Microsoft access view of the program. What is Access? Creating a database in Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access, issued in 2013 year is a program included in the Microsoft Office suite that allows you to manage, modify, and create separate databases. Due to its versatility and simple, intuitive interface, even an inexperienced user will be able to master the program in a short time.

Also, in case of any questions or technical problems, it comes with a complete guide and a built-in animated character who plays the role of a quick assistant. Microsoft Access 2013 contains free templates for creating an uncomplicated repository of information. Due to the maximum automation, the user does not need to know the VBA language to work with this program.

Access 2013 in Russian free download:

Version Microsoft Access sample 2013 year differs from its previous versions in improved appearance, as well as the ability to edit the ribbon menu. Also, written add-ons can be added to the Offise Store, and the distribution of the product can be both free and for money. In addition, the speed of import from earlier versions of MS Access has been accelerated.

How to install Access 2013

Click start installation

Click on Customization.

Select component Access and funds, click install.

If the problem is downloading:

Features and characteristics of Microsoft Access 2013

The program is designed to store, modify and maintain the integrity of data stored in the database, as well as perform various operations on individual groups of records. The main components are:

  • builders of tables, screen forms, as well as reports to be printed;
  • query builder

This environment is capable of generating scripts in the VBA language, which allows, if necessary, to literally rewrite your own database, as well as additional software.

When creating a new, empty database, you must choose one of four options for interaction and structure, according to which the information will be stored:

  1. Tables are the main way to store data. They are almost identical to Exel, which makes importing from such programs easier.
  2. Forms allow you to enter the necessary data into the database directly, unlike tables, forms provide a more visual input of the necessary information.
  3. Reports are mainly used for subsequent printing, they are able to calculate all the data in the database and show a generalized result, how much profit was made, for example.
  4. With the help of queries, you can add, sort and modify the information stored in the tables. They are also used to find specific records.

Conditions for working with the program

Access rights in this database are divided into three levels: guest (can only view tables), author (can make changes to form data), developer (it is possible to change tables). The updated SQL Server can significantly increase performance. And the use of programs such as SharePoint allows you to create a stable database on the site of your choice.

The main purpose of this program is to create and work with databases that can be tied to both small projects and large businesses. With its help, it will be convenient for you to manage data, edit and store information.

Microsoft Office application - Access - is used to work with databases


Naturally, before starting work, you will need to create or open an existing database.

Open the program and go to the main menu by clicking on the "File" command, and then select the "New" item. When creating a new database, you will be presented with a blank page, which will contain one table or a web database that allows you to use the built-in tools of the program for, for example, your publications on the Internet.

In addition, to make it as easy as possible to create a new base, the user is provided with templates to choose from, allowing you to create a base focused on a specific task. This, by the way, can help you quickly create the required table form without having to manually configure everything.

Filling the database with information

Having created the database, it is necessary to fill it in with the appropriate information, the structure of which should be thought over in advance, because the functionality of the program allows you to design data in several forms:

  1. Now the most convenient and common type of information structuring is a table. In terms of their capabilities and appearance, tables in Access do not differ much from those in Excel, which, in turn, greatly simplifies the transfer of data from one program to another.
  2. The second way of entering information is forms, they are somewhat similar to tables, however, they provide a more visual display of data.
  3. For calculating and displaying information from your database, reports are provided that will allow you to analyze and calculate, for example, your income or the number of counterparties with whom you work. They are very flexible and allow you to make any calculations, depending on the entered data.
  4. Receiving and sorting new data in the program is carried out by means of requests. With their help, you can find specific data among several tables, as well as create or update data.

All of the above functions are located in the toolbar, in the "Create" tab. There you can choose which element you want to create, and then, in the opened "Designer", customize it for yourself.

Database creation and information import

Once you've created a new database, the only thing you'll see is an empty table. You can start filling it out manually or fill it in by copying the necessary information from the Internet. Please note that each piece of information you enter should be placed in a separate column, and each entry should have a personal line. By the way, the columns can be renamed to better navigate their content.

If all the information you need is in another program or source, the program allows you to customize the data import.

All import settings are located in a separate tab in the control panel called "External data". Here, in the "Import and Links" area, the available formats are listed, including Excel, Access documents, text and XML files, Internet pages, Outlook folders, etc. After choosing the required format from which information will be transferred, you will need specify the path to the location of the file. If it is hosted on a server, the program will ask you to enter the server address. As you import, you will come across various settings that are designed to transfer data correctly into Access. Follow the instructions of the program.

Primary keys and table relationships

When creating a table, the program automatically assigns a unique key to each record. By default, it has a column of names that expands as new data is added. This column is the primary key. In addition to these basic keys, the database can also contain fields associated with information contained in another table.

For example, you have two tables containing related information. For example, they are called "Day" and "Plan". By selecting the "Monday" field in the first table, you can link it to any field in the "Plan" table, and when you hover over one of these fields, you will see information and related cells.

Relationships like this will make your database easier to read and most likely increase its usability and efficiency.

To create a relationship, go to the Database Tools tab and in the Relationships area select the Data Schema button. In the window that appears, you will see all the databases being processed. Please note that databases must have special fields for foreign keys. In our example, if in the second table you want to display the day of the week or a number, leave the field blank and name it "Day". Also adjust the format of the fields, as it should be the same for both tables.

Then, with two tables open, drag the field you want to link to the specially prepared foreign key field. The "Change Links" window will appear, in which you will see the separately highlighted fields. To ensure that the data in both related fields and tables is modified, check the box next to Ensure Data Integrity.

Creation and types of requests

A request is an action in a program through which a user can edit or enter information into a database. In fact, requests are divided into 2 types:

  1. Elective queries, thanks to which the program gets out certain information and makes calculations on it.
  2. Action requests that add information to the database or delete it.

By selecting the "Query Wizard" in the "Create" tab, the program will carry out the process of creating a certain type of query. Follow the instructions.

Queries can greatly help you organize your data and always refer to specific information.

For example, you can create a custom query based on certain parameters. If you want to see information on a specific date or day of the "Day" table for the entire period of time, you can configure a similar query. Select the "Query Builder" item, and in it the table you need. By default, the query will be selective, it becomes clear if you look at the toolbar with the Select button highlighted there. In order for the program to search for the exact date or day that you need, find the line "Selection condition" and enter the phrase [what day?] There. Remember, the request must be placed in square bows and end with a question mark or a colon.

This is just one use case for queries. In fact, they can also be used to create new tables, filter data by criteria, etc.

Setting up and using forms

Through the use of forms, the user can easily view information for each field and switch between existing records. With long inputs of information, the use of forms makes it easier to work with the data.

Open the "Create" tab and find the "Form" item by clicking on which a standard form will appear based on your table data. The appeared fields with information are subject to all sorts of changes, including height, width, etc. Please note that if there are relationships in the above table, you will see them and can be reconfigured in the same window. At the bottom of the program, you will see arrows that will allow you to sequentially open each column of your table, or immediately move to the first and last. Now each of them is a separate record, the fields of which you can customize by clicking on the "Add fields" button. The information changed and entered in this way will be displayed in the table and in all tables attached to it. After setting up the form, you need to save it by pressing the key combination "Ctrl + S".

Generating a report

The main purpose of reports is to provide the user with a general summary of the table. You can create absolutely any report, depending on the data.

The program allows you to choose the type of report, providing several to choose from:

  1. Report - an auto report will be created using all the information provided in the table, however, the data will not be grouped.
  2. An empty report is an unfilled form, the data for which you can choose yourself from the required fields.
  3. Report Wizard - guides you through the process of creating a report and guides you through the grouping and formatting of data.

In a blank report, you can add, delete or edit fields, filling them with the necessary information, create special groups that will help to separate certain data from the rest, and much more.

Above are all the basics that will help you cope and customize the Access program for yourself, however, its functionality is wide enough and provides for more fine-tuning of the functions discussed here.

Access databases on your computer help you store and track virtually any type of data, such as inventory, contacts, or business processes. Let's take a closer look at the path that you can use to create an Access database, add data to it, and then explore the next steps towards setting up and using the new database.

In this article

Choosing a template

Access templates contain built-in tables, queries, forms, and reports that are ready to go. The templates available are the first thing you see when you start Access, and you can download more options from the web.

    In Access tab File select team Create a.

    Select a desktop database template and enter a name in the box File name. Database (If you can't seea template that will work for you, useSearch for templates on the Internetfield.)

    File name

    Click the button Create a.

Depending on the template you choose, you may need to complete one of the following steps before starting work.

    If Access displays a dialog box entrance with an empty list of users:

    1. Click the button new user.

      Fill the form User information.

      Select the username you just entered and click entrance.

    If Access displays a message Security Warning in the message bar, as well as a template from a trusted source, click Include content... If the database requires a login, please login.

Additional information: .

Creating a database from scratch

If none of the templates work for you, you can start with an empty database on your computer.

    In Access, choose the command Create a and then item Empty desktop database.

    Enter the name of the database in the field File name.

    You can use the default location listed below the box File name, or choose a different one by clicking the folder icon.

    Click the button Create a.

Adding tables

In a database, data is stored in several related tables. To create a table:

    When you open the database for the first time, you will see an empty table in table view where you can add data. To add another table, go to the tab Create a > Table... You can start entering data into a blank field (cell) or pasting data from another source, such as an Excel workbook.

    To rename a column (field), double-click its header and enter a new name.

    To add more fields, start typing in the column Click to add.

    To move a column, select it by clicking the header and drag it to the desired location. You can do this on multiple contiguous columns as well.

Copying and pasting data

You can copy data from another program, such as Excel or Word, and paste it into an Access table. It is best if they are organized in columns. If the data is in a text editor such as Word, separate the columns of the data with tabs or convert the data to a table before copying.

    If the data needs to be changed, for example, split full names into first and last names, do so in the original program.

    Open source and copy data (CTRL + C).

    Open the Access table to which you want to add data in table mode and paste the data (CTRL + V).

    Double-click the header of each of the columns and provide meaningful names.

    Note: Access assigns a data type to each field based on what data you insert in the first row of the column. Make sure that the data in the rest of the lines is of the same type.

Importing or linking data

You can import data from other sources, or you can link data from Access without moving the information from which it is stored. Linking can be a good option if you have multiple users, update data and want to make sure you see the latest version, or if you want to save disk space. Whether you want to link to or import data for most formats. See Importing or linking to data from another Access database for more details.

The process differs slightly depending on the data source, but always starts with the following procedure.

    On the External data click the Format data you will be importing or linking to. If you do not see the required format, click the button Additional.

Note: If it's not there anyway, you might need to first export the data to a file format that Access supports (for example, a delimited text file).

    Follow the instructions in the article " External data ».

When linking, some formats are read-only. The following are external sources whose data can be imported or linked.

Read more

Access 2010 is a database creation and management program. To understand Access, you must first understand databases.

In this article, you will learn about databases and how they are used. You will learn about the differences between data management in Access and Microsoft Excel.

What is a database?

A database is a collection of data that is stored in a computer system. Databases allow their users to quickly and easily enter, access and analyze their data. They are such a useful tool that you see them all the time. Have you ever waited for a doctor's registrar to enter your personal information into a computer, or watched a store employee use a computer to find out if an item was in stock? Then you saw the database in action.

The easiest way to understand what a database is is to think of it as a collection of lists. Think of one of the databases mentioned above: a patient database in a doctor's office. What lists are contained in such a database? Well, for starters, there is a list of patient names. Then there is a list of past appointments, a list with a medical history for each patient, a list of contact information, etc.

This applies to all databases, from the simplest to the most complex. For example, if you want to bake cookies, then you can save a database containing the recipes you know how to make and the friends you give those recipes to. This is one of the simplest databases. It contains two lists: a list of your friends and a list of cookie baking recipes.

However, if you were a professional baker, you would have many more lists to keep track of: customer list, list of products sold, price list, order list ... it goes on and on. The more lists added, the more complex the database will become.

In Access, lists are a little more complex than the ones you write on paper. Access stores its lists of data in tables to store even more detailed information. In the table below, the list of people in the hobbyist baker's database has been expanded to include other relevant information about friends.

If you're familiar with other programs in the Microsoft Office suite, it might remind you of Excel, allowing you to organize your data in a similar way. In fact, you can create a similar table in Excel.

Why use a database?

If a database is essentially a collection of lists stored in tables and you can create tables in Excel, why would you need a real database? While Excel is great at storing and organizing numbers, Access is much more efficient at handling non-numeric data such as names and descriptions. Non-numeric data plays a significant role in almost any database, and it is important to be able to sort and analyze it.

However, what databases really do, besides any other way of storing data, is connectivity. We refer to a database as the ones you will be working with in Access a relational database. A relational database can understand how lists and the objects within them relate to each other. To explore this idea, let's go back to a simple database with two lists: the names of your friends and the cookie recipes you know how to make. You decided to create a third list to keep track of the batch of cookies you make and who they are for. Since you are only making them, you know the recipe and you are only passing them on to your friends, this new list will get all its information from the lists you made earlier.

See how the third list uses the words that appeared in the first two lists? The database is able to understand that Ivan Ivanovich and Sour Cream Cookies on the list are the same things as Ivan Ivanovich and Sour Cream Cookies in the first two lists. This relationship seems obvious, and the person will immediately understand it. However, an Excel workbook will not be able to.

Differences between Access and Excel

Excel would treat all of these things as separate and unrelated pieces of information. In Excel, you will need to enter every single information about a person or type of cookie every time you mention it, because this database will not be relative like an Access database. Simply put, relational databases can recognize what a person can do: if the same words appear in multiple lists, they refer to the same thing.

The fact that relational databases can process information in this way allows you to enter, search, and analyze data in more than one table at a time. All of these things would be difficult to do in Excel, but in Access even complex tasks can be simplified and made reasonably user-friendly.

In the modern world, tools are needed that would allow you to store, organize and process large amounts of information that are difficult to work with in Excel or Word.

Such repositories are used to develop information sites, online stores and accounting add-ons. The main tools that implement this approach are MS SQL and MySQL.

The product from Microsoft Office is a simplified version in functional terms and more understandable for inexperienced users. Let's walk through the steps of creating a database in Access 2007.

Description of MS Access

Microsoft Access 2007 is a database management system (DBMS) that implements a full-fledged graphical user interface, the principle of creating entities and relationships between them, as well as a structured query language SQL. The only drawback of this DBMS is the inability to work on an industrial scale. It is not designed to store huge amounts of data. Therefore, MS Access 2007 is used for small projects and for personal non-commercial purposes.

But before showing the creation of a database step by step, you need to familiarize yourself with basic concepts from database theory.

Definitions of basic concepts

Without basic knowledge about the controls and objects used in the creation and configuration of the database, it is impossible to successfully understand the principle and features of setting up the subject area. Therefore, now I will try to explain in simple language the essence of all the important elements. So, let's begin:

  1. Subject area - a set of created tables in the database, which are linked using primary and secondary keys.
  2. An entity is a separate database table.
  3. Attribute is the heading of an individual column in the table.
  4. A tuple is a string that accepts the value of all attributes.
  5. A primary key is a unique value (id) that is assigned to each tuple.
  6. The secondary key of table "B" is the unique value of table "A" used in table "B".
  7. An SQL query is a special expression that performs a specific action with a database: adding, editing, deleting fields, creating selections.

Now that we have a general idea of ​​what we will be working with, we can start creating a database.

Database creation

For clarity of the whole theory, we will create a training database "Students-Exams", which will contain 2 tables: "Students" and "Exams". The main key will be the field "Student number", because this parameter is unique for each student. The rest of the fields are intended for more complete information about the students.

So, do the following:


That's it, now all that remains is to create, fill and link the tables. Move on to the next item.

Creating and filling tables

After the successful creation of the database, an empty table will appear on the screen. To form its structure and fill it in, do the following:



Advice! To fine-tune the data format, go to the "Table Mode" tab on the ribbon and pay attention to the "Formatting and Data Type" block. There you can customize the format of the displayed data.

Creating and editing data schemas

Before you start linking two entities, by analogy with the previous paragraph, you need to create and fill in the "Exams" table. It has the following attributes: "Student number", "Exam1", "Exam2", "Exam3".

To execute queries, we need to link our tables. In other words, this is a kind of dependency that is implemented using key fields. For this you need:


The designer should automatically create a link based on the context. If this did not happen, then:


Executing queries

What if we need students who study only in Moscow? Yes, there are only 6 people in our database, but what if there are 6,000 of them? It will be difficult to find out without additional tools.

It is in this situation that SQL queries come to our aid, which help to extract only the necessary information.

Types of requests

SQL syntax implements the CRUD principle (short for create, read, update, delete - “create, read, update, delete”). Those. with queries you will be able to implement all these functions.

Sample

In this case, the "read" principle comes into play. For example, we need to find all students studying in Kharkov. For this you need:


But what if we are interested in students from Kharkov who have more than 1000 scholarships? Then our request will look like this:

SELECT * FROM Students WHERE Address = "Kharkiv" AND Scholarship> 1000;

and the resulting table will look like this:

To create an entity

In addition to adding a table using the built-in constructor, sometimes you may need to perform this operation using an SQL query. In most cases, this is necessary while performing laboratory or coursework as part of a university course, because in real life there is no need for this. Unless, of course, you are involved in professional application development. So, to create a request you need:

  1. Go to the "Create" tab.
  2. Click the "Query Builder" button in the "Other" block.
  3. In the new window, click on the SQL button, then enter the command in the text box:

CREATE TABLE Teachers
(Teacher Code INT PRIMARY KEY,
Surname CHAR (20),
Name CHAR (15),
Middle name CHAR (15),
Paul CHAR (1),
Date_ of birth DATE,
Main_item CHAR (200));

where “CREATE TABLE” means to create the “Teachers” table, and “CHAR”, “DATE” and “INT” are the data types for the corresponding values.


Attention! At the end of each request there must be a ";" symbol. Without it, script execution will result in an error.

To add, delete, edit

Everything is much simpler here. Go to the query box again and enter the following commands:


Form creation

With a huge number of fields in the table, it becomes difficult to fill the database. You can accidentally skip a value, enter an incorrect one, or of a different type. In this situation, forms come to the rescue, with the help of which you can quickly fill out entities, and the probability of making a mistake is minimized. This will require the following steps:


We have already covered all the basic functions of MS Access 2007. The last important component remains - the formation of the report.

Report generation

A report is a special function of MS Access that allows you to design and prepare data from a database for printing. This is mainly used to create invoices, accounting reports and other office documentation.

If you have never encountered such a function, it is recommended to use the built-in "Report Wizard". To do this, do the following:

  1. Go to the "Create" tab.
  2. Click on the "Report Wizard" button in the "Reports" section.

  3. Select the table of interest and the fields you want to print.

  4. Add the required grouping level.

  5. Select the sort type for each of the fields.

  6. Customize the layout view for the report.

    Output

    So, we can say with confidence that we have completely disassembled the creation of a database in MS Access 2007. Now you know all the basic functions of a DBMS: from creating and populating tables to writing select queries and generating reports. This knowledge is enough to carry out simple laboratory work in the framework of a university program or use in small personal projects.

    To design more complex databases, you need to understand object-oriented programming and study such DBMS as MS SQL and MySQL. And for those who need practice in writing queries, I recommend visiting the SQL-EX site, where you will find many practical fun tasks.

    Good luck in mastering the new material and if you have any questions - you are welcome in the comments!