if you've looked for a job online or
search for a book at your local library
you know first hand what databases can
do but do you know how they work what
goes on behind the scenes in Microsoft
Access databases are made up of four
simple objects tables forms queries and
reports together these objects allow you
to do all the things you associate with
using a database from storing and
entering more and more information to
analyzing and compiling search results
by now you should know that a database
is essentially a collection of data
organized into many connected lists or
tables that puts tables at the heart of
any database the place where your
information is stored this table is from
an actual Access database
mine it's a list of customers one of the
many things I keep on file to help me
run my business a specialty bakery the
familiar layout of horizontal rows and
vertical columns takes on a new meaning
here an access a row is more than a row
it's a record just like these are more
than names and addresses they're people
some of them my favorite customers each
record begins with a unique ID number
and spans several fields including in
this example first name last name street
address and more notice I used the word
field instead of column in Access fields
are designed to organize the contents of
your records without actually breaking
them up that means every entry in the
first name field is going to be a name
and every entry in the street address
field is going to be an address but no
one will ever become separated from
their record that's their personal
information while tables are responsible
for storing all this data the other
three objects forms queries and reports
let you work with it forms are used for
entering modifying and viewing records
ever had to fill out a form while
visiting the doctor's office or applying
for a job forms are used so often
because they're an easy way to guide
people into entering data correctly when
you or someone else uses one of your
forms and access that data goes exactly
where you want it to go this form makes
it easy to add a record for a new
customer
or edit an existing one anyone can do it
without ever having to face the size and
scope of that table or the possibility
of making a mistake queries give you a
way to search for and compile data from
one or more of your tables running a
query is like asking a detailed question
of your database or doing an advanced
search on the Internet
when you build a query in Access you're
defining specific search conditions to
find exactly the data you want a query
could help you find the name and number
of every customer who's made a purchase
in the last week for example that's
something you might not be able to find
just by looking at the records in your
table reports give you the ability to
present your data from any table or
query in print if you've ever received a
printout of an invoice or an official
school transcript you've seen a database
report they're useful because they let
you present parts of your database in a
way that's easy to understand even easy
on the eyes with colors graphics and
other things that you can customize so
now that you know how each object can be
used any idea how they work together it
helps to remember that they all work
with the same data the data stored in
your tables let's take a look at a
real-life example if you've ever used an
electronic card catalog to search for a
book at the library it probably looked
something like this
right now I'm entering my search terms
into what is actually a form when I
press this button the database is going
to create and run a query based on what
I'm looking for books in the series the
Lord of the Rings when the database
finishes searching all of its tables it
returns a report of the records that
matched in this case a list of books all
I have to do is click a book to learn
its location and status see how the
objects all work together first I filled
out the form then queried the database
to search for the book the query was
able to pull from all those tables to
produce a report imagine what it would
be like if we didn't have these tools
what should be a simple task would
become incredibly complicated and
time-consuming understanding the four
access objects and how they work
together can make even the most
complicated tasks fairly user-friendly
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