Lesson 1 - Getting Started 1 Lesson 1 Getting S ta rted Les s on Topics Database Basics Starting Access and Opening a Database The Access Screen Viewing the Contents of a Database Viewing a Database Table Exiting Access Review Exercise Les s on Objectives At the end of the lesson, you will be able to: Explain the basic elements of a database table; Use the Start button to start Access; Open an existing database; Identify the primary components of the Access screen, including the application window, the Database window, the toolbar, the menu bar, the Status bar, the scroll bar, and database objects; Identify the different components of an Access database; Use the View menu to display and arrange Access objects; View the different objects in a database; Identify the fields and records of a table; Switch between open windows; Arrange open windows on the screen; Close open windows and exit Access. Student Files Us ed You will use the following file from your student folder: Introduction Copyright 1985-2007, Finney Learning Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
2 Microsoft Access 2003 - Beginning Database Basics Access is a database management program. At the most basic level, a database is simply a collection of information such as a list of employees, of inventory, of real estate properties, or of videos. What makes a database special is that the information is organized in such a way that makes it easy to manage. Managing information includes sorting it (e.g., putting a list in alphabetical order), selecting it (e.g., choosing all employees who have been with the company for over five years), and printing it (e.g., printing address labels). To help you understand the structure of a database, it is helpful to think of a box of index tabs used to store client information. A database program would consider each index tab to be a record a place where related information is stored. In turn, each index tab contains specific information concerning one client for example, the client s first name, last name, street address, and other information. Each individual piece of information is called a field. A group of related records is stored in a table similar to how a collection of related index tabs might be stored in a small box. Fields, records, and tables are the building blocks for the information that you will enter into a database. As you will see, however, Access contains much more than the information alone. If you have used spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3, you may have worked with their database capabilities. These programs cannot match the versatility of Access, however. Starting Access and Opening a Database As a way of introducing you to the Access screen and the contents of a database, you are going to open a sample database. You are going to start Access and look at some of its basic components. 1. In most cases, Windows starts automatically when your computer is turned on. Verify that your computer is on and that Windows has started. 2. There are a number of ways in which to start Access. You can use the Start button, you can use a shortcut that might be located on your Desktop, or you can use an icon for an Access database. You are going to use the Start button.
Lesson 1 - Getting Started 3 The Start button is located on the Taskbar, usually at the bottom of your screen. Point to the Start button and click. The Start menu appears. Tip: If you can not see the Start but ton, hold down the CTRL key and then tap the ESC key. The Start menu should ap pear. 3. Usually, the Access item can be found through the Programs submenu. Point to the Programs item. A submenu appears. The items on this submenu depend upon what is installed on your computer. 4. The Microsoft Access item might be available on the Programs submenu. It could also be available through the Microsoft Office submenu. If the Microsoft Access item is visible, click it to start Access. If Microsoft Access is not visible, point to the Microsoft Office submenu, locate Microsoft Office Access 2003, and then click it. After a few moments, the Access application window appears in the background.
4 Microsoft Access 2003 - Beginning On the right side of the window, notice the Getting Started task pane. At the top of this task pane are several options for receiving help. The bottom section, titled Open, contains a list of recent files, as well as a More option and a Create new file option. The More option allows you to open a database. The Create new file option accesses the New File task pane, which allows you to create a new database. 5. You are going to open an existing database. On the Getting Started task pane, click More. The Open dialog box appears. All Open dialog boxes in Windows are similar. You will learn more about the Open dialog box later. For now, it is important to know that in order to open a database, the appropriate folder should be indicated in the Look in drop-down list box.. 6. If you followed the instructions at the beginning of this course, your student files are stored in the FLS Access2003 Student Files folder on the C drive. You are going to have the Open dialog box display the contents of this folder. Click anywhere on the Look in drop-down list box.
Lesson 1 - Getting Started 5 The contents of the list box might resemble this: In the list box is a list of all the drives (and folders on the Desktop) available. There may be only two 3 1 2 Floppy (A:) and (C:). Before (C:) may be a descriptive name such as Local Disk. (It is a convention to display drives with a colon.) 7. Click once on Local Disk (C:). (You may need to use the up scroll arrow to bring it into view.) Notice that the files and folders that are displayed in the dialog box reflect the contents of the C drive. 8. You are going to display the files in the FLS Access2003 Student Files folder. In the list box, click once on the FLS Access2003 Student Files folder. You may have to scroll to see it. Note: If you do not see this folder, ver ify that you com pleted the steps at the be gin ning of this course. 9. Click the Open button. The database files that were copied from your student disk are displayed. Tip: In stead of click ing the Open but ton, you could have sim ply dou ble-clicked the FLS Access2003 Student Files folder. Note: Your list might or might not con tain a pe riod fol lowed by the three char ac ter ex ten sion, mdb. In fact, all file names con tain an ex ten sion. Win dows has an op tion, how ever, that al lows you to hide cer tain ex ten sions. 10. In the list box, select Introduction. 11. Click the Open button. The Introduction Database window opens inside the Microsoft Access window. Do not be concerned if your screen looks slightly different from the one below.
6 Microsoft Access 2003 - Beginning Other Window Elements There are a number of other window elements that should be addressed. You already know about the Title bar and the Menu bar. Below the Menu bar is a toolbar that will change depending on what you are doing. Currently, the Database toolbar is displayed. A Status bar at the bottom of the application window provides you with information about commands and selected items. Finally, the Database window actually holds seven different containers. Each container is represented by one of the tabs at the left of the window. You will be using these in the next section.
Lesson 1 - Getting Started 7 Viewing Database Objects A Microsoft Access database is made up of up to seven different types of items, called objects in Access. Here is a brief description of the seven different types of Access objects: Tables. These are where you store your data. At first, you will have only one table in your Access databases. Most Access databases contain more than one table, however. Queries. These are questions used to select information from the tables. For example, you might create a query that shows all of the students in the eleventh grade. Forms. These are used to enter and edit data in a table. Reports. These are used to communicate (on paper) the information in your database. Pages. These are used to create web pages based on the database information. Macros. These can be used to replace simple keystrokes and mouse actions that are used frequently. Macros can help automate common tasks, such as printing a report. Modules. These are programs that can be used to customize Access for a particular task. Although related to macros, they are usually more sophisticated. In this course, you will use all of these Access objects except for Pages, Macros and Modules. For now, you are simply going to look at the contents of the Introduction database. 1. On the Database window, click the Tables tab if it is not already selected. When the Tables tab is selected, the Database window displays the table objects in the active database. Notice that there are two table objects: HomeRooms (which, as you will soon see, lists the home rooms with the corresponding teacher) and StudentInfo (which contains student information). The three items at the top (Create table in Design view,
8 Microsoft Access 2003 - Beginning Create table by using wizard, and Create table by entering data) are merely alternative methods of performing standard Access procedures. In this course, you will be generally ignoring these items and using the traditional methods to perform these functions. 2. On the Database window, click the Queries tab. Notice the two query objects. The 12thGraders query lists students in the 12th grade. The HomeRoom362 query lists students in home room 362. 3. On the Database window, click the Forms tab. This database contains only one form object the StudentEntry form. As mentioned, forms can make it easier to enter and edit the information in a database. 4. On the Database window, click the Reports tab. Notice the two report objects. The HomeRooms report produces a printout of teachers and their homeroom. The StudentList report produces a printout of the student information. The View Menu You can use the View menu to view and arrange the different Access objects. 1. Point to the View menu and click. Notice the items on the View menu. 2. The Database Objects item is another way of displaying the objects in the active database. Point to Database Objects. Notice the submenu that appears. The highlighted icon next to Reports indicates that the report objects are currently being displayed in the Database window. 3. On the submenu, point to Tables and click. The table objects are displayed.
Lesson 1 - Getting Started 9 Tip: You can view the dif fer ent da ta base ob jects on the Da ta base win dow by us ing CTRL/TAB and CTRL/SHIFT/TAB that is, hold ing down the CTRL key and then tap ping the TAB key as many times as needed to dis play the ap pro pri ate ob jects. You can use the View menu to change how the object icons appear in the Database window. If you are familiar with Windows, you will recognize these techniques. 1. Point to the View menu and click. 2. Point to Large Icons and then click. Notice that the table objects are now displayed as large icons. 3. Point to the View menu and click. The icon next to Large Icons is recessed, indicating that this is the current view. 4. Point to Small Icons and click. The table objects are displayed using smaller icons, lined up on an (invisible) grid. 5. Point to the View menu and click. 6. Point to List and click. This view is similar to Small Icons view. Instead of being lined up on a grid, however, the objects are displayed in columns. 7. Point to the View menu and click. 8. Point to Details and click. Notice Details view. Much more information is provided about each object, including a brief
10 Microsoft Access 2003 - Beginning description of the object and when the object was created and last modified. Tip: If you click one of the col umn head ers in De tail view, Ac cess will sort the ob jects ac cord ing to the col umn header. 9. You are going to return to the default view, which is List view. From now on, when we ask you to choose an item on a menu, we will say on the [whatever] menu, choose [such-and-such]. It is assumed that you will click the specified menu name and then click the item. On the View menu, choose List. Note: The view op tion that you se lect is ap plied to all of the ob jects in the Da ta base win dow, not just the ob jects that are cur rently dis played. Note: The last four but tons on the Da ta base window toolbar rep re sent the menu com mands you have just used. Al though toolbar but tons are gen er ally eas ier to use than menu com mands, it is al ways wise to first learn the menu com mands that they rep re sent. The View menu also allows you to change how the objects are arranged in the Database window. You are going to take a look at the options available. 1. Click the View menu. 2. Point to Arrange Icons. Notice the submenu that appears. You can arrange the database objects by name, by type, by creation date, or by the last modification date.
Lesson 1 - Getting Started 11 Note: If the ob jects are dis played in Large Icons or Small Icons view, you choose the Auto Ar range op tion in or der to tell Ac cess to al ways keep the ob jects ar ranged in the se lected man ner. 3. You can close a menu without selecting an option. Click an empty area of the Database window. Tip: You can also tap the ESC key to close a menu. Viewing a Database Table You can view the information contained in a database table in at least two ways: by looking at the table in which the information is stored, or by using a form to display the information for you. You will work more with forms later in this course. For now, you are going to use the table in order to look at the information. 1. Verify that the Tables tab is selected. 2. You are going to look at the information in the StudentInfo table. Click the StudentInfo table to select it. 3. On the Database window, click the Open button. A new window appears containing the StudentInfo table. You will learn more about working with tables in the next few lessons. For now, you are going to see how this table illustrates some of the database concepts discussed earlier.
12 Microsoft Access 2003 - Beginning The very top of the table (the Header row) contains the names of the fields. This is the information that is collected for each student. Each of the remaining rows of the table represents an individual record. Currently, the first record is for the student Jamaal Young and the last record in the table is for the student Lydell Harrigan. In the left edge of the table, notice the small triangle that is currently pointing towards the first record. This triangle always points to the active record. It is called the record indicator or record selector. Also in the left edge of the table, notice the small asterisk that appears at the very end of the table. This asterisk signifies the end of the table. At the bottom of the window, notice the Record Number text box contains 1. Every record in a table is assigned a record number that indicates its position in the table. The contents of this text box indicate the active record. Tip: You can also open a ta ble by dou ble-click ing the ta ble name in the Da ta base win dow. 4. If the active record changes, the record selector will move. You are going to change the active record and notice that the record selector moves. Just under the first record, position the pointer (or I-beam) on Williams and click. Notice that the record selector has changed position. At the bottom of the window, notice that the Record Number box indicates that this is the second record. 5. Click in different fields of various records and notice the active record change. 6. On the File menu, choose Close to close the table. The Database window, which was behind the table, is once again in view.
Lesson 1 - Getting Started 13 Viewing Other Access Objects In later lessons, you will create your own queries, forms, and reports. For now, you are going to take a quick look at some of the ones in the current database. 1. On the Database window, select the Queries tab. 2. Click the 12thGraders query to select it. 3. Click the Open button to open the query. The 12thGraders: Select Query window opens. Access displays only students in the twelfth grade. 4. On the File menu, choose Close to close the query. 5. Select the Forms tab. 6. Double-click StudentEntry to open the form object. The StudentEntry form appears in a separate window. Rather than seeing a number of records at once, forms often display information one record at a time. 7. On the File menu, choose Close to close the form. 8. On the Database window, select the Reports tab.
14 Microsoft Access 2003 - Beginning 9. Click the StudentList report to select it and then click the Preview button. The StudentList: Report window appears. Notice the example on the next page. This report presents information in a more readable format. Notice that the pointer has turned into a magnifying glass with a plus sign. This Magnifier provides you with a means of adjusting the view of the report. 10. With the Magnifier anywhere on the report, click. Notice that you have zoomed in and can now see more of the report. The Magnifier now has a minus sign inside of it. 11. With the Magnifier on the report, click. The entire report is visible again. You will work more with reports later in this course. 12. On the File menu, choose Close to close the report. 13. On the File menu, choose Close to close the In tro duc tion : Da ta base win dow. 14. At the right of the Access window title bar, click the big X to exit Access. End of Lesson 1