MS Access Introduction Course Chapter 1 Getting Started

MS Access Introduction Course Chapter 1: Getting Started Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

Chapters • Getting Started • Tables: Structure Data • Queries: Answers with Data • Forms: Control Data Input • Reports: Present Data Output • Macros - Automation • Modules – Programmer-level Automation Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

Chapters • Security & DB Maintenance Additional resources for self-pace-learning: • MS Access Tutorial/Reference https: //www. tutorialspoint. com/ms_access_tutorial. pdf • MS Access Exercises https: //www. wiseowl. co. uk/ms-access/exercises/database/creatingtables/ https: //fr. slideshare. net/sarahandaiza/microsoft-access-exercises Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

Getting Started Table of Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. An Introduction The Menu The Navigation Pane The Workspace The Status Bar & Views Starting from Templates Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

Getting Started • Preliminary Notes: • This Power. Point was created with Microsoft Power. Point 2016. • This course was created for use with Microsoft Access 2016 and Microsoft Windows 10. • It is presumed by the author of this course that the material is beneficial for understanding Microsoft Access 2010 and newer, provided that the student is aware that some features have been added, changed, and removed over the years. • It is best if the student has a basic understanding of relational modeling, relational databases, and/or Structured Query Language (SQL). Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

Getting Started • Conventions • Actions to be performed by the student will be highlighted with bold lettering. • Important terms that you need to know will be highlighted with red lettering. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

Getting Started • Chapter objectives • • All red terms in this chapter should be memorized. Be able to identify the four frames of Microsoft Access and explain what they do. Understand why you would use Microsoft Access. Understand when to use a blank database and when to use a template. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

1. Getting Started – An Introduction • What is Microsoft Access? • Microsoft Access or “Access” is part of the Microsoft Office Suite since Office 95. • Access is a way to develop application software in any Microsoft environment. • Its most common use is for creating an application without having to involve a developer. 2013/2016/365 2000/2003/2007/2010 Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course 1995/1997

1. Getting Started – An Introduction (cont. ) • Some advantages: • Access has a powerful, easy-to-use interface. • It doesn’t require a comprehensive understanding of SQL or other programming languages to get started. • Integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem: Excel, Word, Power. Point, Outlook, Active. X Controls, . NET • Integration with other non-Microsoft sytems and languages: Oracle, Sybase, Java, etc. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

1. Getting Started – An Introduction (cont. ) • Some limitations: • Access is not designed to support an enterprise application such as ERP/CRM system or web server. • If not designed and/or documented well, it can become obsolete and a silo of business data and logic. • Though it supports 2 GB of data and 255 concurrent users, it performs best with databases with 1 GB of data or less and max 100 concurrent users. 1 GB of data is about 250 books. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

1. Getting Started – An Introduction (cont. ) • Start Access. You will be presented with the choice to create a blank database or open a template created by Microsoft. • Note: Templates are helpful when you need to create a new application but do not want to start from a completely blank database. • Click “Blank database” Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

1. Getting Started – An Introduction (cont. ) Click “Create” Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

1. Getting Started – An Introduction (cont. ) • Open Windows Explorer. • Expand “This PC” on the left. • Click “Documents” under “This PC”. • You should now see your new blank database called “Database 1. accdb” and a lock file called “Database 1. laccdb”. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

1. Getting Started – An Introduction (cont. ) • Switch back to your new blank database opened in Access. • Next, we will discuss the 4 “frames” of the application and their functions: 1. 2. 3. 4. Menu (& Ribbon) Navigation Pane Workspace Status Bar (& Views) Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

2. Getting Started – The Menu • The first “frame” to familiarize yourself with is the Menu (#1 on the diagram) • Note: customizing the menu will affect all databases you open with your version of Access. • I recommend keeping Access with the standard layout until you have several months experience. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

2. Getting Started – The Menu (cont. ) • The Quick Access Toolbar is a customizable set of actions that you use most frequently. • The standard actions are Save, Undo, and Redo. • On the right, there is a drop down button. This is one way to customize the Quick Access Toolbar. • As you gain experience, you can customize this space for the most frequent actions you use. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

2. Getting Started – The Menu (cont. ) • The Main Tabs are a customizable set of menu options that you use most frequently. • The standard tabs are File, Home, Create, External Data, Database Tools, and Help. • The main tabs are always displayed and are considered part of the ribbon. • Customizing this will be discussed later in the part about the ribbon. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

2. Getting Started – The Menu (cont. ) • The Tool Tabs are a customizable set of menu options that appear depending on what you have selected. • The standard tabs are View, Form Layout, Form Design, Report Layout, Report Design, Relationship, Query, Macro, Table (2 depending on view), and Form. These are covered in subsequent chapters. • The tool tabs are always changing and are considered part of the ribbon. • Customizing this will be discussed later in the part about the ribbon. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

2. Getting Started – The Menu (cont. ) • The Ribbon is a customizable set of actions that appear depending on what tab you have selected. • Each tab is separated into groups (names are at the bottom of the ribbon) and each group contains icons that represent an action. • Sometimes you also have subgroups. You can tell these apart because they have a drop-down arrow on the right. Clicking on these subgroups pops up more actions. • If an action is grayed out, that means it is unavailable because of the context. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

2. Getting Started – The Menu (cont. ) • To customize the Ribbon or the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click on the grey part of the ribbon. • Try to click all four options to see what they do. • Besides the last option, you should find it easy to Cancel or undo the customization. • To undo the last option (restore the grey part of the ribbon), click on any tab and look for the little thumb tack in the bottom right-hand side of the grey part. Click it to undo the fourth customization. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

2. Getting Started – The Menu (cont. ) • On the left, we see the name of the project and the file location. Sometimes this is displayed on the right of the Tool Tabs instead of the left. • On the right, we have the licensed user’s name and a search box for: 1. finding actions that you don’t remember how to navigate and 2. for help topics. • Type “SQL” into the search box to see what results pop up. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

3. Getting Started – The Navigation Pane • The second “frame” to familiarize yourself with is the Navigation Pane (#2 on the diagram) • The Navigation Pane helps you find any Access Object in the Database/Project. • Note: This feature can also be customized when you have more understanding of Access. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

3. Getting Started –Navigation Pane (cont. ) • As an application is built, it will consists of various Access Objects: Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Macros, and Modules. • With a blank database, you will only see one Table called “Table 1”. • The circled region in the screenshot displays/controls what objects you can see for the entire project. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

3. Getting Started –Navigation Pane (cont. ) • The green-circled area is where you can select the category group you want to see in the Navigation Pane. • The orange-circled area is where you can filter the group more. • In this example, • the category group selected is “Object Type” and shows each object by its type, e. g. Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, etc. • The filter selected is “All Access Objects” which is the same as “show all”. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

3. Getting Started –Navigation Pane (cont. ) • Click on the “<<“ button. It will collapse the Navigation Pane. • Click on the “>>” button. It will expand the Navigation Pane. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

3. Getting Started –Navigation Pane (cont. ) • The Search Bar is used to find Access objects when it is faster than navigating to the object you need to work on. • Click on the Search Bar. • Type “ 1” • You will observe that Table 1 is still showing. • Now click the Clear Filter button and type “Masa” • You will observe that Table 1 is filtered out. • Click the Clear Filter button again. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

3. Getting Started –Navigation Pane (cont. ) • In this blank database, only one group is shown because there is only one Access Object. • Click the double arrow pointing up. • “Table 1” will be collapsed under the Tables group. • Click the double arrow pointing down. • “Table 1” will expand out from under the Tables group. • Right-click in certain areas on the Navigation Pane to see more options not covered here. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

4. Getting Started – The Workspace • The third “frame” to familiarize yourself with is the Workspace (#3 on the diagram). • All objects that you open from the navigation pane are visible in the tabs area. • The currently selected object’s contents are displayed below. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

4. Getting Started – The Workspace (cont. ) • There are multiple ways to close an Access Object. • You can click the close button in the top-right corner. • If your mouse has a scroll button, you can also middleclick any tab in the tab area. • Click the close button. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

4. Getting Started – The Workspace (cont. ) • Now you have no tabs open. • Double-click the object “Table 1”. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

4. Getting Started – The Workspace (cont. ) • Right-click on the “Table 1” tab and a menu will pop up. • You can do this for every tab you have open. • Side note: One additional way to close one or all of the objects (tabs) is click “Close” or “Close All”. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

4. Getting Started – The Workspace (cont. ) • For “Table 1”, we can also “Save” and switch to the “Design View. ” • Note: Datasheet View is greyed out because this is the view we are currently on. • Click “Design View”. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

4. Getting Started – The Workspace (cont. ) • The content displayed in the workspace depends on the type of Access Object and the View that is currently selected. • We will discuss each Object and View further in subsequent chapters. • Note: the Property Sheet is a pane that shows up commonly on the right side for various Objects and Views. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

5. Getting Started – The Status Bar (& Views) • The fourth “frame” to familiarize yourself with is the Status Bar (#4 on the diagram). • This bar sometimes displays information about what you are working on but, for the most part, displays and allows you to control which view you need. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

5. Getting Started – The Status Bar (cont. ) • In the bottom left, we can see the view we are currently looking at. So for “Table 1”, this is the “Design View”. • For this view, the status bar is showing us some shortcut keys, F 6 & F 1. • In the bottom right, there are two buttons which we can click to switch the view. • Click the left button. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

5. Getting Started – The Status Bar (cont. ) • Now you are back to the “Datasheet View”. • Right-click on the “Table 1” tab and click close. • If you are asked to save changes, click “No”. • The workspace is now empty. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

6. Getting Started – Starting from Templates • To close the database, click File from the Main Tabs (top left). Select Close. • There a lot of good templates provided in Microsoft Access 2016. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

6. Getting Started – Starting from Templates (cont. ) • Templates provide a more developed starting point than a blank database. • You can create your own templates based on the type of work you do to save time. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

6. Getting Started – Starting from Templates (cont. ) • Click “File” from the Main Tabs in the top left. • You will see this screen with the Blank database and a list of standard templates. • Imagine that you work with a lot of clients helping them create applications for their Contacts. • Click “Contacts”. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

6. Getting Started – Starting from Templates (cont. ) • In our hypothetical scenario, you created this template because the setup is normally the same. You have a new client, Vauban. • Rename the file to “Vauban. Contacts. accdb”. • Click “Create”. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

6. Getting Started – Starting from Templates (cont. ) • Notice that the application already has a title, “Contact Management Database”. • Because the template contains VBA macros (automation), you may receive a security warning. • Click “Enable Content”. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

6. Getting Started – Starting from Templates (cont. ) • You should see a pop up like the one in the right screenshot. • Note: this automation is created using VBA macros. • Click the “Get Started” button to close the pop-up. • Start/switch to Windows Explorer. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

6. Getting Started – Starting from Templates (cont. ) • Expand “This PC” • Click “Documents”. • You should see 3 new files. • Contacts. accdt is the Contacts template file. Now you can doubleclick this file to create new Contacts projects. • There also 2 files for the Vauban. Contacts project: a database file and a lock file. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

6. Getting Started – Starting from Templates (cont. ) • Switch back to Microsoft Access 2016. • Observe that we have many pre-built Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Macros, and Modules from which to build our new application. • We will go over each of the Access Objects in subsequent chapters. • Click “File” and “Close” Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course

Getting Started • Conclusion • This is the end of the MS Access Introduction Course, Chapter 1 titled “Getting Started”. • Please review the Chapter Objectives near the beginning of this presentation to ensure you learned the material. Vauban - Academy - MS Access Introduction Course