chapter 1 – introduction to access akhila kondai september 30, 2013

17
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai [email protected] September 30, 2013

Upload: jason-wesley-gregory

Post on 17-Jan-2018

229 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

BUT REALLY WHAT IS A DATABASE? Databases are used in real life, most of you use them without realizing it –WVU Directory – uses databases –Facebook – uses databases –MySpace – uses databases And many more

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS

Akhila [email protected] 30, 2013

Page 2: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

INTRODUCTION TO DATABASES

• A computer database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system.

• A database relies upon software to organize the storage of the data and to enable a person or program to extract desired information.

• The term "database" refers to the collection of related records, and the software should be referred to as the database management system (DBMS); this is sometimes shortened to database manager or database system.

Page 3: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

BUT REALLY WHAT IS A DATABASE?

• Databases are used in real life, most of you use them without realizing it

– WVU Directory – uses databases

– Facebook – uses databases

– MySpace – uses databases

And many more

Page 4: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

AN EXAMPLE • Let’s look at the WVU Directory page.

What you see is sometimes called a form – it is nothing more than a friendly front end interface.

Say we want to search for all students named James Smith

When you hit search it will run a query that looks like this:

SELECT * FROM StudentsWHERE (((Students.FirstName)="John") AND ((Students.LastName)="Smith"))

Page 5: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

AN EXAMPLE – ISOLATING RESULTS

• WVU has a database somewhere that lists all students, when we do a search we search that database for all students who have a first name James AND a last name Smith.

• We could either get exactly one result, no results or multiple results.

• This brings up the question, how do we differentiate between the James Smith that is a History major and the James Smith that is a Radiology major in our database?

• One way could be to use email addresses, since we hope everyone has a “unique” email address. But, is there another “unique” identifier that separates one person from another?

Page 6: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

AN EXAMPLE – SIMPLE DATABASE

• In this example we can see why using last name as a “unique” way to identify students maybe a bad idea.

• StudentID, FirstName, LastName, Major, Email are called Fields. Each entry is called a Record, a collection of records make up a Table. A collection of tables make up a database.

• The Field StudentID has a special name called Primary Key since it uniquely identifies each student, no two students can have the same StudentID.

Student ID FirstName LastName Major Email

A123 John Smith Math [email protected]

B122 Jane Smith Finance [email protected]

Page 7: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

WHAT IS ACCESS?

• “Is a relational database management system from Microsoft which combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface.”

• Access is NOT a database – it is a database management system. There are numerous other database management systems.

7

Page 8: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

ACCESS VS EXCELWhen to use Access?• When you need a relational database to store your data or

you anticipate adding more tables.• When you have a large amount of data• Rely on external databases to derive and analyze the data

you need• Need to maintain constant connectivity to an external

database• Need to regroup data from different tables in a single place

with complex queries• Have many people working in the database and need strong

options to update the data

8

Page 9: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

ACCESS VS EXCEL

When to use Excel?• Require a flat or non relational view of your data• Want to run calculations or statistical comparisons on

your data• Know your data set is manageable (no more than 15,000

rows)

9

Page 10: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

THE HOME TABHOME Tab – the basic Access tab. Contains basic

editing functions such as cut and paste along with most formatting actions. ViewsClipboardFontRich TextRecordsSort & FilterFind

10

Page 11: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

THE CREATE TAB

CREATE Tab – Brings together all create operations in one area. Includes ability to create queries through the wizard or in Design view.

TablesFormsReportsOther

11

Page 12: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

THE EXTERNAL DATA TAB

EXTERNAL DATA Tab – Contains all operations to facilitate collaborations and data exchange.

ImportExportCollect DataSharePoint Lists

12

Page 13: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

THE DATABASE TOOLS TABDATABASE TOOLS Tab – The area that contains the

operational backbone of Access. Here you create and maintain relationships of the database. You also analyze the file performance and perform routine maintanance.MacroShow/HideAnalyzeMove DataDatabase Tools

13

Page 14: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

BASIC ELEMENTS OF A DATABASE

Field – is a basic entry or a data element, such as the name of a book or the telephone number. A field that uniquely identifies a record is called a Primary Key.

Record – is a complete set of all of the data (fields) pertaining to one person, place, etc

Table – is a collection of records, every table contains the same fields in the same order

Database – consists of one or more tables and the supporting objects used to get data from those tables.

14

Page 15: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

ACCESS TABLE EXAMPLEFields

Records

Page 16: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

COMPARING ACCESS TO EXCEL

A FIELD in Access is equivalent to a COLUMN NAME in Excel

A RECORD in Access is equivalent to a ROW in Excel

A TABLE in Access is equivalent to a WORKSHEET in Excel

A DATABASE in Access is equivalent to a WORKBOOK in Excel

16

Page 17: CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ACCESS Akhila Kondai September 30, 2013

Questions ?