Access Database Tutorial

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 access tutorial  forms optimised and perform well, some useful tips may help when build a form. I like the way this video uses both the property sheet and ribbon bar to easily set and apply various properties which also uses the right-mouse click action to quickly gain access between views (via the tab). The music may not be to your taste but I find having music on in the background really helps me when I design  Microsoft Access database forms . It can even be some heavy rock! If you want to learn more about  Microsoft access tutorial  forms , take a lo...

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 Access databases but instead you can find a full list (by category) by going to Microsoft’s Office Access Functions (by category)page instead. Microsoft Access Database Functions It clearly states that this page contains links to articles that provide details about common functions used in expressions in Microsoft Access. They are arranged first by group and then are arranged alphabetically at the end of this article. TIP    Beginning with Access 2010, the Expression Builder has IntelliSense, so you can see what arguments your expression requi...

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. Take a quick look at this useful microsoft access tutorial (using version 2010) on how to set up an input mask. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XstSSyG8fw Very easy to create indeed and the video covers the pre-set options which to be honest is based on the US style conventions for storing telephone numbers and zip codes! Microsoft Access Tutorial: How to use Input Masks From one of my earlier posts, I’ve already mentioned about the key to knowing the input mask feature is to understand the code that sits behind this tool. This is particularly more important to know and master if you are going to not just build custom code solutions but clearly for the non US based systems, mak...

Microsoft access tutorial In a relational database, a many-to-many relationship exists when a record in one table can be referenced by one or more records in another table and vice versa. You need to have two or more tables to create relationships. To link these tables, you will have to create another table (a third) which will be your interceding or junction table. Here are the steps again in creating a third table: 1.  Go to the Create tab. 2.  Click on Table Design. A new table will be opened. 3.  Create two fields (plus any additional supporting fields). NOTE:  The two key fields are going to be the primary keys from the two tables that you have created which are in effect known as secondary or foreign keys (duplicates OK). To identify the primary key from a table: Click on the existing table and select View on the upper left corner of MS Access. You can identify the primary key when you click on one of the fields and see the Primary Key b...

The great debate of whether to use  Microsoft Access VBA programming   macros or the higher level of VBA code will linger on until the end of time (or realistically, Access is discontinued)! In the meantime, most Access developers will continue to lean towards Access VBA but the majority of power users, self-taught Access designers will still embrace the ease of g using macros to automate their databases. With the later versions of MS Access (post 2010), macros have become more powerful and flexible and with the added introduction of better web integration and the fact VBA is prohibited when publishing your database objects online, there’s now an even stronger case for macros becoming the first choice tool. Microsoft Access 2016 Macros: Show All Macro Commands However, not all macros are deemed safe and certain keywords have also been prohibited which by default are not visible when working in the macro design view mode. In the design view mod...

Microsoft Access VBA programming A report is normally based on that all important query and understating the database fields, data types and structures. Back to the video tutorial (above) and the print preview layout mode should be intuitive to use as it’s part of the familiar look and feel from Microsoft Office application’s preview modes. However, there’s an important consideration of how much functionality you want to present to users and not to confuse then with too much choice. Also, the frequency of how often a report is run, printed and even exported may lean towards automating this with either a macro or even the higher level; VBA code procedure. Sometimes, having a customised MS access forms  with a command button to run, print, preview and/or export a report into something like the popular PDF format can be the extra finishing touches for that polished and professional look and feel. Building customised  Microsoft Access VBA programming ...

Being also a seasoned MS Excel user (I guess, just like you), you’d expect  Microsoft Access VBA programming  functions to provide just a rich level of pre-defined functions one could adopt. However, you will have noticed that this is not the case. MS Access seems a little short on the richness with regards to the calculating power, defaulting back to using Exceland leaving Access to get on with what it does best – storing and the retrieval of data. Did you know that you can actually use Excel functions in your Access database?  With a little bit of VBA code, you can by setting a reference to the spreadsheet application. Why Build Microsoft Access Custom Functions? If you stick to and use Access’s primary applicational feature of data-managementeven though it doesalso have a sizeable collection of functions, you still would be better off using functions that belong to MS Access and not have to rely on any external appellations to support it. With Access, ...

Continuing with the  Microsoft Access VBA programming  series, building Access label reports is pretty straight forward (especially with the built-in wizard tool). As a snapshot and quick peek into my Microsoft access database eBook, here’s some more information to help establish your options. This type of report can be used for printing label address information to fit a pre-defined or custom defined label sheet (normally an adhesive or plain paper sheet). It can be based on a Table, Query or another external data source altogether (i.e. Excel or Outlook). It can also be used for creating badges, product labels, category name cards and other simple types of data layout reports. Some users will use Microsoft Word’s Mail Merge feature instead of the basic Access Label report where data from an Microsoft access database can support other Office applications. If you are going to take advantage of the ‘one-stop’ solution, then keeping it all within the Micros...