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Create Database Using Microsoft
Access
Why use Microsoft Access?
Access is far stronger at handling non-numerical data , like names and descriptions. Non-numerical data plays a significant role in almost any database, and it's important to be able to sort and analyze it. What really sets databases apart from any other way of storing data is connectivity. We call a database like the ones you’ll work with in Access a relational database. A relational database is able to understand how lists and the objects within them relate to one another. Microsoft Access It is a relational database tool****. This means that all data is organized into (related) tables. You may use the tool for budgeting your monthly expenses, organize your library catalogue or maintain an elaborate address book; the key lies in structuring your data into simple, non- redundant tables that can be linked together. “Remembers” your data. Unlike Excel, it also works as a seamless memory bank that stores and remembers your data so you can easily retrieve it for future use. For instance, you may have stored several Excel sheets for monthly expenses. But if you now want to combine these sheets and study them together, you’ll have to use special (and sometimes cumbersome) Excel features like charts, dashboards, etc. In Access, this is seamless. It makes complex data operations effortless. Access offers all the basic operations that Excel does, like sorting, calculations, filters, etc. In addition, it also allows you to join or exclude data from tables (like joining Excel sheets) based on special criteria. And the good news is that all of this is effortless in Access!
1. Organize your data into structured tables. If you intend using the Access database, the chances are that you already have a fair idea about the table structures you want to create. Please think of this as an important preparatory step as it is the structure of your tables that decides the success of your Access application. To launch Microsoft Access, choose File -> New -> “Blank Database ” and click on the “Create” key to kick-start your first Microsoft Access database! Hint: Choose an appropriate name that reflects the type of your database; this
3. Enter data into tables
In this step, manually enter data into the tables. But, note that Access offers several other effortless ways to import data into tables (from an Excel sheet, from a text file, etc.).
. To understand the relevance of table design, we will simply add data to the “Regular Expenses” table and explore the challenges. Here is the data we intend to add into our tables: The “Datasheet View ” is best used to add/delete/alter table data and opens up any time you double click on a table’s name in the left-side tab. You can also access it using DESIGN Tab -> View -> Design View. Once you’re in this view, choose the table you will work with (“Regular Expenses”) in the left- side tab. On the right-side tab, Click on the second column (Expense Name) and type “Rent”. Click on the third column (Type) and type “Fixed”. Click on the fourth column (Amount) and type “2000”. You have completed the first row. Repeat for remaining rows. Repeat the same for “Income” and “Monthly Expenses” table.
Did you notice how Access automatically sorts the data in increasing order of amount? If you want to change this, you can right-click on the Amount field and change the sort order. Access automatically generates a unique number for the first column (ID), as you are sure to have observed, as this treats this as the default primary key. This is the column that is typically used to retrieve unique rows of data from the table. But this value may be difficult for us to remember as it has no relevance to our data. Also, we have already identified our unique primary keys and should capture this in the table design. The next step will show you how to re-design the table to take care of this.
4. (Re)Design your Tables
Once you’ve created your tables, we bet you’re curious to see if they turned out okay. In fact, it’s important to do this so you can include any additional rules for data validation and accuracy. You can verify this in the “Design View”. The more flexible Design View of Access is easily accessed using the DESIGN Tab -> View -> Design View. (Alternately, you can click on the table name in the left-side tab and hoose “Design View”.) If you explore the “Regular Expenses” table (screenshot above), you’re sure to catch some inconsistencies. Let’s fix this as follows:
But right now, there is nothing special about this view. Our tables are simply listed, disconnected. To change this, click on REGULAR EXPENSES. Expense the Name field, and drag it towards MONTHLY EXPENSES. Expense Name field. A dialog box should open as follows: We are creating a one-to-many relationship between the Expense Name of Regular Expenses table and the Expense Name of Monthly Expenses table. Regular Expenses.Expense Name -> Monthly Expenses.Expense Name Primary Key -> Foreign Key One -> Many For this, “Enforce Referential Integrity” should be checked. This will ensure all added values in Monthly Expense will be checked against the values of the Regular Expenses table before addition. Uncheck the tabs to “Cascade Update/ Delete Related Fields”. This will cascade all updates/ deletes in the primary key table (in our case, Regular Expenses). So if the amount is updated for a particular expense, it will be cascaded in all related tables, likewise with delete. We deliberately uncheck this so we can catch any mismatch at a later time. Finally, click on Create. Similarly, create a relationship between the Month Name of Monthly Expenses and the Month Name of Monthly Income. Uncheck the “Enforce Referential Integrity” option here. The relationship view should automatically reflect this as follows:
You have defined your first table relationship and are ready to get more out of your data!
6. Query and View data from
your Tables
This is perhaps the most significant and useful part of using Access over Excel. You see, we’ve created our tables with the right design, added data and defined relationships. The next important step is to put this all together and view what our combined data looks like. And this is done through a QUERY. Here, we will create a simple query to capture any mismatches in “fixed” expenses. You can create a Query using the CREATE tab -> Query Wizard, the easiest way to create a basic query. You will be prompted for: Type (Simple Query Wizard). Table names and fields. Choose Expense Name, Type & Amount from Regular Expenses, and Month & Amount from Monthly Expenses. Detail or Summary. Choose Detailed. Type “Fixed Expense Mismatch Report” when the wizard prompts you for a name and click on Finish to generate the report query. The generated query should look like this (without the red highlights):
The final result should look like this: And this is indeed the final result we desire. Congratulations!!
The Final Note
In this basic tutorial, you’ve been exposed to a wide variety of Microsoft Access features, from tables to relationships to queries. We recommend that you build on the tables and queries listed here, attempting more complex operations. Suggestions for further practice include: Importing date into tables from Excel sheet or comma-separated text files (also called csv files). Adding validation criteria for tables using the Design View. For example, attempt to restrict the values of Regular Expenses.Type to either “Fixed” or “Variable” values only. Learn about “Normalized” tables and how it impacts your data. Re- design and create the examples shared here as Normalized tables. Use Query Designer from scratch to create a summary report containing total income, expense and balance each month for the year.
While your first few trysts with Microsoft Access may include a steep learning curve, we can guarantee the rewards your efforts will bring. Microsoft Access is a lightweight database tool that allows you to tap into greater power on your data with minimal effort. So keeping going and happy Access-ing!!
