whichever style you

desire and click-on Next>again.


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The next Report Wizard screen is the lastscreen in the sequence. It allows you to select a titledifferent from the name of your database - if you so choose. Notethat the small circlein frontof Preview the Reportis dotted. When we click the Finishbutton Access 2007 will go to apreview copyof your report. Well titlethis report State Report. Use this name, or any name

you desire, and click-on Finish.

This is a report in Tabular(Columnar) format. Your screen should look something like the onebelow.

Noticethe #### symbolsunder Salaryand on the right of Sum and Avg. Thefields are notwide enough to display these numbers. Well show you how to adjust column widths in amoment.


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Noticein the upper left Cornerof the Access screen that you arecurrently in Layout View. If you clickthe small down arrowunder View, the drop down menuon the rightwill appear.

To really see what the State Report will look like, youll needto go to a Print Preview. You can either clickon the PrintPreview selectionin the menuon the right, or clickthe PrintPreview buttonyou placed in the Quick Access Toolbarat thetop leftof your screen.

In the Print Preview image belowyou can seethat the Salary, Sumand Averageamountsarecut off. Well need to go to the Design Viewto enlarge these boxes so that we can see allthe numbers.

Noticein the lower left cornerof the State Report screen that you are on Page 1 of the report.

Noticethe triangle arrow buttonsto the leftand rightof Page 1. These take you to the firstpage of the report, the previous page, the next page, and the last page. Try clicking-on them.


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Noticethat your cursorin this Preview Report screen is a magnifying glass. This shows youhow a page of your report will appear when you print it. Each time you clickthe magnifyingglass you will zoom in or zoom out making your report appear larger or smaller. You willzoom to the place where you place your magnifying glass just like if you were using a realmagnifying glass and a real piece of paper. Youll magnify the place where you are holding

the magnifying glass. So, give this a try.

To returnto your State Report,click-ontheClose Print Previewbutton on theright side of thePrint Preview Tab/Ribbon.This will take you back to theLayoutView of your Report.

You will see your State Reportwith all of the ####symbols.

Clickthe down arrow belowthe View buttonin the upper leftcornerof your Access screenand then clickthe Design Viewselection.

Well explain about what you see in the image above on the next page.


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New Report Design Tools Tab/Ribbon in Access 2007

In addition to the change to the Design View, you will see that the Home Tab/Ribbon is replacedby a Report Design View Tab/Ribbon. In previous versions of Access, small menu windowswould open for Design View. These have now been placed in the Tab/Ribbon you see below.

We enlarged a part of this Tab/Ribbon so you can see that the Tab/Ribbon GroupsGrouping &Totals, Gridlines and Controls have replaced the old menu boxes.

When you become more comfortable with Access Reports, youll find that these tools come inquite handy.

Now, about the areas you saw in the Design View on the last page

First: Notice, to the left, in the light blue part of the screen, it indicates: ReportHeader, Page Header, State Header, Detail, State Footer, Page Footer and

Report Footer (see arrows on the last page).

Report Header: If something shows here, it will only be shown on the firstpage of thereport.

Page Header: If something shows here, it will show on eachpage of the report at the topof each column.


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State Header This sets-off the State Grouping.

State Footer This ends the State Grouping.

Detail: These are the field names from our database. Access will pull thedatafor the individual fields from our database records.

These are the databasefields themselves. The fields print each timethere is a person in thedatabase. This field information is drawnfrom the database. As you enter more people in thedatabaseand run the report again,more people will be shown. The "size" of the box you seeon the screen was created when we created the field sizes.

Page Footer: This is what shows at the bottom of each page.

Report Footer: This is what shows only on the last page of the report.

Also note, the lower right cornersof the Stateand Report Footerarea boxes indicate:

= SUM([Salary]). This is a calculation box the Wizard created.This is what gave you the calculations for your average and thesum of the salaries in the State area and the grand total of allsalaries in the Footer area.


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Enlarging the Salary, Sum and Average boxes

On Pages 43 and 44 we saw that the Salary, Sumand Average numbers were cut off. Wellnow show you how to widen the boxesso you can see all the numbers.

In Design View, clickon the Salary boxin the Detail area. The border around the box willturn orange. Carefully moveyour cursorover the right side of the boxyou will seea two-headed arrowyour Detailarea should now look like the image below.

When you see the two-headed arrow, clickand HOLD DOWNtheLEFT mouse buttonand move your cursor slowly to the right.You will see the Salary box get largeras well as the Salary area inthe Report Header. Take your finger off the left mouse button.Your Salary boxand Salary Headershould now look similarto theimageon the right. If you have not made the area large enough,or too large, you can return to the Design View and adjust as

need be.

Now move to the State Footer areaand do thesamefor the Sum box.

And, then the Average box.

Clicka PrintPreview

button(likeyou did at thetop of Page44). Youshould now seeall of yournumbers.


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Saving Reports

Since you have already named your Report(State Report), moveyour cursorovertheState Report Taband clickthe RIGHT

mouse button. When the drop down menuappears, click Save. You will see your StateReport in the area on the left of your screenswith you Table, Form and Query.

Close this report againas you did previously (by RIGHT clicking on the State Report Tab andselecting Close).

Quick Reports

On Pages 36 and 37 we showed you how to create a report using a Report Wizardto give you afeel for how Reports are produced. A really neat new feature of Access 2007 is what well callQuick Reports. Now that you know how to use the Wizard and understand basic reports, youcan create similarsimple reportswith a couple of clicks.

Click the Create Tab. Then, click your Personnel selection under All Tables. Move your cursorover the Report selection in the Reports group. Read the pop-up Help box and then click Report.

You will see several things occur at the same time. On the lower right side of your Accessscreen you will see the Quick Report (image at the top of the next page).


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Notice that Access has chosen a name for the Report based on the name of your Table.

Also notice that a new Report Layout Tools Tabwith a Formatting Tab/Ribbonappears toassist you.

You can experiment with this Report and the Formatting Tab/Ribbon as you desire. Dont worryif you really create a Report that you dont want. You can use the Undo Arrow to go back a stepor two or you can RIGHT click on the new Report Tab and select Delete.

As you create reports you may save or not save, as you desire.

Reportscan becomevery complex, very quickly. This is only an introductory tutorial, whichfurnishes a simple guide to report design. You might want to purchase a book on Access or try aseparate tutorial on reports. Our favorite book is Microsoft Press Access 2007Inside Outfrom Microsoft Press

When you are finishedsimply exit Accessas you did on Page 19.

Now that you have the basics, you might want to try some things on your own. Try using theWizards in Table, Query and Reports.

We'll, that about does it for now. If you have comments on this tutorial, simply send e-mail to

the Internet address below.

Documents

MS Access Reports