Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Access 2000 in 10 Minutes

Faithe Wempen, M.A., operates Your Computer Friend, a PC troubleshooting and training business specializing in teaching beginning users to work with their PCs. She has taught Microsoft Access courses for both businesses and individuals, and is the author of The 10 Minute Guide to Access 97 and The Microsoft Office 97 Professional 6-in-1, as well as over 20 other books.

Introduction.


What Is Microsoft Access 2000? What Is the Sams Teach Yourself in 10 Minutes Series? Conventions Used in This Book.



What Is a Database?


What Are Databases Good For? How Access Stores Your Data. Reports. Queries. How the Parts Fit Together. Access Wizards Make Databases Easy.



Planning your Database.


Planning Is Important! Determining the Tables You'll Need. What Forms Will You Use? What Reports Will You Want to Produce?



Starting and Exiting Access.


Starting Access. Parts of the Screen. Exiting Access.



Using the Help System.


Help: What's Available? Asking Office Assistant. Using the Microsoft Access Help Window. Reading a Help Topic. Finding and Fixing Errors in the Program. Other Help Features.



Creating a New Database.


Choosing the Right Way to Create Your Database. Creating a Blank Database. Creating a Database with Database Wizard.



Saving, Closing, and Opening a Database.


Saving a Database. Closing a Database. Opening a Database. Changing the Drive or Folder. Finding a Database File.



Creating a Table with the Table Wizard.


Why Create a Table? Creating a Table Using the Table Wizard. Now What?



Creating a Table Without a Wizard. Why Not Use a Wizard? Creating a Table in Table Design View. Understanding Data Types and Formats. Setting the Primary Key. Switching Between Design and Datasheet Views. Creating a Table by Entering Data.


Modifying a Table.


Editing Fields and Their Properties. Adding Fields. Deleting Fields. Hiding a Field. Deleting a Table.



Creating Relationships Between Tables.


Why Create Relationships? Creating a Relationship Between Tables. What is Referential Integrity? Editing a Relationship. Removing a Relationship. Now What?



Entering Data into a Table.


Entering a Record. Some Data-Entry Tricks. Moving Around in a Table. Printing a Table. Closing a Table.



Editing Data in a Table.


Changing a Cell's Content. Selecting Records. Inserting New Records. Deleting Records. Moving and Copying Data.



Formatting a Table.


Why Format a Table? Changing Column Width and Row Height. Changing the Font.



Creating a Simple Form.


Why Create Forms? Creating a Form with AutoForm. Creating a Form with Form Wizard. Creating a Form from Scratch. Entering Data in a Form.



Modifying a Form.


Cleaning Up Your Form: An Overview. Moving Controls. Moving Controls and Their Labels Independently. Resizing Controls. Viewing Headers and Footers. Adding Labels. Formatting Controls. Changing Tab Order.



Creating Special Data-Entry Fields on a Form.


Why Use Special Data-Entry Controls? What Kinds of Controls? Creating a List Box or Combo Box. Creating an Option Group. Adding Command Buttons. Inserting ActiveX Controls.



Adding Graphics to Forms.


Why Add Graphics to Forms? Importing Clip Art. Importing a Graphic. Resizing a Graphic. Creating a New Picture.



Searching for Data.


Using the Find Feature. Using the Replace Feature. Other Ways to Find Data.



Sorting, Indexing, and Filtering Data.


Finding and Organizing Your Data. Sorting Data. Filtering Data. Creating Indexes.



Creating a Simple Query.


What Can a Query Do? Creating a Query Using the Simple Query Wizard. Printing Query Results. Other Query Wizards.



Designing Your Own Query.


Working with Query Design View. Adding Fields to a Query. Deleting a Field. Adding Criteria. Viewing Query Results.



Customizing a Query.


Sorting a Field in a Query, Showing or Hiding a Field. Adding a Calculated Field.



Creating a Simple Report.


Why Create Reports? Using AutoReport to Create a Report. Creating a Report with the Report Wizard. Viewing and Printing Reports in Print Preview.



Customizing a Report.


Entering Report Design View. Working with Controls on Your Report.



Working with Related Tables.


What Good Are Related Tables? Viewing Related Data in Datasheet View. Creating Multitable Queries. Creating Multitable Forms. Creating Multitable Reports.



Creating a Chart.


The Chart Advantage. Creating a Chart. Using Print Preview. Saving a Chart Report.



Using Access on the Internet.


Some Internet Basics. Saving as a Web Page. Inserting Hyperlinks Into an Access Object. Creating Data Access Pages.



Sharing Your Database With Others.


Why Share Data? Setting Up Exclusive Use. Assigning Passwords to Database Files. User-Level Security (Network Only). Team Collaboration. Creating an .mde File. Encrypting a Database. Data Protection on Forms.



Importing and Exporting Data.


Why Import and Export Data? Importing Data from Other Programs. Exporting Data to Other Programs.



Backing Up Your Data.


Backing Up Your Database File. Repairing Damaged Database Files.



Index.