Access Practice 1
Here is a video demonstrating the skills in this practice. Please note it does not exactly match the instructions:
Complete the following Practice Activity and submit your completed project.
Since Microsoft Access is widely used in industry, and we are using Microsoft Windows, we will focus on this DBMS going forward. There are many similarities across database systems, so the skills we are learning can be translated to other systems. The following ‘Practice It’ assignments are designed to be completed using Microsoft Access in Office 365 on a PC with Windows 10 or higher. You may need to download the Professional version of Office 365 (which is free to students) to view Access.
We will use Access to analyze, design, and create a database to extract, sort, calculate, and report business data. Since Access is used for Data Analysis, it is best to use a keyboard and mouse or touchpad rather than the touchscreen.
In Access, data is stored in Tables. This is the foundation of the database. Tables can be related to one another to create a relational database, which is a robust database. Each table row contains a record, and each table column is a field.
For our first assignment in Access, we will use a database template to become familiar with database structure including tables, forms, queries and reports.
- Start Access. In the search for online templates box, type Students and then press Enter. If you receive an error message, ensure you are connected to the Internet.
- Select the Students template database. Name the database Lastname_Firstname_Access_Practice1. Click the folder icon next to the file name to save the database in your Access folder. After you name the database, click create. Access is different from other software since you must give the file a name before you start entering information.
- It may take a few moments for the database to load. If a Welcome window opens, you can close this. If a yellow bar displays across the top of the database, select Enable Content.
- Once the database is open, take a moment to view the database window.
- In the navigation pane, click the shutter bar once to close the Navigation Pane. Click it again to open it. The shutter bar looks like two arrows pointing to the left on the navigation bar.
- In the Navigation pane, click the downward pointing arrow next to All Access Objects. Ensure Object Type and All Access Objects are checked.
- Notice how the Student List is the current open Access Object. On the Home Tab, in the Views Group, choose the arrow below Views. Notice how Form View is selected. Change the view to Layout View, and notice the change in the object window. Then change the view to Design View, and notice the change in the object window. Return view to Form View.
- Close the Student List from by clicking the x in the object window. Take care to not close the entire database, rather only close the open object. The database window should be empty.
- From the navigation pane