Presented By: Gail Rose-Innes

Camps Bay High SchoolICT & CAT Department

Microsoft Access 2010

raw factsIt has no contextIt is just numbers and text

Data is raw, unorganized facts that need to be processed. Data can be seen as simple, random and useless until it is

processed and organized into information.

What is Information?data with contextprocessed datavalue-added to data

› summarised› organised› analysed

When data is processed, organized, structured or presented in a given context, so as to make it useful, it

is called Information.

Data

51014

Information 5/10/14 The date of your exam. R510 14 Your annual income

Data 6.34 6.45 6.39 6.62 6.57 6.64 6.71 6.82 7.12 7.06

SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO INC.

$5.80

$6.00

$6.20

$6.40

$6.60

$6.80

$7.00

$7.20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Last 10 Days

Sto

ck P

rice

Information

Data

Information

Summarizing the data

Averaging the data

Selecting part of the data

Graphing the data

Adding context

Adding value

Paper Ledger

Index Cards

your personal address book in a Word document . a collection of Word documents . a collection of Excel Spreadsheets . data collected, maintained, and used in airline reservation.

A Database is an Organized Collection of Information .

Telephone bills

Class lists and marks

Telephone contacts lists

DataBase Management Systems (DBMS) For Fast Food Restaurants :

MS Access is a DBMS Program

Data BaseAn organized collection of information .

» An object comprised of fields (columns) » that collect records (rows of data) about a specific topic.

Table

Field» A table’s column that stores specific information and when combined

with other fields (columns), makes up a record.

Record» A row in a table that is a collection of related data.

QueryYou can locate specific information stored in a table, or in multiple

tables, by creating a query that specifies the criteria you want to match.

Queries can be:simple (looking for a certain criteria in one field), or complex (looking for multiple criteria in many fields).

FormsTo make entering data easier, forms are used.

Forms are user friendly; can prompt, offer dropdown boxes and validate the data entered by the users.

ReportsTables and query results appear in plain datasheets,

which are not very attractive when printed.

Reports present data from tables and queries in an attractive, customizable format — complete with titles,

headers and footers, and even logos and graphics.

Tables store data

Queries Organize or search for a specific data

Forms Display data on screen

Reports Print out data

Each field is defined by a data type.

Each data type takes up a specific space in the computer’s memory, some of these sizes can be changed & some of them

are fixed.

The following table shows the changes you can make to: Text, Number, & AutoNumber fields.

We should save disk space, especially in large databases, by defining the appropriate data type and adjusting the field size.

Data Types in Access

Data Type Used for Notes

Text Text & numbers General-purpose field containing any data. Limit of 255 characters. Cannot be used for numeric calculations. Use this type for numeric entries that will not have calculations performed on them, such as telephone numbers and ZIP codes.

Memo Text & numbers Limit of 65,535 characters. In Access 2007 file format, can hold rich text with formatting. Some limitations on usage in formulas & functions.

Number Numbers only Flexible field size of 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 bytes. Can also hold symbols used as helpers for numbers, such as decimal points and commas.

Date/Time Numbers representing dates & times

Stores dates & times as 8-byte numbers. Only numbers representing valid dates or times are accepted.

Currency Numbers representing currency values

Stores currency values as 8-byte numbers. Even though the field might only show two decimal places, depending on formatting, it keeps track of up to four, to prevent rounding off.

Data types in Access

Data Type Used for Notes

AutoNumber 

Automatically generating numbering for each record

Stores Access-generated values as 4-byte numbers.

Yes/No Boolean data -1 represent Yes and 0 represent No, but the field can be formatted to display values as True/False, On/Off, or Yes/No.

Hyperlink A text address representing an external source

You can link to Web sites, email addresses, files on your PC, files on a LAN, or virtually any other location.

Attachment Any supported file type Works only in Access 2007 databases. You can attach data files form word-processing programs, spreadsheets, and graphics editing programs, and so on.

Lookup Wizard Varies Depending on usage, either creates a lookup list from data that you specify of creates a lookup list from the values in another table. Can also be used to set up multivalued lists.