#microsoft access tutorial

DATE CRITERIA MAY NOT ALWAYS WORK WITH MS ACCESS QUERY

Learning about ms access query is the means to a good database management system as it is the heart of any database application.

There are many ways and questions to ask a database using queries and mastering the

special conventions and criteria will pay the dividend and avoid silly mistakes, the illogical recordset results, and even errors.

One of the more commonly used criteria and prone to…

Microsoft Access databases provide a wealth of tools and utilities to help control design layouts and data integrity. Working with the latter, you can reduce and even dismiss any programming at all to control data entry to a field in a table or via a form using the Access Input Mask feature.

You use this type of query to change data in tables, saving the need to manually edit records or use any of the manual tools namely, Find andReplace. Examples for this action could be to reset data, change prices, increase volume and correct data migration and population issues.

One of the more commonly used examples is to carry out some sort of calculation and change prices for a range of products.

The above example increases all products for UK suppliers by 10% using the [Unit Price] field containing the original price value multiplied by 1.1 (an increase by 110%).

Just remember, this is an action query which means changes to any data values cannot be reversed once actioned which is why you should normally see a warning first.

However, it is always a good idea to take a copy or back up of your data files before running Microsoft access tutorial of this nature.

MICROSOFT ACCESS QUERIES AND HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE IN YOUR DATABASE

The heart of any MS Access database system resides with the queries and I’m often asked to give new users a quick overview of this powerful application – here’s an example…

A Microsoft Access Database is a desktop application which stores large amounts of data and is able to recognize relationships between those data. It consists of data and tools that enable users to manipulate that data.

One…

Database developers have admired Microsoft Access because it’s scalable and user friendly (for a development application that is) and provides a good ‘one-stop‘ shop balance for database management meeting small and medium sized company needs.

I have always harked on about the key to a good database is in the query and just in case you are not yet familiar with ms access database tutorial , here is just a little bit of information.

What are Access Queries? Well the simple answer is…

"Access, I have a question for you!"

…It then goes off and finds the answer.

In other words, a query is simply an instruction or request for a report or some other form of output of information.

The language it uses to communicate and ask that question of your data is known as SQL (Structured Query Language) and it uses this SQL query syntax to provide answers very quickly indeed.

The advantage with Microsoft Access database queries however, is that there is no requirement to learn the language at all as it provides a user-friendly screen interface known as QBE (Query By Example grid).

Microsoft Access Queries: Some Pointers To Building Those Reports

So now we know that queries are requests for your data that yield answers. There are so many variations of queries ranging from the simplySELECT query to multiple joins and nested SQL based queries that it will take some time to master them all.

Here are some points to consider that some queries may be extremely complex when summing, calculating and grouping of information.

1. Know your data (and types) – This will help to assist you in identifying the qualifiers that you could use, you need to know the data types for every field for your Microsoft Access database that will likely end up as an Access report. Make a note of each field and their data types (Text, Number or Date).

2. Know your database structure – In order to be certain that that you have every single one of the fields desired, write down or document (electronically) all the names of the tables and their fields that you would like on your main query report.  Use this as your checklist and refine the list.

3. Design, Test and Repeat – Remember, at any time querying, you can actually add or remove fields first until you have the correct listing show all records to help validate the results even before applying criteria. This way, the test query will allow you to get the entire number of records being listed and not fail to run.

4. Build and Refine On Step at a Time – You may then want (and should) add some criteria option one after the other. This would save you valuable time should you come across any error – as it is possible to pinpoint the cause quickly.

Of course, I’ve written many articles about queries and there’s at least one other useful post to also check out  ms access database tutorial.

As I have mentioned before, Microsoft Access queries is considered the most important object in your database. It’s the heart of the system and if you bypass it, there’s simply no life to your application!

Microsoft Access Database 2013: Building A Navigation Control Form

Of course, one assumes you have also pre-prepared and built either the forms or reports that will be linked and associated to each tab added which will require using the wizard or templates available.

I always suggest a plan before building these forms and reports and have suggested many times from my previous blog posts in the past of the approach to the above. In order to keep your Microsoft…

MICROSOFT ACCESS DATABASE FUNCTIONS

This is something I have touched on briefly in the past with an article called Microsoft access tutorial Functions which introduced you to the popular functions and the tool to generally browse for other not so popular function calls.

So as a revisit to this topic, there’s no point describing each and everyone that’s at your disposal – that would be silly as we all have different uses for our…