Exercise 76 - Replacing Text - EXTENDED CLASSROOM€¦ · Web viewSelect the query Memo and merge it with Word in a Mail Merge process. This will require knowledge from the Open

Open Learning Guide

Microsoft®Access 2010

Intermediate

Note: Microsoft, Access and Windows are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation

Release OL343v1

Access Intermediate Open Learning

Published by:

CiA Training LtdBusiness & Innovation CentreSunderland Enterprise ParkSunderlandSR5 2TAUnited Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)191 549 5002Fax: +44 (0)191 549 9005

E-mail: [email protected]: www.ciatraining.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-86005-884-4

Important NoteThis guide was written for Microsoft Office 2010 running on Windows 7. If using earlier versions of Windows some dialog boxes may look and function slightly differently to that described.

A screen resolution of 1024x768 is assumed. Working at a different resolution (or with an application window which is not maximised) may change the look of the dynamic Office 2010 Ribbon, which changes to fit the space available.

For example, the Editing Group on a full Ribbon will contain several buttons, but if space is restricted it may be replaced by an Editing Button (which, when clicked, will display the full Editing Group).

First published 2010

Copyright © 2010 CiA Training Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of CiA Training Limited.

Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows is a trademark of the Microsoft Corporation. Screen images reproduced by permission of the Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks in this book are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.

Access 2010 2 © CiA Training Ltd 2010

Open Learning Access Intermediate

CiA Training's Open Learning guides are a collection of structured exercises building into a complete open learning package, to teach how to use a particular software application. They are designed to take the user through the features to enhance, fulfil and instil confidence in the product.

ACCESS INTERMEDIATE - The second guide in the Access series contains exercises covering the following topics:

Replacing Text Calculated Fields

Relationships Lookup Fields

Default Values Validation Rules

Input Masks Subforms

Linking Forms Combo Boxes

List Boxes Option Groups

Tab Control Form Properties

Grouped Reports Label Wizard

Chart Wizard Importing/Exporting Data

Database Objects Advanced Queries

This Open Learning guide is suitable for:

Any individual wishing to improve their knowledge of Microsoft Access. The user works through the guide from start to finish.

Tutor led groups as reinforcement material. Can be used as and when necessary.

Aims and Objectives

To provide the necessary knowledge and techniques for the successful development and manipulation of an Access database.

After completing the guide the user will be able to:

use advanced queries

use Wizards

create forms and subforms

create command buttons and combo boxes

produce advanced reports

© CiA Training Ltd 2010 3 Access 2010


Downloading the Data FilesThe data files associated with this guide must be downloaded from our website. To do this, go to www.ciatraining.co.uk/data and follow the simple on-screen instructions.

Your FastCode for this guide’s data is: OL343

By default, the data files will be downloaded to the DATA FILES \ Open Learning \ Access 2010 Intermediate folder in the Documents library/folder (or My Documents in Windows XP).

If you prefer, the data can be supplied on CD at an additional cost. Contact the Sales team at [email protected].

Introduction

This guide assumes that the program has been correctly and fully installed on your personal computer, that the computer is already switched on, and that a printer and mouse are attached. The guide was created using Access 2010.

Important Note For All Users

The accompanying downloaded data contains files, enabling the user to practise new techniques without the need for data entry.

This guide cannot be copied without the permission of CiA Training Ltd.

Notation Used Throughout This Guide

Key presses are included within <> e.g. <Enter>

The guide is split into individual exercises. Each exercise consists of a written explanation of the feature, followed by a stepped exercise. Read the Guidelines and then follow the Actions with reference to the Guidelines, if necessary.

Recommendations

It is suggested that the user add their name, the date and exercise number after completing each exercise that requires a printed copy.

Read the whole of each exercise before starting to work through it. This ensures understanding of the topic and prevents any unnecessary mistakes.

Measurements used throughout this guide are metric.

Some fonts used in this guide may not be available on all computers. If this is the case, select an alternative.



ContentsSECTION 1 ADVANCED EDITING.......................................................................................................... 7

1 - COPY AND PASTE.................................................................................................................................. 82 - CUT AND PASTE.................................................................................................................................... 93 - THE CLIPBOARD.................................................................................................................................. 104 - REPLACING TEXT................................................................................................................................ 125 - REVISION: ADVANCED EDITING........................................................................................................... 14

SECTION 2 ADVANCED QUERIES........................................................................................................ 15

6 - GROUP BY.......................................................................................................................................... 167 - COUNT................................................................................................................................................ 178 - SUM.................................................................................................................................................... 189 - AVERAGE VALUES............................................................................................................................... 1910 - MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM VALUES....................................................................................................2011 - CALCULATED FIELDS IN QUERIES.......................................................................................................2112 - PARAMETER QUERIES........................................................................................................................ 2313 - REVISION: ADVANCED QUERIES......................................................................................................... 25

SECTION 3 RELATIONSHIPS................................................................................................................ 26

14 - APPLYING A PRIMARY KEY................................................................................................................ 2715 - APPLYING RELATIONSHIPS................................................................................................................. 2916 - REFERENTIAL INTEGRITY................................................................................................................... 3217 - UPDATING AND DELETING RECORDS..................................................................................................3318 - VIEWING A SUBDATASHEET............................................................................................................... 3519 - QUERYING RELATED TABLES............................................................................................................. 3620 - REVISION: RELATIONSHIPS................................................................................................................. 37

SECTION 4 TABLE FIELD PROPERTIES.............................................................................................38

21 - LOOKUP FIELDS................................................................................................................................. 3922 - FORMAT FIELD PROPERTY................................................................................................................. 4123 - DEFAULT VALUES............................................................................................................................. 4324 - VALIDATION RULES/TEXT................................................................................................................. 4425 - INPUT MASKS.................................................................................................................................... 4626 - OTHER FIELD PROPERTIES.................................................................................................................. 4827 - AUTONUMBER................................................................................................................................... 5028 - REVISION: FIELD PROPERTIES............................................................................................................ 51

SECTION 5 ADVANCED FORMS........................................................................................................... 51

29 - MAIN/SUBFORM: FORM WIZARD........................................................................................................ 5130 - MAIN/SUBFORM: SUBFORM WIZARD..................................................................................................5131 - MAIN/SUBFORM: MANUAL................................................................................................................ 5132 - LINKING FORMS................................................................................................................................ 5133 - MULTIPLE TABLE FORMS................................................................................................................... 5134 - REVISION: ADVANCED FORMS........................................................................................................... 51

SECTION 6 FORM CONTROLS............................................................................................................. 51

35 - CALCULATED FIELDS......................................................................................................................... 5136 - COMMAND BUTTON: WIZARD............................................................................................................ 5137 - COMBO BOX 1: WIZARD.................................................................................................................... 51



SECTION 6.............................................................................................................................. CONTINUED

38 - COMBO BOX 2: WIZARD.................................................................................................................... 5139 - COMBO BOX 3: WIZARD.................................................................................................................... 5140 - COMBO BOX: MANUAL...................................................................................................................... 5141 - LIST BOXES....................................................................................................................................... 5142 - OPTION GROUPS................................................................................................................................ 5143 - TAB CONTROL................................................................................................................................... 5144 - REVISION: FORM CONTROLS.............................................................................................................. 51

SECTION 7 FORM PROPERTIES.......................................................................................................... 51

45 - FORM TITLES..................................................................................................................................... 5146 - FORM VIEWS..................................................................................................................................... 5147 - FORM DATA PROPERTIES................................................................................................................... 5148 - FORM CYCLE PROPERTIES.................................................................................................................. 5149 - SHORTCUT MENU PROPERTIES........................................................................................................... 5150 - REVISION: FORM PROPERTIES............................................................................................................ 51

SECTION 8 ADVANCED REPORTS.......................................................................................................51

51 - GROUPED REPORT: WIZARD.............................................................................................................. 5152 - GROUPED REPORT: MANUAL............................................................................................................. 5153 - LABEL WIZARD................................................................................................................................. 5154 - CHART WIZARD................................................................................................................................ 5155 - CALCULATED FIELDS......................................................................................................................... 5156 - REVISION: ADVANCED REPORTS........................................................................................................ 51

SECTION 9 TOOLS.................................................................................................................................. 51

57 - IMPORTING DATA.............................................................................................................................. 5158 - EXPORTING DATA............................................................................................................................. 5159 - DATABASE OBJECTS.......................................................................................................................... 5160 - REVISION: TOOLS.............................................................................................................................. 51

SECTION 10 ACTION QUERIES............................................................................................................ 51

61 - APPEND QUERY................................................................................................................................. 5162 - DELETE QUERY................................................................................................................................. 5163 - MAKE-TABLE QUERY........................................................................................................................ 5164 - UPDATE QUERY................................................................................................................................. 5165 - REVISION: ACTION QUERIES.............................................................................................................. 51

SECTION 11 QUERY WIZARDS............................................................................................................. 51

66 - CROSSTAB QUERY............................................................................................................................. 5167 - FIND DUPLICATES QUERY.................................................................................................................. 5168 - FIND UNMATCHED QUERY................................................................................................................. 5169 - REVISION: QUERY WIZARDS.............................................................................................................. 51

ANSWERS................................................................................................................................................... 51

GLOSSARY................................................................................................................................................ 51

INDEX......................................................................................................................................................... 51

OTHER PRODUCTS FROM CIA TRAINING.......................................................................................128



Section 1

Advanced Editing

By the end of this Section you should be able to:

Understand and use Cut, Copy and PasteUnderstand and use the Clipboard

Find and Replace Text



Exercise 1 - Copy and PasteGuidelines:

Selected data, entire fields, or entire records can be copied from one location and pasted to another. This helps when repeatedly typing the same data. Copy will copy selected data and place it in an area of Windows known as the Clipboard. Paste will take a copy of data from the Clipboard and paste it to a specified location, overwriting any existing content.

Actions:

1. Start Access and open the Pets database from the supplied data files. Open the Pet Details table in Datasheet View.

2. The text Rabbit in the first field should be highlighted, if not click and drag to highlight it. Click the Copy button , on the Clipboard group of the Home tab. This places the word Rabbit into the Clipboard.

Note: If the Clipboard task pane appears now, ignore it for the moment.

3. Click the New Record button from the Navigation buttons to place the cursor in the first field of a new record (record 7) , then click Paste from the Home tab. Rabbit is pasted into the field.

4. Enter today’s date in the Date Sold field of the new record.

5. Click and drag over the price from the first record and copy it to into the new record. Enter the Number Sold as 5.

6. Change the first field of the record to read Black Rabbit.

7. Move the mouse pointer to the left edge of the Black Rabbit field until the cursor changes to . Click to select the entire field. Select Copy.

8. Click in the first field for the next new record (record 8) so that the cursor is flashing. The Paste option is not available. Because an entire field was copied, an entire field will need to be selected for Paste.

9. Select the entire blank field by moving the mouse pointer to the left edge and clicking when it becomes . The Paste option is available. Click it.

10. Move the mouse pointer to the left of the Fish record until the mouse pointer changes to . Click to select the entire record. Select Copy.

11. Click in the Black Rabbit field in record 8. Paste is unavailable. Because an entire record was copied, an entire record will need to be pasted.

12. Select the entire record 8 then click Paste. The copy of the Fish record overwrites the Black Rabbit record.

13. Leave the table open for the next exercise.



Exercise 2 - Cut and PasteGuidelines:

Selected data, entire fields, or entire records can be moved from one location to another. This helps when data has been entered in the wrong place. Cut will remove selected data from its original location and place it in the Clipboard. Paste will take the data from the Clipboard and insert it in a specified location, overwriting any existing content.

Actions:

1. With the Pet Details table open from the previous exercise, click and drag to highlight the word Fish in record 8. Click the Cut button . Fish has now been removed from its original location and placed in the Clipboard.

2. Type Cricket in the blank field and change the Number Sold to 20.

3. Click the New Record button.

4. Click Paste. Fish has been placed into the first field of the new record.

5. Enter the Date Sold as 30/04/10, Price £0.80 and Number Sold as 3.

6. Press Tab to create another new record. In the new Animal field click Paste.

7. Note that because Fish is still the last item to be placed on the Clipboard, it is pasted again. Pasting does not remove cut or copied items from the Clipboard.

8. Enter any details to complete the record.

9. Leave the table open for the next exercise.



Exercise 3 - The ClipboardGuidelines:

When Cut or Copy has been used, the objects are placed in a temporary storage area known as the Clipboard. Up to 24 items can be held on the Clipboard, and it can be viewed and manipulated in a Task Pane.

The Clipboard is shared between all Office applications and can contain anything cut or copied from any applications, i.e. text, cells, slides, images, etc.

Actions:

1. The Pet Details table should be open. If the Clipboard is not displayed,

select the Clipboard launcher from the Ribbon, . The Clipboard Task Pane will appear on the left of the screen. The last item cut or copied will be at the top of the pane.

2. Items cut and copied in the previous exercises may be displayed, and because the Clipboard is shared between all Office applications, there may already be some other items on it. Click the Clear All button,

, to delete them.

3. Select the entire Dog record (record 5) and click Copy.

4. Select the Date field from the Toad record using the mouse pointer and click Copy.

5. View the Clipboard to see that the two copied items have appeared.

6. Notice that Clipboard entries copied as entire fields or records contain not only content but also the relevant field names.

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Exercise 3 - Continued7. Move the mouse over one of the entries to display a down arrow on the

right. Click the arrow to see the options for this entry. It can be either Pasted or Deleted from the Clipboard. Click away from the Clipboard to hide the options.

Note: Clicking on the entry (not the arrow) will also Paste the item into the table.

8. Select the new record at the bottom of the table using the mouse pointer.

9. Click the Clipboard entry that shows the Dog record that was copied earlier. The record will now be pasted into the new record.

10. Use to select the entire Date Sold field of the new Dog record.

11. Click the button on the Clipboard that shows the Date Sold field that was copied earlier. The Date Sold field from the Clipboard will Paste over the Date Sold field in the new Dog record.

Note: Filling the Clipboard with several items, possibly from different Office applications, before inserting them is known as Collect and Paste.

12. Click the Options button at the bottom of the Task Pane.

13. If the Show Office Clipboard Automatically option does not have a check mark, click it once to display one. When this option is selected, the Clipboard Task Pane will appear automatically when more than one item is added to it (Cut or Copy).

Note: The Clipboard Task Pane takes up space in the Access window and the Automatic option is often not selected, in which case, the Clipboard will always have to be manually displayed when needed. Uncheck the Show Office Clipboard Automatically option now if required.

14. Close the Clipboard and leave the table open for the next exercise.

Note: When using the Paste function from Ribbon button, (without using the Clipboard) it is always the last item copied or cut which is inserted.



Exercise 4 - Replacing TextGuidelines:

Replace will search a table for a particular piece of text, and replace it with different text. The search can be restricted to one field or the whole table.

Replacements can be made one at a time as the table is searched or a global replacement can be made of all occurrences of the text.

Actions:

1. With the Pet Details table open click in the Animal field of the first record.

2. From the Home tab click the Replace button, . The Find and Replace dialog box appears with the Replace function selected.

Note: Alternatively click the Find button then select the Replace tab in the dialog box.

3. In the Find What box enter Fish and in the Replace With box enter Goldfish.

4. Click the arrow in the Look In box to see the options. The search can either be in the currently selected field (Animal), or the whole table. Make sure that the setting is Current Field.

5. Click the arrow in the Match box to see the options. The search can be made to look for the text anywhere in a field, at the start of a field, or only if it is the whole field. Make sure that the setting is Whole Field.

6. Click Find Next to find the first occurrence of Fish after the cursor position.

continued over



Exercise 4 - Continued7. Click Replace to replace this occurrence with Goldfish and automatically

find the next occurrence.

8. Continue clicking Replace to substitute all occurrences of Fish with Goldfish.

9. When Access has replaced all occurrences a dialog box appears notifying you that no further occurrences of the search text can be found. Click OK to remove the dialog box then Cancel to remove the Find and Replace dialog box.

10. Look through the Animal field. All occurrences of Fish have been replaced with Goldfish.

11. Position the cursor at the top of the Animal field. Click the Replace button from the Find group on the Ribbon.

12. Enter Goldfish in Find What and Golden Orfe in Replace With.

13. Click the Replace All button to replace all occurrences immediately. A confirmation prompt is displayed.

14. Select Yes to confirm the changes.

15. Click Cancel to remove the Find and Replace dialog box.

16. Look through the table to view the changes.

17. Close the Pet Details table. If the only changes to the table have been data changes there will be no prompt to save the table at this time, as data changes are saved automatically. Only if there have been potential changes to design features will there be a prompt to save. Click No to any save prompt that may appear.

18. Close the Pets database.



Exercise 5 - Revision: Advanced Editing1. Open the Pets database and the Pet Details table.

2. View the Clipboard Task Pane and make sure it is cleared.

3. Copy the first 3 records, one entire record at a time.

4. Paste each of three records back as new records.

Note: This is only possible because the records do not contain a unique key field.

5. Delete the Date Sold field from each of these pasted records in turn.

6. Enter today’s date in the first empty Date Sold field then Copy and Paste to the other blank fields.

7. Find and replace all occurrences of Rabbit with White Rabbit.

8. Clear all Clipboard entries and close the Clipboard Task Pane.

9. Close the Pet Details table and Pets database. There should be no need to save any changes.



Section 2

Advanced Queries


Create Summary QueriesUse Sum, Count, Average, Min, Max and Group By

Create Calculated FieldsUse Parameter Queries



Exercise 6 - Group ByGuidelines:

Instead of the normal Select Query which list individual records, it is possible to create a query in Summary mode. These queries do not list individual records, they only show summary results such as counts, totals and averages. These values can be produced for all selected records or for defined groups of records.

The defining of record groups is itself a summary function called Group By.

Actions:

1. Open the Premises database. Create a new query using the Query Design button on the Create tab. Add the Commercial table to the query and place the Location field on to the query grid.

2. Click the Totals button on the Design tab. A new row appears on the query grid labelled Total: with the default entry of Group By.

Note: The Total row can be removed at any time by clicking again.

3. Run the query. The results table is a summary query grouped by Location, with one record for each different Location in the table, regardless of how many actual records there are in each group.

4. Switch back to Design View and leave the query open for the next exercise.



Exercise 7 - CountGuidelines:

The summary calculation Count, counts how many entries are in a particular field including duplicate values. It does not count null entries, i.e. empty fields. All selected records can be counted, but often Count is combined with Group By to count records in each group.

Actions:

1. Using the query from the previous exercise, add Address to the grid.

2. Click the drop down arrow in the Total field for the Address column and select Count from the list of options.

3. Run the query. The result table shows the number of records (with addresses) in each of the defined groups.

Note: Take care when choosing which field to use in the count. If any records on the table above did not have an entry in the address field, they would not be included in the count. To use this method to count records, make sure you pick a field that always has an entry.

4. Switch back to the Design View and leave the query on screen for the next exercise.



Exercise 8 - SumGuidelines:

The summary calculation Sum, totals all values in a numeric field. All selected records can be included in one total, but often Sum is combined with Group By to produce totals for each group (sub totals).

Actions:

1. Using the query from the previous exercise, add Price to the grid.

2. Click the drop down arrow in the Total field for the Price column and select Sum from the list of options.

3. Run the query. The result table now also shows the total price of all premises in each of the groups

4. Switch back to the Design View.

5. Select the Location column from the query grid and press <Delete> to remove it. The query no longer has a Group By function.

6. Run the query. The result table now has only one row showing the total number of records and the total price value for the entire table.

7. Close the query without saving and leave the database open for the next exercise.



Exercise 9 - Average ValuesGuidelines:

Avg is another summary calculation. It shows the average of all values in a field. It is selected from the Total row in the query grid, like Count and Sum. It can be calculated for the whole table or combined with Group By.

Actions:

1. Create a new query based on the Commercial table. Add the fields Floors, Price and Unit Area to the grid. Select the Totals function.

2. In the Total field for Floors, select Group By and in the Total fields for Price and Unit Area, select Avg.

3. Run the query to see the average price and floor area for all premises with different numbers of floors.

4. Results fields in queries have not been defined in a table, so their formatting may not be correct. Switch back to Design View and click in the Unit Area column of the grid.

5. Click in the Show/Hide group on the Design tab. The Property Sheet task pane for the selected field is displayed.

6. Select the Format row and click the drop down arrow at the right. Select Fixed from the drop down list.

7. Select the Caption row and type Average Area.

8. Click Property Sheet again to close the task pane, then run the query.

9. Leave the query grid on screen for the next exercise.



Exercise 10 - Maximum and Minimum ValuesGuidelines:

Max and Min are summary calculations that show the maximum and minimum values of specified fields for all selected records. A range of the highest and lowest values in a table can be displayed using the TopValues property.

Actions:

1. Using the query from the previous exercise, switch to Design View, delete the Unit Area column and add another Price column.

2. In the first Price column change the Total box to Min and in the second one change the Total box to Max.

3. Run the query. The result table will show the minimum and maximum price for premises with different numbers of floors.

4. Switch to Design view, remove the Floors column and run the query again. The minimum and maximum prices for the whole table are shown.

5. Switch to Design View and click the Totals button to remove the Total row from the grid.

6. Remove one of the Price columns and add Address to the grid.

7. Define a Descending Sort for the Price field. This would show the highest prices first.

8. In the Query Setup group of the Design tab is a Top Values button and

drop down box, .

9. Type 5 in the box, or select it from the drop down list.

10. Run the query. The 5 records with the highest prices are displayed.

11. Switch back to Design View.

12. Close the query without saving.

13. Close the database.



Exercise 11 - Calculated Fields in QueriesGuidelines:

When a calculation is required in a query, based on the contents of one or more of the available fields, a Calculated Field may be used. This is a field that the user creates (it does not exist on any table), to display the results of a calculation defined with an expression. The expression may involve one or more numerical fields, and involve any mathematical calculations. It allows, for example, two fields to be multiplied together, or for a price field to be multiplied by a percentage, or a discount applied to all values in a particular field. Once a calculated field is defined in a query, it can be used like any other field.

The name of the new field is entered in the Field row of a query grid, followed by a colon (:). The expression is then entered, with field names enclosed in square brackets.

The standard mathematical symbols are Add +, Subtract -, Divide / and Multiply *.

Actions:

1. Open the Pet Shop database.

2. Create a new query based on the Pet Details table.

3. Place the Animal, Price and Number Sold fields into the grid.

4. In the fourth column enter the following expression in the Field: box

Total Amount: [Price]*[Number Sold]

Where Total Amount is the new field name, Price and Number Sold are the fields from the table and * is the mathematical operator. This is a new Calculated Field that will multiply the price of each animal by the number of each animal sold, and call the answer Total Amount.

5. Make sure the Show box is ticked for the new field so that it is displayed in the results.

6. Run the query.

continued over



Exercise 11 - Continued7. Notice that the result table will contain the total amount for each type of

pet that was sold. Your data may look different from this due to modifications in earlier exercises.

8. Once a calculated field has been defined it can be used in the query like any other field. Return to Design View and enter >10 in the criteria for the Total Amount field.

9. Run the query again to see only those sales records where the total sales amount is greater than £10.

Note: Sometimes calculated fields will need to have their formatting defined using the Property Sheet in Design View, as described previously in Exercise 9.

10. Return to Design View and save the query as Total Amount.

11. Close the query and the database.



Exercise 12 - Parameter QueriesGuidelines:

If a table is being queried repeatedly on the same field and all that is changing is the selection criteria, then a Parameter Query can be used. In a Parameter Query the specific selection criteria is replaced by a parameter which can be changed every time the query is run. A dialog box prompting for the required information is shown every time the query is run. Once the information is provided, the query is performed, based on the entered information.

To create a Parameter Query, type the text that is to appear within the dialog box, within square brackets, in the appropriate Criteria row.

When any query is saved and closed, it can be run from the Database Window at any time by selecting it and clicking on Open. For a Parameter Query, a dialog box will be displayed prompting for the criteria to be used when performing the query.

Actions:

1. Open the Premises database. Create a new query in Design View based on the Commercial table and place the following fields on to the grid: Location, Address, Type of Premises and Price.

2. Records are to be selected by Location, but each time the query is run it might need to look at a different Location. To avoid having to change the query every time, a parameter query will be used.

3. In the Location field criteria, enter: [Enter Required Location].

Note: Access expects all content within square brackets to be a field name first, or if it is not a valid field name, to be a parameter prompt. So do not use a field name as a prompt, e.g. [Location] will not work as a parameter because there is a field with this name, but [Location?] would be acceptable. Similarly, when you do want to specify a field name, make sure you spell it correctly or Access will treat it as a parameter.

4. Run the query. A dialog box appears containing the text that was entered within the square brackets in the Location field. The value entered here will be used as the selection criteria.

continued over



Exercise 12 - Continued5. Enter dockland and click OK.

Note: Remember, selection criteria in Access queries are not case sensitive. This applies to parameter criteria as well. Entering dockland will select DockLand, DOCKLAND, etc.

6. Switch to Design View and save the query as Location.

7. Close the query.

8. Double click the Location query from the Navigation pane to open it again.

9. At the parameter dialog box, enter Central Area.

10. Click OK. All premises in Central Area will be shown. This is the same query as before, but the results vary depending on the parameter value.

11. A query can contain as many parameter values as required. Switch to Design View. In the Price column, enter a criteria of:

Between [low price] and [high price]

12. Run the query. The prompts will be displayed in the order of the field names on the query grid.

13. Type dockland at the Location prompt.

14. Type 100000 at the low price prompt and 150000 at the high price prompt. The query will display all premises in DockLand with prices between £100,000 and £200,000.

Note: There is no need to use currency symbols when entering criteria.

15. Close the query. There will be a prompt asking if you want to save the changes to the design of ‘Location’. Click Yes.




Exercise 13 - Revision: Advanced Queries1. Open the database Computer Repairs and create a new query in

Design View based on the Repairs table.

2. Use Group By in a summary query to find the number of engineers who have made repairs.

3. What is the average price of a repair?

4. What is the average price of a repair done by Albert?

5. What is the total price of all the jobs on the database?

6. Create a parameter query to ask for a particular engineer then show all the jobs for that engineer. Test the query using Albert.

7. Save the query as Engineer and close it.

8. Create a new query based on the Repairs table without Totals, and include all the fields from the table.

9. Create a calculated field in the query to show the price of each job after tax has been added. Call the field Charge. The definition of this calculated field is [Price]*1.175, (price + 17.5%).

10. Format the Charge field as Currency.

11. Run the query and print a copy of the results.

12. Save the query as Final Charge and close the database.

Note: The answers to this exercise can be found in the Answers Section at the end of the guide.



Section 3

Relationships


Understand the Primary Key in TablesUnderstand, Create and Edit Relationships

Understand Referential IntegrityUse a Subdatasheet

Query Related Tables



Exercise 14 - Applying a Primary KeyGuidelines:

When creating databases which use more than one table, it is essential to be able to uniquely identify individual records in a table if they are to be referenced from another table. Records are usually identified by specifying a field in the table which contains unique data for each record, e.g. a serial number or identification number. This is then defined as the Primary Key.

Use of a Primary Key prevents duplication of records in a table and also allows sorting and querying to be performed more efficiently. It also enables the linking of tables.

Actions:

1. Open the Computer Repairs database. It has two tables, one a list of repairs carried out on computers, and the other a table containing data on the computers themselves.

2. Open the Computers table in Design View and look at the fields. The serial number is a good choice for Primary Key in this table as it is unique for each record.

3. Click in the Serial Number field. Click on the Primary Key button, on the Design tab. A Primary Key is applied to the Serial Number field.

4. Look at the Field Properties for this field.

5. Setting this field as the Primary Key for the table has set the Indexed property to Yes (No Duplicates). This means that the Serial Number field is automatically an index, there can be no duplicate serial numbers in the table, and the field cannot be left blank.

6. Save the table and switch to Datasheet view.

7. Highlight the whole record for computer T2457, copy it, and paste it as a new record.

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Exercise 14 - Continued8. Close the table (this will try to update the new record). A message is

displayed explaining that the record cannot be added because it would result in two primary keys with the same value.

9. Click OK. Another message will be shown, to confirm that you want to close the table even though the new record will not be added. Click Yes.

10. Open the Repairs table in Design View. This table also has a Serial Number field but here it cannot be used as a Primary Key here because there can be several repair records for any computer. Job No is a better choice here because on this table it is unique.

11. Apply a Primary Key to the Job No field and save the table.

12. Click the Indexes button on the Design tab, to view the indexes applied to this table. Primary Key is automatically an index.

Note: An index in a table automatically maintains a sort sequence for the records in the table.

13. Click in the Unique box under Index Properties, click the drop down arrow and select No from the list.

14. A message box explains why this change is not allowed. Read the text and click OK. All Index Properties for a Primary Key field are fixed.

15. Close the Indexes dialog box.

16. Save and close the Repairs table but leave the Computer Repairs database open.



Exercise 15 - Applying RelationshipsGuidelines:

Once tables have been designed and primary keys applied, a Relationship may be applied between two or more tables to link them together. Once two or more tables are linked by a relationship, the data from all of the linked tables may be used to create a single query, form or report.

Relationships are applied between tables which contain a common field. Usually, the related field in one table is the primary key field and this table is known as the Primary Table. The related field in the second table is known as the Foreign Key.

Applying relationships allows many smaller tables to be linked together to form the complete database, improving its overall efficiency.

Actions:

1. With the Computer Repairs database open, display the Database Tools tab and click the Relationships button. A blank relationship area is displayed and the Design tab is shown on the Ribbon.

2. If the Show Table dialog box does not appear, click on the Show Table button on the Design tab.

3. Select the Computers table and click the Add button, , to place the table in the Relationships window.

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Exercise 15 - Continued4. Select the Repairs table and again Add it to the window then click

to remove the Show Table dialog box. Resize the table boxes to see all of their fields. The Primary Keys for each table are indicated.

5. Highlight the Serial Number field in the Computers table.

6. To create a relationship between the tables, drag the Serial Number field, from the Computers table, over the Serial Number field in the Repairs table. Release the mouse when in position, to display the Edit Relationships dialog box for the link.

7. In the Edit Relationships dialog box, note the relationship type is One-To-Many. This means that one record from Computers can have many related records in Repairs. This is the most common type of relationship.

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Exercise 15 - ContinuedNote: The One-To-Many relationship is assumed because the field on one side

of the link is unique (Primary Key) and the field on the other side is not. Other types of relationship (One to One and Many to Many) are also possible, and these are covered in the Advanced Guide.

8. The settings available in the Edit Relationships dialog box are covered

in the next exercise, but for now click the Create button, , to create the relationship.

9. Notice how the relationship between the tables is now symbolised by a line, linking the same field, Serial Number in each table. The Serial Number field in the Computers table is defined as a Primary Key so the Computers table is the Primary Table in this relationship.

10. Close the Relationships window and select Yes when prompted to save the changes to the relationship.

11. Leave the database open for the next exercise.



Exercise 16 - Referential IntegrityGuidelines:

Referential Integrity is a set of rules which can be applied to relationships, ensuring they are valid, and that related data is not accidentally deleted or changed. It can only be applied when the matching field from the primary table is a primary key, and when the related fields are the same data types.

Enforcing referential integrity controls the updating of primary key data in the primary table and the deletion of any record from the primary table if a related record exists elsewhere, e.g. a computer record cannot be deleted if repair records exist for that computer. Also, a record cannot be added to a related table if an associated record does not first exist in the primary table, e.g. there can be no repair record without an associated computer record in the primary table.

Actions:

1. Click the Relationships button to display the relationship between Computers and Repairs.

2. Right click with the mouse on the relationship line and select Edit Relationship from the menu.

3. In the Edit Relationships dialog box, check the box for Enforce Referential Integrity and click OK.

Note: Enforcing Referential Integrity will change the relationship line to show the type of relationship, in this case, one to many.

4. Close the Relationships window and if the prompt appears to save, select Yes.




Exercise 17 - Updating and Deleting RecordsGuidelines:

If referential integrity is enforced, the deletion of records from the primary table is controlled, as is the updating of primary key data. Similarly a related record in a table may not be created, if an associated field is not available in the primary table.

Actions:

1. In the Computer Repairs database, open the Computers table in Datasheet View.

Note: Now that there is a related table defined, the Datasheet View is slightly altered. An extra column to the left of the data allows the display of related records from the other table (the Subdatasheet). This is covered in the next exercise.

2. Select the record for T2457, click the drop down arrow on the Delete button and select Delete Record. The record cannot be deleted, as there are related records in the Repairs table.

3. Click OK. Close the table.

4. Open the Repairs table in Datasheet View.

5. Click the Add New Record button and enter the following information:

18 David Upgrade memory A123 100

6. Enter today's date in Date and press <Enter>. As there is no computer with this serial number in the Computers table, a new repair record cannot be created.

7. Click OK. Delete the data just entered using Undo. Close the table.

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Exercise 17 - ContinuedNote: On closing the table a message may be displayed, indicating that the new

record cannot be saved at this time. If so, click Yes to close the table.

8. To allow editing or deletion of records, the relationship between the tables must be changed. Click the Relationships button.

9. Right click on the linking line and select Edit Relationship.

10. Edit the relationship as follows: check the boxes for Cascade Update Related Fields and Cascade Delete Related Records. This means that updates and deletions will now be allowed in the primary table, but will be automatically reflected in the related tables.

11. Click OK then close the relationship.

12. Open the Computers table in Datasheet View and delete the M4568E record.

13. Read the dialog box then select Yes at the prompt.

14. Change the serial number C44477 to C44488.

15. Close the table and open the Repairs table in Datasheet View. The repair for M4568E (job 9) has been removed, and the serial number change has been automatically changed in job 2.

16. Close the table but leave the database open.



Exercise 18 - Viewing a SubdatasheetGuidelines:

When tables are linked, the Datasheet View of the primary table can also display data from the linked table on the same screen in a Subdatasheet. Each record on the main table can be expanded to show all associated records from the linked table. Records on subdatasheets can also be amended.

Actions:

1. In the Computer Repairs database, open the Computers table in Datasheet View.

2. The Computers table is displayed with expandable subdatasheets,

3. Click the to the left side of the first record B36978A, to expand a subdatasheet showing related records from the Repairs table.

4. Change the price of job no 5 on the subdatasheet to £36 by overtyping.

5. Expand the subdatasheet for S438123 and enter a new job 18, David, Install Antivirus, £40.00, 12/06/2004 in the subdatasheet. Use <Tab> to move through the fields.

Note: The linking field (Serial Number) is not displayed in the subdatasheet. It is always assumed to be the value from the main table.

6. Close all open subdatasheets by using the symbol.

7. Click the More button, , found in the Records group of the Home tab. Select Subdatasheet from the drop down menu and click

. All Repairs table subdatasheets, are opened.

8. Repeat the process, but select to close all the subdatasheets then close the Computers table, saving if prompted.

9. Open the Repairs table in Datasheet view to check the new repair record (job 18) and the amended details on job 5.

10. Close the Repairs table but leave the database open.



Exercise 19 - Querying Related TablesGuidelines:

When tables are linked, queries may be created based on the data from any of the related tables. Once created, these queries can be used without further reference to the original tables. For example, a query can be created using all the fields from two related tables. A user can then create a single report based on that query, using any of the fields, although the data will actually be coming from separate tables.

Actions:

1. In the Computer Repairs database create a new Query in Design View.

2. Add both the Computers and Repairs tables to the query grid then close the Show Tables dialog box.

3. Add the fields Serial Number, Manufacturer and Owner from the Computers table, and Engineer and Job Description from Repairs. Notice that there is a Table row in the query grid which indicates the source table for each of the fields.

4. Run the query. There is a row for each job from the Repairs table, with data included from the Computers table, duplicated where appropriate.

5. Save the query as Linked. This query can now be used as the source for a report or form, and these five fields will be instantly available.




Exercise 20 - Revision: Relationships1. Open the Holiday database. This is an extract from a booking system for

properties in a holiday village.

2. In the Property table add a Primary Key to the Reference field.

3. In the Bookings table add a Primary Key to the Booking Ref field.

4. Create a One to Many relationship between the Property table and the Bookings table using the Reference field.

5. Enforce Referential Integrity, with no Cascade options.

6. Display the Property table. Use the datasheet view to see how many bookings are recorded for property D12.

7. On the same display change the Reference for property A24 to A34. Try to update the record. Why is the update not allowed?

8. Would setting the Cascade options solve the problem?

9. Close the Property table and open the Bookings table.

10. In the Bookings table, change the Reference field in record 5 from D12 to D13 and try to update the record. Why is it not allowed?

11. Would setting the Cascade options solve the problem?

12. Close the Bookings table.

13. Edit the relationship and set all Cascade options. Check your answers to steps 8 and 11.

14. Close any tables and create a query containing the fields Reference, Location, Start Date and No of Weeks.

15. Save the query as Revision20 and close it.


Note: The answers to this exercise can be found in the Answers Section at the end of the guide.



Section 4

Table Field Properties


Use Lookup FieldsUnderstand Field Properties

Setup Default ValuesSetup Validation Rules/Text

Understand Input MasksUse AutoNumber



Exercise 21 - Lookup FieldsGuidelines:

When creating fields within a table, it is possible to create a Lookup Field that contains all the possible values that can be entered. At data entry time there is no need to enter any values, it is possible to select an entry from the presented list. This speeds up data input and reduces the possibility of typing mistakes. The field can be set so that only those entries in the Lookup Field will be accepted.

This option is useful when there are not many possible values to choose from for the field and they are not expected to change very often.

Note: There is an alternative lookup process; where the possible values are looked up from an existing table or query in the database.

Actions:

1. Open the Computer Repairs database. Open the Repairs table in Design View. A new lookup field is to be created, called Processed By.

2. Position the cursor under Date. Enter the Field Name as Processed By and from Data Type drop down list choose Lookup Wizard. After a few seconds the first Lookup Wizard screen appears with the following options.

3. From the Lookup Wizard choose I will type in the values that I want and click Next.

4. Specify the Number of columns: as 1 and enter the following values into Col 1, separating each entry using the <Tab> key: Davidson, Jones, O’Neill and Peters.

5. Click Next. The label Processed By is correct. Click Finish to create the Lookup Field.

6. Save the table and switch to Datasheet View. The new field appears.

7. Click in the Processed by field for the first record to reveal a drop down arrow. Click the arrow.

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Exercise 21 - Continued

8. Jones processed the first job. Click Jones in the list to insert the name.

9. Click in Processed By for the next record and enter P. The name Peters appears in Processed By for Job No 2.

10. Switch to Design View. Change the Data Type for Engineer to Lookup Wizard. Enter John, Richard, Stephen, Albert, David and Keith as the values and accept Engineer as the label.

11. When the wizard is complete, look in the Field Properties at the bottom of the screen. Select the Lookup tab.

12. The Row Source box shows the entries that appear in the drop down list. They can by amended here when required.

13. Change the Limit To List box to Yes. Now only values from the list will be allowed. Save the changes and switch back to Datasheet View.

14. Click in the Engineer field of any record and a drop down list of the valid engineers' names will appear.

15. Try to enter the name George in the Engineer field of one of the records. A message will appear.

16. Click OK and then select from the list of possible names.

17. Click Undo to cancel the change, then Close the table and the database.



Exercise 22 - Format Field PropertyGuidelines:

When a table is being created, it is possible to specify certain Field Properties for each field. The available options change depending on the type of data held in the field. However, a definition of each option is shown in blue on the right of the property box, once it is selected.

One such Field Property is Format which controls the appearance of the field. Some useful formatting options for text are:

< Converts all text in the field to lowercase.

> Converts all text in the field to uppercase.

Actions:

1. Open the CiA database. Open the Orders table and note the format of the dates.

18. Switch to Design View. Place the cursor in the Order Date field.

19. In the Field Properties at the bottom of the window select Format. Click on the down arrow and choose Medium Date.

20. Save the changes and switch to Datasheet View. The Order Dates are now formatted differently.

Note: Regardless of how the data is displayed, it can still be entered in short form, i.e. 21/07/03.

21. Switch to Design View and change the Date Paid format to Medium Date.

22. Save the changes and return to Datasheet View to view the formatting changes.

23. Switch to Design View and click in the Customer Ref field. This is an example of a numeric field and the format options are different.

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Exercise 22 - Continued24. In the Field Properties at the bottom of the window select Format. Click

on the down arrow to see the available options.

25. Select Standard format, save the changes and return to Datasheet View to view the effect.

26. Switch to Design View and select other options for formatting numeric fields, switching back to Datasheet View to see the effects.

27. None of these options are applicable to this particular field, so set the Format to General Number and save the table.

28. Close the Orders table and open the Customer Details table. View the data and the format of the Company field, then switch to Design View.

29. Select the Company field and in the Format field property enter >.

30. Save the table and switch to Datasheet View. All the company names are now in upper case.

Note: Like all formatting, this only changes the way data is displayed, not the data itself.

Note: The formatting applied here sets the default. It can be overwritten when the field appears in other objects. For example, a date formatted as Short Date on the table field properties could be formatted as Long Date in a particular report.

31. Close the table.




Exercise 23 - Default ValuesGuidelines:

A Default Value is a value that is automatically entered into a particular field of every new record. When records are added, the default value can either be accepted or changed.

The default value is entered in the Field Properties area, in the Default Value box.

Actions:

1. In the CiA database, open the Order Details table in Design View. This table holds data about the amount of each product on an order line.

33. Select the Amount field and position the cursor in the Default Value row in the Field Properties area.

34. Enter 1. Every new record will now automatically appear with the number 1 already inserted in the field. This value can be overwritten if necessary.

35. Save the table and switch to Datasheet View. Start a new record.

36. Enter the following details:

Order Ref Product Ref Amount

221 TA1

37. 1 should automatically be in the Amount field. This is the correct figure for this record so close the table.

38. Open the Orders table in Design View.

39. Select the Order Date field and in the Default Value enter =Now(). This will automatically show the current date for the next new record.

40. Set the Paid field Default Value to No. Save the changes and switch to Datasheet View and view the new default values.

41. Close all tables but leave the database open.



Exercise 24 - Validation Rules/TextGuidelines:

Validation Rules are used to set the requirements for the content that the user enters into a particular field. It defines the permitted entries that the user may make. The rules may consist of a list of permitted words, or a numerical validation, for example a value must be greater than 50, or a date must be before today’s date.

If text is entered which breaks the validation rule, a message containing some pre-set Validation Text will be displayed, as defined by the user.

Validation rules and text are defined in the Field Properties when viewing a table in Design View.

Actions:

1. Open the Customer Details table in Design View.

42. Select the Title field and position the cursor in the Validation Rule field property. Enter the following text.

Mr or Mrs or Miss or Ms or Dr

This defines the permitted entries for this field. Only these 5 titles will be allowed.

43. In the Validation Text property, enter

The title must be one of the following: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms or Dr.

This defines the message that will appear if any text is entered that does not match the list defined in the Validation Rule.

44. Save the table. As a new rule has been defined, the data which is currently in the table, may not now be valid. The following message will appear:

continued over




45. There are 3 options. Yes will test the existing data with the new rule. No will not test the existing data but will apply the validation to all new records. Cancel will return to the Design View.

Note: If Yes is selected and there is a field which does not match the Validation Rule, a dialog box will appear giving options to keep the new settings, revert to the old settings or to stop testing. A selection is required.

46. Click Yes to apply the rule, and check in Datasheet View that the existing data fits the rule. All of the existing data should already fit the rule.

47. Start a new record. In the Title field enter Sir. Press <Tab>.

48. The Validation Text message appears is because Sir does not match any of the entries in the Validation Rule. Click OK.

Note: If this value was required, the Validation Rule for this field could be amended in Design View by adding or Sir to the end of the existing text.

49. For this exercise, enter one of the permitted title values into the field. Press <Tab>. Fill in the rest of the record with your own details, amending the title field if necessary.

50. Close the table and open the Order Details table in Design View.

51. Click in the Amount field and set a Validation Rule of >=5 and Validation Text of Minimum order quantity 5.

52. Save the table but do not test existing data.

53. Switch to Datasheet View and enter a new record. Enter an Order Ref of 300, a Product Ref of AC1 and an Amount of 2. The record will not be added and the Validation Text message will display.

54. Click OK, delete the Amount value then delete the entire new record.



55. Close the table and leave the database open for the next exercise.



Exercise 25 - Input MasksGuidelines:

Input Masks control how data is entered and displayed in a field. The Input Mask field property in Design View is used. A combination of different symbols is entered, which defines the way in which data in that field is expected to be entered, and how it will be shown. The symbols used are:

Mask Character Used for0 Number - entry required.

9 Number - entry not required.

# Number, + or -, or space, - entry not required.

L Letter - entry required.

? Letter - entry not required.

A Letter or Number - entry required.

a Letter or Number - entry not required.

& Any character or space - entry required.

C Any character or space - entry not required.

. , Decimal point and thousands separators.

: / Date and time separators.

< Converts characters to the right to lowercase.

> Converts characters to the right to uppercase.

! Mask fills from right to left.

\ The character that follows will be displayed as itself, e.g. \9 will be displayed as 9. Quotes around a character have the same effect.

Input Masks can be built up manually using the symbols above, or some predefined masks can be applied by using the Input Mask Wizard.

Actions:

1. Open the Customer Details table in Design View.

56. Select the Telephone field and position the cursor in the Input Mask field property.

57. The Build button appears, . Click on it once to start the Input Mask Wizard.

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Exercise 25 - Continued58. Select Phone Number from the Input Mask box.

59. Click Next, then Next again. Choose to store the data With the symbols in the mask... ( so that the brackets appear) and click on Next.

60. Click Finish. The mask appears in the Telephone field property.

61. Press <Enter> to complete the formatting. The 9 signifies that a number may be entered at that position, the 0 signifies a number must be entered. Both signify a numeric entry only.

62. Save the table and switch to Datasheet View. Existing data is not checked against the mask.

63. Add a new record entering any details. Try various numbers in the Telephone field to check the operation of the mask.

64. For example, click in the Telephone field, position the cursor immediately after the brackets and type 123 <space> 567. The entry should look like (____)123 567. This fits the mask and will be accepted.

65. The mask can be modified to suit different requirements. Switch to Design View and change the mask to \(0009”)“00090009;0;. This means that at least 3 numbers of an area code must now be entered.

66. Save the table and switch to Datasheet View. Start a new record, entering any details. A telephone number without an area code will not now be accepted. Type (0123) 4567890 and press <Enter>.

67. Leave the table and the database open.



Exercise 26 - Other Field PropertiesGuidelines:

Other Field Properties that can be applied to a field in a table are:

Field Size Will restrict the number of characters entered into a field.

Caption Text entered here will appear as the label of the Field wherever it appears.

Required If set to Yes, the field cannot be left blank.

Indexed Automatically arranges the data in order of this field.

Actions:

1. In the CiA database, display the Customer Details table in Design View.

68. This table has a Primary Key defined, which will override the Indexing to be applied later. Click on the Customer Ref field and remove the Primary Key.

69. Click on the Company field. Change the Field Size of Company from 50 to 15, and delete the > from the Format row to remove the upper case formatting.

70. Type Organisation in the Caption property. This will now be used everywhere as the label for the field, including Datasheet View column heading.

71. To make sure that details cannot be entered without a company name, the field can be made mandatory. Change the Required property to Yes.

72. To always see the table in Company order set the Indexed property to Yes (Duplicates OK).

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Exercise 26 - Continued73. Save the table. This is necessary as the table design has been changed.

A prompt warns of possible data loss because a field size is reduced.

74. Select Yes to continue.

75. There will also be a prompt concerning data integrity because a rule has changed and the existing data may not conform. Select Yes to continue.

76. Switch to Datasheet View. There is a new heading for the Company column, and records are now displayed in order of company name.

77. Reducing the size of the Organisation field has truncated the entry for Waldram Enterprises. Try to correct it. This is not allowed because there are now only 15 characters available for this field.

78. Switch to Design View and increase the Field Size of Company to 20. Save the table and switch back to Datasheet View.

79. The characters missing from Waldram Enterprises are still missing. Data lost by reducing field size is lost permanently. Try to correct it again. The field is larger so the correction is possible.

80. Add a new record but do not enter a company name. The update will not be allowed. Read the message, click OK and click Undo to cancel the entry.

81. Switch to Design View and apply a Primary Key to the Customer Ref field.

82. Save the table and close it. Close the CiA database.



Exercise 27 - AutoNumberGuidelines:

AutoNumber is a special field type used to automatically enter a sequential number for each record as it is added to a table. The number is generated by Access and cannot be amended. This feature has been seen in tables used earlier in the guide, and is normally used to create unique codes for records that otherwise would not have suitable fields, e.g. transaction records.

Actions:

1. Open the Premises database and open the Offers table in Datasheet View. This is a table to record offers made on any of the properties on the Commercial table. It is difficult to uniquely identify any particular record as there may be duplications of date, property and bidder.

2. Switch to Design View.

83. Click in the Offer Date field and select from the Design tab. A blank row is added.

84. Enter a field name of Offer Number, and select AutoNumber from the drop down list for Data Type.

85. Save the table and switch to Datasheet View.

86. Each existing record has automatically been sequentially numbered.

Note: If the table is already indexed on a different field it may not be displayed in order of the new field.

87. Create a new record, using today's date, property M005, and an offer of £65,000 from City Council.

88. Notice that no data can be entered into the Offer Number field, but as soon as any other data is entered, the next sequential number is assigned.

89. Close the table and the database.



Exercise 28 - Revision: Field Properties1. Open the Holiday database and Property table.

90. Create a Lookup field for the Type field, which will only accept the values Bungalow, Villa, Apartment or Studio. These values will be entered on a list as part of the field properties.

91. Use Limit To List to ensure this field only accepts one of these entries.

92. Format the Weekly Cost field to be Euros.

93. Close the Property table and open the Bookings table.

94. Make Start Date and No of Weeks mandatory fields.

95. For the No of Guests field, create a Validation Rule that will only accept numbers less than or equal to 8.

96. Create Validation Text to go with the Validation Rule.

97. Set the Default Value for No of Weeks to 2 and save the table. Test the existing data with the new rules when prompted.

98. Close the Bookings table and open the Property table.

99. Create a new record in the Property table, entering information in every field.

100. Create a new record in the Bookings table, which is a booking for the property just added. Enter information in every field.

101. Close the tables and the database.



Section 5

Advanced Forms


Understand and create SubformsLink Forms

Create Multiple Table Forms



Exercise 29 - Main/Subform: Form WizardGuidelines:

Just as a subdatasheet can be contained within a datasheet, a Subform, containing specific, linked information, can be contained on a Main Form.

The easiest way to create a Main/Subform is to use the Form Wizard. A number of questions are asked, which guide the user through the steps of creating a form with a subform.

Actions:

1. Open the Contacts database. Select the Create tab and click

from the Forms group.

2. The wizard first needs to know which fields are to be used on both forms. From the Tables/Queries box, select the table People.

102. Use the button to move all fields to the Selected Fields box, then remove Contact ID, which is not needed.

Note: Double clicking on individual field names in the Available Fields box, will place them in the Selected Fields box.

103. Change the Tables/Queries box to show the table Meetings. This table will supply the information for the subform.

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Exercise 29 - Continued104. From the Available Fields box, move Date, Subject, Discussed and

Next Contact to the Selected Fields box.

105. Click Next. The default data view sequence should be by People. Do not change this. A choice is given as to the type of form required. Ensure Form with subform(s) is selected, and then click Next.

106. Select a Datasheet layout for the subform then click Next.

107. The two forms may then be given titles, if required. Leave the titles as they are and click Finish.

108. The new form will now appear. Maximise the screen if necessary.

Note: In this picture, the Subform has been resized in Design View so that it can all be seen. You may need to scroll down to see the whole form.

109. The Main Form contains details of each person, and the contact details for that person appear in the Subform. Use the main form record navigation buttons, to browse through the records of each person.

Note: As the person changes in the main form, the meetings details change in the Subform. A new record added to the Subform will be automatically given the correct Contact ID.

110. Use the subform navigation buttons to move through the meetings for each person.

111. Close the form. If prompted, to save, select Yes and then close the database.


Record Navigation Buttons Main Form

Record Navigation Buttons Subform


Exercise 30 - Main/Subform: Subform WizardGuidelines:

A Main/Subform can be created without using the Form Wizard by combining two existing forms. Choose one as the main form and in Design View, use the Subform/Subreport button to add the other as a Subform.

Actions:

1. Open the Computer Repairs database and make sure all Access objects are displayed in the Navigation pane. There are forms already present, including a Computer Data Entry form, which will be the main form, and a Repairs Subform, which will become the subform.

112. Open the Computer Data Entry form in Design View. Expand the Controls group of the Design tab and make sure the Use Control

Wizards option is turned on, , (has an orange background).

113. Click the Subform/Subreport button in the expanded Controls group. Position the mouse under the Address field on the form and click once. The Subform Wizard appears.

114. Choose the Use an existing form option and ensure that Repairs Subform is highlighted in the list of available forms.

115. Click Next.

continued over




116. Make sure Choose from a list and Show Repairs for each record in Computers using Serial Number are selected. Click Next.

117. Accept the default name for the subform, Repairs Subform. Click Finish to create the subform.

118. Save the form and switch to Form View.

119. Move through the Computer records using the Record Navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen. Return to the first record then use the Subform Navigation buttons to move through the jobs for this computer.

Note: If necessary, move/resize the subform in Design View, to achieve this layout then return to Form View.

120. Save and close the form and the database.



Exercise 31 - Main/Subform: ManualGuidelines:

The Main/Subform can be created without using any wizards. With the main form in Design View, and the Control Wizards turned off, click on the Subform/Subreport button. The subform can then be manually added to the main form, and the links and design changed as necessary.

Actions:

1. Open the CiA database.

121. Open the Orders form in Design View.

122. Ensure the Design tab is displayed and the Use Control Wizards option

is turned off, . (white background).

123. Click the Subform/Subreport button, , and click on the form under Date Paid.

124. A box appears with the word Unbound in it. This is where the subform will appear. The size of this box will be changed in the following steps.

125. On the Design tab, click on the Property Sheet button in the Tools group to view the Property Sheet for the subform.

126. Select the Data tab in the Property Sheet.

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Note: The name Child 13 is the next one in a sequential series, its value is not important.

127. Click in the Source Object property and from the drop down list, choose Form.Order Details. This is the form that is the Source of the information for this subform.

128. Order Ref appears in the Link Child Fields and Link Master Fields.

Note: To create a main/subform, there must be a linking field in each form so the information in one form can pull out the correct data in the other.

129. Close the Property Sheet. Delete the Child 13 label and resize the subform so it is about 9cm wide and 3 cm deep.

130. Save the form, and switch to Form View. Display the second order. Note that there are two order lines for this order

131. Browse through the orders. Notice that the orders details in the subform changes to show the details relevant to the viewed order.

132. Close the form and the database.



Exercise 32 - Linking FormsGuidelines:

Instead of creating a form with a subform within it, it is possible to create two forms which are separate, but which link together. The main form will be viewed and when a record is chosen, a button can be pressed which will open up the linked form where the relevant related data will be displayed. This approach is useful when the main form contains a large amount of information, and the addition of a subform would clutter the screen.

Actions:

1. Open the Contacts database. If the Security Warning message is displayed now, click Enable Content. This will allow the Link button created in this exercise to function.

2. Select the Create tab and click. .

133. From the People table, add all of the fields apart from Contact ID.

134. From the Meetings table, add all of the fields except the two ID fields, then click Next.

135. Select to view the data by People, and using Linked forms.

136. Enter the title for the first form as People Linked and leave the second as Meetings.

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137. Click Finish. The form will now appear. It may be that Access creates a form title which obscures the button. If so, switch to Design View and drag the title to the right, then switch back to Form View.

138. Click the Meetings button to open the linked form and show the Meetings records for person, Derek Ord.

139. Display the People Linked form again and move to record 6, James Tebb. The Meetings form will automatically show his meetings.

140. Close both forms, saving if prompted and close the database.


Linking Forms Button


Exercise 33 - Multiple Table FormsGuidelines:

Single forms can be created using fields from different tables. To do this, a query must be created which contains all the fields that are required on the form. This query then acts as the basis for the form, which is created in the usual manner.

Such forms are useful for enquiries, but care should be taken when using them to add or amend data, as two separate tables will be affected.

Actions:

1. Open the CiA database. Create a new query in Design View.

141. Add the tables Customer Details and Orders to the query grid. If the tables are not already linked, link them now by dragging the Customer Ref field from the Customer Details field list to Orders.

142. From the Customer Details table, place the following fields on the grid: First Name, Surname, Company, Address, County, and Post Code.

143. From the Orders table, place the following fields on the grid: Order Ref, Order Date, Paid, Date Paid.

144. Save the query as Customer and Order Details and close it.

145. Select the Customer and Order Details query from the Navigation Pane, select the Create tab and select the Form button.

146. A single quick form is created, containing all the fields on the Customer and Order Details query, i.e. including fields from the original two tables.

147. Save the form as Customer Orders and close it, then close the database.



Exercise 34 - Revision: Advanced Forms1. Open the Computer Repairs database.

2. The Computers and Repairs tables have already been linked during the exercises in Section 3. If Section 3 has not been completed in this course, it will be necessary to apply a relationship now as described in step 3 below. If Section 3 has been completed, go straight to step 4.

3. Define Serial Number as the primary key in the Computers table. Using the Relationships dialog box, apply a One-to-Many relationship between Computers and Repairs based on the field Serial Number. Activate all the Referential Integrity options.

148. Use the Form Wizard to create a Form with subform. Base the main part of the form on the Computers table and include all fields except Paid.

149. Use the Repairs table as the second table and include the fields Job No, Engineer, Job Description, and Price.

150. Specify a Datasheet layout for the subform. Name the main form Joe’s Computers and the subform Repair Details.

151. In Design View extend the width of the subform to about 15cm.

152. Switch to Form View. Reduce the size of the columns in the subform display until all columns can be seen.

Note: An example picture of the created form is included in the Answer Section at the end of this guide.

153. View some records then close the form.

154. By using a query, create a new form which contains all the fields from both tables (include only one Serial Number) but all on the same form instead of as a main form and a subform.

155. Save the new form as Multitable.




Section 6

Form Controls


Create Calculated FieldsCreate and use Command Buttons

Create and use Combo and List BoxesUse Option Groups

Understand and use Tab Controls



Exercise 35 - Calculated FieldsGuidelines:

A calculated field uses a mathematical expression to obtain its information. These fields are calculated by using other information from the database and are calculated each time they are required. They are not stored in any table.

To create a calculated field on a form, a text box is drawn, and the expression entered into it. The expression may include any of the usual mathematical symbols (+ - * /) and expressions such as Average, Sum, Max and Min. When the form is viewed, the field will calculate the expression, and will recalculate as the record changes.

Alternatively, a query could be created which included any required calculations. Then any form (or report) based on this query would be able to use the calculated fields exactly like any other fields.

Actions:

1. Open the Pets database and the Pet Entry Form in Design View. A field is to be created on the form to calculate the total value of sales for each pet, based on the price multiplied by the quantity sold.

157. Ensure the Design tab is displayed and click on the Text Box button in the Controls group. Click below the Number Sold field. A box is created with the word Unbound in it. This is an Unbound control, because at present it is not connected to any particular field in the source table.

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Exercise 35 - Continued158. Click once on the new unbound box and enter the following calculation:

=[Price]*[Number Sold]

Note: When referring to another field, the name of the field must be entered within square brackets.

159. Click on the label next to the calculated field, delete Text and enter Total Amount.

160. Resize and reposition the label and calculated field.

Note: To align fields on a form (or report), click and drag a box round the required fields to select them, then select the Arrange tab. There is an Align button in the Sizing and Ordering group on the Arrange tab which has options to align horizontally or vertically.


162. A calculation appears which is the Price multiplied by the Number Sold. View another record - the Total Amount is automatically calculated.

163. Switch to Design View, select the calculated field and display the Property Sheet. On the Format tab of the Property Sheet, click in the Format property, click the drop down arrow, and select Currency.

164. Close the Property Sheet, then save the form and return to Form View. The calculated field is now formatted correctly.

165. Look at the first record. Change the Number Sold to 5, then move to the Total Amount field. The figure is recalculated.

166. Save the form and leave it open.



Exercise 36 - Command Button: WizardGuidelines:

A Command Button is a button on a form which, when pressed, performs an action that the user has previously attached to it.

An easy way to define a command button is to use the Command Button Wizard, which takes the user through the steps of creating a button, and presents a list of possible actions to attach, such as deleting a record, closing a form, opening a report, running a query, running a macro, printing, etc.

Actions:

1. The Pet Entry Form in the Pets database should be open. Switch to Design View.

167. Look on the Design tab, and make sure the Use Control Wizards

button, , is turned on .

168. Scroll down the form until the Form Footer is in view. Make this area about 2cm deep.

169. Click on the Button icon , in the Controls group, and click once on the left side of the Form Footer to create a button.

170. The Command Button Wizard appears. Click the different Categories and view what Actions can be applied to a command button.

171. Select Record Operations from Categories and Add New Record from Actions. This command button will add a new record when pressed.

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Exercise 36 - Continued172. Click Next. The next option defines how the button will appear on the

form. There is an option to display Text on the button, which the user may enter, or to use a predefined picture.

173. Select to display Text, then press <Tab> once and enter New Record as the text to be displayed.

174. Click Next. The button now needs to be given a name, so that it can be referred to later. Call the button Add New.

175. Click Finish and save the form.

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Exercise 36 - Continued176. Switch to Form View and maximise the form if necessary.

177. Click the New Record button to automatically move to a new, blank record.

178. Switch to Design View. Scroll down to the Form Footer.

179. Click on the Button option in the Controls group of the Design tab and create a second button to the right side of the Form Footer.

180. Select Form Operations from Categories and Close Form from Actions.

181. Click Next.

182. Choose the Text option for the button. Any caption can be entered here, but the default text of Close Form is suitable so click Next.

183. Name the button Close and click Finish.

184. Save the form and switch to Form View. Click the Close Form button. The form will close.

Note: If a Command Button is added with the Wizard switched off, the required action for the button must be added manually. The Property Sheet for the button has an Event tab where a range of actions may be defined for the On Click event.




Exercise 37 - Combo Box 1: WizardGuidelines:

A Combo Box is a field on a form, which allows a value to be chosen from a drop down list instead of being typed. This will speed up data entry and will stop incorrect data entry, such as spelling mistakes, etc. By default it is still possible to enter values into a combo box, but there is an option (Limit To List) which will prevent this.

The list of possible values can come from an existing list of values in a table, or from a list of values which is typed into the definition of the combo box. A special option when using the wizard, is to use a list of values from the current table and then to look up and display the record which contains that value.

There are three choices when using the wizard which represent these options:

I want the combo box to get the values from another table or query.

This will display in the combo box, all the values in a given field of a named table, even when there are duplicate values.

I will type in the values that I want.

This allows the user to type in the values they want to display in the combo box. This will prevent duplications appearing in the combo box and will allow only specific information to be entered into the field.

Find a record on my form based on the value I selected in my combo box.

This will allow a value to be entered into the combo box, which will then be used to search the current table for a record that matches the entry. It is advisable to use a field unique to each record, such as a works number.

The following three exercises cover creating a Combo Box using each option.

Note: If a field has already been defined as a Combo box in a Table, it will automatically produce a Combo Box field when placed on a form.

Actions:

1. Open the Premises database and the New Offers form in Design View. This is a simple form to add new offers to the Offers table as they are received. The property reference must be typed in, and it is possible that by mistake a reference could be entered that does not exist on the Commercial table. This can be prevented by using a Combo Box.

186. Select the Property Ref field (including the label) and press <Delete> to remove both field and label.

187. Look on the Design tab, and make sure the Use Control Wizards button, is turned on.

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188. Click on the Combo Box button in the Controls group of the Design tab. Place the mouse where the Property Ref field was and click once to create the combo box and start the Combo Box Wizard.

Note: Don’t confuse the Combo Box button with other similar buttons, read the ToolTip.

189. Leave the selected option as I want the combo box to get the values from another table or query. Click Next.

190. The table which contains the Property Ref values to choose from, is the Commercial table. Select Commercial and click Next.

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Exercise 37 - Continued191. The next screen shows the available fields on the specified table. Make

sure Property Ref is selected.

192. With Property Ref selected click the button then click Next.

Note: More complex combo boxes can be created showing more than one field from a table.

193. This next screen can be used to define a sort order for the values in the combo box. In this exercise click Next without specifying any sort.

194. The next screen shows some sample values from the field and allows the column width of the combo box to be altered, if required. Click Next.

195. Once a value has been chosen from the combo box, it needs to be stored in the current record on the Offers table. Select Store that value in this field and choose the Property Ref field from the drop down list.

196. Click Next. Enter Property Ref as the label for the combo box and click Finish. The combo box is added.

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197. Click on the Offer Number field. Click the Format Painter button , from the Home tab, then click on the new Property Ref field to ensure that this field has the same format as the others.

198. Click in the Property Ref field and display the Property Sheet. Select the Data properties and set the Limit To List option to Yes. Now only values on the list will be allowed. Resize and reposition the Property Ref field as appropriate. Close the Property Sheet.

199. Save the form and switch to Form View. The form has been designed to operate only in data entry mode so no existing data will be displayed.

200. Tab through the fields without entering any data. Because the Property Ref combo box was the last field added to the form, it is automatically positioned at the end of the Tab Order, which governs the way the cursor moves around the form.

201. To change the tab order sequence, change to Design View, make sure the Design tab is displayed and click Tab Order. Make sure Detail is selected in the dialog box.

202. Click Auto Order in the dialog box to make the tab order the same as the order of the fields on the form (alternatively clicking individual fields and dragging them to new positions can change the tab order). Click OK.

203. Switch to Form View and enter today's date in Offer Date.

204. Click in the Property Ref field, enter abc, and press <Enter>. An error message is displayed. Read the text of the message and click OK

205. Click the drop down arrow in the Property Ref field and select M008 from the list. Complete the record with an offer value and a bidder's name.

Note: A valid value such as M008 could be typed directly into the Property Ref field.

206. Close the form, saving when prompted, then close the Premises database.




For fields where there are a small number of fixed possible values, it will be easier for a Combo Box to look up a separate list entered as part of definition of the combo box itself, rather than look up an existing table.

Actions:

1. Open the Authors database and open the English Literature form. Only certain values are to be available for the Literature field.

207. Switch to Design View and remove the Literature label and field. Ensure the Use Control Wizards option is turned on. Click the Combo Box

button, and click once below the Title field.

208. From the wizard select I will type in the values that I want. Click Next.

209. Specify that 1 column is required in the combo box and enter the following values, pressing Tab after each entry: Prosy (incorrectly spelt) Drama and Poetry.

210. Click Next. Select to Store that value in this field and select the Literature field.

211. Click Next. Enter Literature as the label and click Finish.

212. Use the Format Painter as before to standardise the appearance of the field and resize the combo box and label as appropriate.

213. To change values in a combo box after it has been created, select the combo box and view its Property Sheet. Select the Data section and then the Row Source property.

214. Navigate to the Prosy text and change the spelling to Prose.

215. Set the Limit To List property to Yes. Close the Property Sheet.


217. Search for record 56, Dr Faustus. Using the combo box, change the literature field from Drama to Prose.

218. Try entering Play in the field, then change the value to Drama.

219. Leave the form and the database open for the next exercise.




As well as entering data, combo boxes can be created to find records in the current table based on selections from the combo box. When creating these combo boxes, it is recommended to use the Primary Key field in the combo box, as this is a unique field and will help locate the correct record.

Actions:

1. With the English Literature form open from the previous exercise, switch to Design View.

220. Ensure the Use Control Wizards button is on. Click the Combo Box button, , and click once in the Form Header.

221. From the wizard select the Find a record on my form based on the value I selected in my combo box option. Click Next.

222. Click Title then the button. This is the field that will be selected in the combo box, and used to display the desired record.

223. Click Next. Widen the Title field.

224. Click Next and enter Select a Title as the label. Click Finish. Apply the format of the other fields using the Format Painter. Resize and reposition the new field as necessary.


226. Click the drop down arrow on the Form Header Combo Box. A list of all titles appears. Select any title from the list to view the appropriate record.

Note: Do not select a title containing an apostrophe, the Access process cannot handle this correctly.




Exercise 40 - Combo Box: ManualGuidelines:

Combo boxes can be created without using a wizard, i.e. placed on the form with the Control Wizards button off. The properties of the combo box will have to be set up separately.

Actions:

1. Open the Premises database and create a blank form using the Form Design button. Display the Field List for the Commercial table.

228. Add the fields Property Ref, Location and Address to the form.

229. With the Design tab displayed ensure the Control Wizards button is turned off.

230. Right click the Location field on the form, select Change To from the shortcut menu, then Combo Box from the list of options.

231. With the Combo Box selected click the Property Sheet button to display the Property Sheet task pane. Select the Data tab in the task pane.

232. To define where to get the values for the combo box, click in the Row Source property and click the Build button . The Show Table dialog box and query grid appear.

233. Select the Commercial table. Click Add then Close. Add the Location field to the query grid.

234. Click in the upper pane of the Query Builder. The Property Sheet now shows the properties for the query. Set the Unique Values property to Yes. This will stop duplicate values being shown in the combo box.

235. Close the Query Builder selecting Yes to save the changes. The Property Sheet now shows the properties for the combo box again. An expression appears in the Row Source property. Widen the task pane to see all the Row Source.

Note: The Control Source property defines in which field the combo box value will be used.

236. Close the Property Sheet task pane and switch to Form View.

237. Click on the combo box drop down arrow to see a list of available values. Click on one of the values to select it.

238. Save the form as Controls and leave it open for the next exercise.



Exercise 41 - List BoxesGuidelines:

List Boxes are very similar to combo boxes except the options are permanently viewed in a list format without having to click a drop down arrow. Data cannot be entered into a List Box, one of the list values must be selected.

The number of values which appear in the box depends on the size of the list box created. If the list box is too small, scroll bars will appear to the side of the list box, to allow you to scroll through the possible values.

The options for defining the values in Combo Boxes also apply to List Boxes.

Actions:

1. With the Premises database open from the previous exercise, display the Controls form in Design View.

239. Ensure the Control Wizards button is turned on.

240. Add the Type of Premises field to the form and then delete it. This is so the field name will be available later in the process.

241. Select the List Box button, , from the Controls group (there are several similar buttons here, use ToolTips for identification if necessary). Click once in the space below the Address field on the form. The List Box Wizard appears.

242. Notice that the options for a list box are similar to those for a combo box. Select I will type in the values that I want and click Next.

243. Type in Conference Unit, Exhibition Hall, Manufacturing Unit, Office Premises, and Store Unit using <Tab> to move to a new line after each entry.

244. Click Next.

245. Select Store that value in this field and choose the Type of Premises field from the drop down list. Click Next.

246. Enter the label as Premises Type and click Finish.

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Exercise 41 - Continued247. Reposition / resize the fields if necessary. Make sure the List Box is

about 4cms wide by 3cms deep.


249. The Premises Type field is now a list of all possible values. The value for the current record is indicated by the highlighted entry in the list.

Note: List Boxes including a large selection of values within the field will have scroll bars if not all the entries can be seen.

250. Use the navigation buttons to move through the records and notice how the Premises Type value changes. Notice that there is no option to type anything in the Premises Type field. One of the list values must be chosen.

251. Save the form.

252. Leave the form and the database open for the next exercise.



Exercise 42 - Option GroupsGuidelines:

Option buttons on a form can have one of two values, either selected or not. More than one option button can be grouped into an Option Group, which allows a single selection to be made from several choices that appear. These are generally used to select from a short list of well defined options such as: Yes, No, Don't know, or Male, Female, etc.

Actions:

1. With the Controls form still open from the previous exercise, add the Glazing field to the form and then delete it. This results in the Glazing field name being available when required later in the process (step 9).

253. Ensure the Control Wizards button is on.

254. Click the Option Group button, , from the Controls group. Click on the form below the last field. The Option Group Wizard appears.

255. Enter the first Label Name as Single. Press <Tab>, then enter Double. Press <Tab> again and enter Treble.

256. Click Next.

257. There is no default choice so select No I don’t want a default.

258. Click Next. This dialog box specifies the values that are to be assigned to the choices. It is important to realise that using Option Groups means it is these numerical values that are stored in the table, not the labels such as Single, Double, etc.

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Exercise 42 - Continued259. Click Next without changing anything.

260. Specify to Store the value in this field and select the Glazing field. Click Next.

261. This dialog box specifies the type and style of the option group. Select the different buttons and styles to see the various effects available.

262. Choose Option buttons and the Style as Sunken.

263. Click Next, enter Glazing as the label for the option group and click Finish.

264. Resize/reposition the option group if necessary. You may have to move the option group label away from the option group itself.


266. View the first record (M001). Click on Double from the Glazing options.

267. Close the form and open the Commercial table in Datasheet View. Scroll to see the Glazing column.

268. The value for the first record, as entered in the option group field, is 2, which is not compatible with the other values in the table. It is clear from this, that when using an option group to enter values, it is better that it is set up before any data has been entered.

269. Replace 2 with Double so that this record has the same layout as the others.

270. Close the table, but leave the database open for the next exercise.



Exercise 43 - Tab ControlGuidelines:

A Tab Control can be used to split the form into two or more pages. This is useful if a lot of fields are needed on the form.

Actions:

1. Open the Premises database, if it is not already open.

271. Create a new form using Form Design.

272. View the Field List and make sure the Commercial table fields are listed.

273. Select the Tab Control button, from the Controls group and click in the top left of the form. A Tab Control appears with two tabs.

274. Click on Page1 to select it.

275. Click and drag following fields from the Field List to the page, Property Ref, Location, Address, Occupied, Type of Premises and Price.

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Exercise 43 - ContinuedNote: It is important not to use the double click method to add fields here, as

they will be placed on the form behind the Tab Control.

276. Click the Page2 tab on the form and place the fields, Unit Area, Floors, Lift, Offices, and Parking Spaces on to it. Remember to use click and drag only.

277. Click back on Page1 and view the Property Sheet (make sure the Selection type is Page). Select Format and in the Caption property enter Premises Details.

278. Press <Enter>.

279. Select Page2 from the drop down list at the top of the task pane and in the Caption property enter Further Information.

280. Close the Property Sheet pane and save the form as Tabs. Switch to Form View.

281. Go to Record 7. Click on Further Information to view the other details for that property.




Exercise 44 - Revision: Form Controls1. Open the CiA database.

283. Use Form Design to manually create a form. Add the fields Order Ref, Product Ref and Amount from the Order Details table. Add the fields Product and Price from the Products table. Name the form Order Value.

284. In the Order Value form create a calculated field to display the Total Value for each product ordered (Amount * Price). Format the field as Currency.

285. Use the form to look at the existing records.

286. In Design View replace the Product Ref field with a combo box.

287. The box is to look up values in a table. It should look in the Products table and the Product Ref field. Select the option to store the value in a field and select the Product Ref field.

288. Reset the Tab Order to Auto.


290. Use the form to enter a new record with an Order Ref of 300. Use the drop down list in the Product Ref field to select a valid reference from the Product table and enter an amount.

291. Switch to Design View then right click on the form and add Form Header and Form Footer areas. Add a label to the Form Header with the text Detailed Order Lines. Centre the text and increase the size to 18pt with a font colour of Black.

292. Create a Command Button in the right of the Form Footer to close the Order Value form. Label the button Quit.

Note: An example picture of the created form is included in the Answer Section at the end of this guide.

293. Close the form using the Command Button.




Section 7

Form Properties


Create Form TitlesUnderstand and Use Form Views

Amend Form DataUse Form Properties

Disable Shortcut Menus



Exercise 45 - Form TitlesGuidelines:

Form Properties are used to set how a form will work. Each form created can be set to have different properties. This exercise creates a Form Title. A form title differs from a form header as it does not appear on the form. It appears in the Title Bar at the top of the form and can be the same for any number of forms so giving a grouped title.

Actions:

1. Open the Computer Repairs database and the Computer Data Entry form in Design View.

295. Display the Property Sheet and click the Select Form button at the top left of Design View, to display the properties for the Form as a whole.

296. Select the Format tab in the Property Sheet and enter Computer Repairs Form in the Caption property.

297. Close the Property Sheet and save the form.

298. Switch to Form View. The caption appears in the document tab for the form.

299. Close the form but leave the database open for the next exercise.


Select Form button


Exercise 46 - Form ViewsGuidelines:

Forms can be viewed in different ways. The normal view is Single View. This shows one record at a time on the form. Other views include Continuous Forms, which shows as many records as will fit on the form, using scroll bars to scroll through the records. Datasheet View displays the records like a table.

Actions:

1. Open the Repairs Subform in the Computer Repairs database. Note that only a single record is shown.

Note: This is also how this form will appear when used as a subform.

300. Switch to Design View, click the Select Form button and display the Property Sheet task pane.

301. Select the Format tab in the task pane and change the Default View from Single Form to Continuous Forms.

302. Switch to Form View. More than one form will be shown on the screen at one time. Forms for all the records can be scrolled through using the scroll bars. The navigation buttons can still be used.

303. Save the form and close it.

304. Open the Example2 form, which has Repairs Subform as its subform, and note the layout of the display. The subform can be scrolled to see several of the repair records for this computer.

305. Close Example2 and open Repairs Subform in Design View. Set the Default View back to Single Form, save the form and close it.

306. Open the Example2 form again, and note the changed layout. Navigation buttons must now be used to see any further repair records.

307. Leave the form open for the next exercise.



Exercise 47 - Form Data PropertiesGuidelines:

Form Data Properties determine where the data for a form comes from, and what options are available when processing it.

Actions:

1. The Example2 form should be open from the previous exercise. Switch to Design View.

2. Display the Property Sheet and click the Select Form button to view the properties of the whole form. Click on the Data tab in the task pane. The Record Source shows the table or query on which the form is based.

308. To prevent existing records being amended, change Allow Edits to No.


310. Try and change any data. As Allow Edits has been set to No, existing data cannot be altered. However records can be deleted and added.

311. Return to Design View. In Form properties change Allow Additions to No and Allow Deletions to No. Switch to Form View.

312. Any record can be viewed but all other actions are prohibited (read only mode). Notice that the New Record and Delete buttons are ghosted.

313. Return to Design View and set the form properties Allow Edits, Allow Deletions and Allow Additions back to Yes. Set the form property Data Entry to Yes, then close the Property Sheet for the Form.

314. Switch to Form View. The form is now in Data Entry mode and can only be used to add new records. The New Record button is not required and records already entered cannot be amended or viewed.

315. Close the form, without saving the changes, but leave the database open.



Exercise 48 - Form Cycle PropertiesGuidelines:

When in a form, the tab key is pressed to move from one field to another. The Cycle property determines what will happen when the <Tab> key is pressed on the last field on a form. There are 3 settings:

All Records Moves the cursor to the first field of the next record

Current Record Moves the cursor to the first field of the same record

Current Page Moves the cursor to the first field of the same page

Actions:

1. Open the Repairs Subform form in Form View. Tab through all the fields in the first record. When tab is pressed on the last field, the cursor is moved to the first field of the next record.

2. Switch to Design View. Display the Property Sheet and click the Select Form button to view the properties of the whole form.

3. Click on the Other tab in the task pane.

4. Change the Cycle property to Current Record.

316. Switch to Form View and tab through all the fields again. This time the cursor is moved to the first field of the same record. The Record Navigation buttons need to be used to move to a different record.

317. Close the form without saving. Leave the database open for the next exercise.



Exercise 49 - Shortcut Menu PropertiesGuidelines:

When a form is open in Form View, the Shortcut menu is accessible by right clicking on the form. This will allow the user to change views. The form properties can be setup to disable access to the shortcut menu, which will stop users accidentally changing to Design View and possibly changing form design.

Actions:

1. Open the Computer Data Entry form in Form View.

318. Right click on a blank area of the form to display the Shortcut menu. The view can be changed from here.

319. To disable this function, return to Design View.

320. Display the Property Sheet and click the Select Form button to view the properties of the whole form.

321. Click on the Other tab in the task pane.

322. Change the Shortcut Menu property to No.

323. Close the Property Sheet and return to Form View.

324. Right click on a blank area of the form. The Shortcut Menu property has been disabled so the shortcut menu does not appear when clicking with the right mouse button.

325. Close the form without saving.




Exercise 50 - Revision: Form Properties1. Open the CiA database and create a new form using Form Design.

327. Use the steps below to help create the following form based on the Customer Details table.

Note: The Company field may have the label Organisation, as this caption was added for the Company field in an earlier exercise. If that exercise has not been completed the label will still be Company.

328. The form size should be approximately 7cm long by 16cm wide.

329. Embolden all labels and fields and set the font colour to Black. Select the fields only and use the Property Sheet to add a Special Effect of Shadowed.

330. Add a Form Title of Customers.

331. Save the form as Customer Form Properties.

332. View the form in Form View.

333. Change the Default View to Continuous Forms.

334. In Form View, view all the forms.

335. Change the Default View to Datasheet View and change Allow Additions to No. View the effect in Form View.

336. Change the form view back to Single Form and change the Tab Cycle to Current Record. In Form View tab through the fields of the first record to see the result.

337. Disable the Shortcut Menu.

338. Right click in Form View to ensure the Shortcut Menu is disabled.

339. Close the form without saving and close the database.



Section 8

Advanced Reports


Create Grouped ReportsCreate LabelsCreate Charts

Use Calculated Fields



Exercise 51 - Grouped Report: WizardGuidelines:

Information within a report can be grouped, so that records containing the same information in a particular field can appear grouped together.

Records within groups can be subtotalled and sorted.

Actions:

1. Open the Premises database.

340. Display the Create tab and click the Report Wizard button, . The first wizard screen is displayed.

341. Ensure the Commercial table is selected in the Tables/Queries box then move the fields Property Ref, Location, Address, Type of Premises, Price and Unit Area into the Selected Fields box.

342. Click Next. The report is to be grouped by Location. Select the Location field and click to create the grouping.

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Exercise 51 - Continued343. Click Next. The records within each group can be sorted by selecting a

field here, but for this exercise leave the screen blank.

344. Because this report has grouping, a Summary Options button is available. Click this button to see all numeric fields with a range of subtotal options. Select Sum and Avg (average) for the Price field.

345. Click OK and then Next. Choose a Layout of Stepped and an Orientation of Landscape. Click Next.

346. Finally name the report Grouped Location and click Finish.

347. The report will be displayed in Print Preview. The properties are all grouped by Location. Some of the information on the report may be truncated.

Note: If the report overflows the right edge of the page, click Page Setup from the ribbon, select the Page tab in the dialog box and check that Paper Size is set to A4. Click OK.

348. Right click on the report and select Layout View. Widen the Price column by clicking on it and dragging the left edge until all data is seen. Widen any other fields where the data is not fully displayed

349. Reduce the width of the Unit Area field. Move the field to the left and move the column heading to line up with it.

350. Move the total and average price fields for the Central Area to the left as shown below. They will be automatically moved in each location summary.

Note: Formatting can be applied using the Property Sheet in Design View.

351. Save the report and close it but leave the database open.



Exercise 52 - Grouped Report: ManualGuidelines:

Grouped reports can also be created without using a wizard, using tools and options in Design View. These tools can also be applied to any reports after they have been produced using the wizard.

Actions:

1. In the Premises database, open Listing 1 report. This is a simple listing of the properties on the Commercial table.

352. Right click on the report and select Design View. The Design tab will be displayed.

353. To group the report data, click the Group & Sort button, . A Group, Sort and Total panel opens underneath the Design window.

354. Click the Add a group button, then select Type of Premises from the list of available fields. Notice a new area, Type of Premises Header, appears on the form.

355. Switch to Report View to see the effect on the report. All premises are now grouped by type. Switch back to Design View.

356. Click from the group line on the Group, Sort and Total panel to see the other options that may be defined for grouping.

357. Click the drop down arrow and select the option, with a footer section. Another new area appears on the form.

358. Click the drop down arrow. Set all the options as shown in the next picture to display sub totals of price at the end of each group and at the end of the report.

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359. Click the drop down arrow and select the option, keep whole group together on one page.

360. Click the drop down arrow and select with Z on top. The Type of Premises groups will now appear in reverse alphabetic order.

361. Click the button and select Price from the list of available fields. Within each group, records will be sorted by price.

362. Switch to Report View to see the effects of the settings.

363. The report design can now be amended to suit a grouped layout and the following steps show some examples.

364. Switch to Design View. Drag the Type of Premises field vertically from the Detail area to the Type of Premises Header area. Reduce the height of this area to just fit the field.

365. Move fields and labels so that Type of Premises is the first column and Property Ref is the second.

366. In the Type of Premises Footer area, there is a field =Sum([Price]). Use the Property Sheet to format as Currency. Add a Label to the left of it with the text Total Value. Repeat these steps in the Report Footer area.

367. Switch to Report View. The layout will look something like this:

368. Click the File tab and select Save Object As. Change the name to Grouped 1 and click OK.




Exercise 53 - Label WizardGuidelines:

Any data held in an Access database may be used to print labels. The Label Wizard can create a set of labels based on a wide variety of label formats.

A common process is to use a query to select certain records from the database then base the Label Wizard on the query. Labels are then produced only for the required records.

Actions:

1. Open the CiA database and select the Customer Details table but do not open it.

Note: The object that is selected when the Label Wizard starts, will provide the records for the process. This may be a table or query.

2. Select the Create tab and click Labels in the Reports group. The first screen of the Label Wizard appears.

370. Choose the correct Label Size to match the labels you will be using in the printer. If the correct label size is not in the list, click Customize to create a new label size. For this exercise select product number AOne 28171 (select A-ONE from Filter by manufacturer: first).

371. Click Next to display the second Wizard screen, which allows formatting of the label text to be defined. Leave the Font, Font size and Text Color as they are and click Next.

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Exercise 53 - Continued372. On this screen, create the label by placing the required fields from the

Available Fields box into the Prototype Label box by clicking on the button (see next picture).

373. Spaces must be put in-between fields on the same line and <Enter> should be pressed to move on to a different line.

374. Follow the above steps to create the label below:

375. Click Next. Choose to Sort the labels by Company. Click Next.

376. Enter the name Customer Labels for the report.

377. Click Finish to view the Labels. They will be shown in Print Preview like a report.

Note: If the format of the labels need changing, switch to Design View and make the necessary changes.

378. Close the report.




Exercise 54 - Chart WizardGuidelines:

Charts can be created in reports using the Chart Wizard.

Actions:

1. Open the Computer Repairs database. Display the Create tab and click the Report Design button. A blank report is opened.

380. In the Controls group, make sure the Use Control Wizards

button is on, then click the Insert Chart button, .

381. Click in the top left of the report Detail area. The Chart Wizard appears. In the first screen, select the Repairs table and click Next.

382. Move the fields Engineer and Price from the Available Fields box into the Fields for Chart box. Click Next.

383. Select the Bar Chart option (first option on the second row). Click Next.

384. The default chart layout is displayed. In this example the total Price of all jobs for each Engineer will be shown. Click Next to accept this default.

385. Call the chart Engineers Chart and click the option not to display a legend. Click Finish.

386. The chart is displayed but does not yet show actual data. Switch to Layout View to see the data.

387. Click on the lower right corner of the chart area and drag it outwards to enlarge the chart until all the Engineer names are displayed.

388. Close the report without saving and close the database.



Exercise 55 - Calculated FieldsGuidelines:

Calculated fields can be created on reports in a similar manner to forms, to obtain any mathematical/statistical information that may be required. Mathematical functions may be used in calculations, and calculations using summary functions like Sum and Count will have different effects depending on which level they are added to in the report.

Actions:

1. Open the Premises database. Select Reports and open the Property List report in Design View.

389. From the toolbox click on the Text Box button and click in the Detail Area to the right of the Unit Area field.

390. Delete the label and in the Unbound box enter the following calculation which will show the price per area for each property.

=[Price]/[Unit Area]

2. Display the Property Sheet for the new field and set the Format to Currency and the Decimal Places to 2.

3. Use the Label button to create a heading of Price per Area in the Page Header area above the new field.

391. Switch to Report View to see the effect, then return to Design View.

392. Click the Group and Sort button, , to display the Group, Sort and Total panel. The report is already grouped on Location.

393. Click from the group line on the Group, Sort and Total panel and select the option with a footer section.

394. Close the Group, Sort and Total panel.

395. Click on the Text Box button and click in the Location Footer area, in line with the Price field. In the Unbound box enter the following calculation which will count how many properties appear in each group:

=Count([Property Ref])

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Exercise 55 - Continued396. Change the label to Number of Properties.

397. Create another Text Box in the Location Footer, underneath Number of Properties. Resize the footer if necessary. Enter the following calculation:

=Avg([Price])

398. This will calculate the average price of property in a group. View the Avg([Price]) field property and set the Format property to Currency. Change the label to Average Price.

399. Switch to Report View to view the effect.

400. Return to Design View and increase the height of the Report Footer area to 2cm.

401. Select both the calculated fields in the Location Footer area and click on

the Copy button .

402. Click in the Report Footer area and paste the fields into it.

403. Change the field labels in the Report Footer to Total Properties and Report Average Price. Align the fields with those in the Location Footer area.

404. Switch to Report View and scroll to the last page. At the end of the report, the same formulas as used in the Location footers now give the total number of properties and the average price, for the entire report.

405. Save and close the report then close the database.



Exercise 56 - Revision: Advanced Reports1. Open the Holiday database.

406. Use the Report Wizard to create a report based on the Property table. Include all fields except Bedrooms, Pool and Bath and group the report by Type.

407. Specify summary values of Avg, Min and Max for the Weekly Cost field.

408. Do not specify any additional sorting, use Landscape orientation, any style, and name the report Property Summary.

409. In the Detail area to the right of Weekly Cost, create a calculated field to show cost per person (Weekly Cost / Sleeps).

410. Add a label of Cost per Person in the Page Header area above the calculated field.

411. Format the Cost per Person field to be the same as the Weekly Cost field (this will be either Currency or Euro depending on which of the previous exercises have been completed).

412. Copy all the three calculated fields (Avg, Min, Max) from the Type Footer and include them in the Report Footer. Edit the labels to reflect that these are calculations for the whole report.

Note: An example picture of the report is included in the Answer Section at the end of this guide.

413. Print the report.

414. Close the report, saving when prompted and close the database.



Section 9

Tools


Import and Export DataUse Database Objects



Exercise 57 - Importing DataGuidelines:

It is possible to import data to a database, either from another database or from a different application, e.g. Excel. This can be very useful if the data required for an Access application already exists in another location, either in a different database or in an Excel spreadsheet for example.

Data can be added to an existing table or a new table can be created. Importing converts the source data into the format of the destination application, i.e. Access. The data can be then edited as if it had been created in Access. This allows much greater flexibility for data entry.

Actions:

1. Open the Contacts database and select the External Data tab.

2. Look in the Import group and select the Excel button. A dialog box is displayed so that the source and destination of the imported file can be defined.

3. Use the Browse button to locate the supplied data file folder and select the file Sick.xlsx. Click Open to return to the dialog box.

Note: To import Excel data, the spreadsheet should be a List type with the data arranged in columns. This is the type of spreadsheet used here.

415. There are options here to create a new table, add records to an existing table, or create a link to the spreadsheet. Select the option to import the source data into a new table and click OK.

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Exercise 57 - Continued416. The Import Spreadsheet Wizard appears. Check the option First Row

Contains Column Headings and click Next.

417. There are options here to change field names or to choose to omit certain fields from the import process. Take no action but click Next again.

418. Select the No Primary Key option and click Next.

419. Call the table Sick List and click on Finish to create the table.

420. Click Close at the Save Import Steps message.

421. A new table, Sick List, has been added to the database. Open the table to view the data and adjust the column widths if necessary, then close it.

422. Problems have been reported when a second file is imported at this stage. To avoid this possibility, close the database, close down Access, then start Access again and re-open the Contacts database.

4. Select the External Data tab click the Excel button.

5. In the dialog box use Browse to select the file More People from the supplied data files.

423. This data is to be imported into the existing table People. Select the second option in the dialog box and select People from the drop down list.

424. Click OK. The First Row Contains Column Headings box should be checked and may be ghosted. Not all the columns in the database table are present (Post Code and Telephone are missing), but those columns that are used must have exactly the same name on the spreadsheet as they do in the table or the import will not work. Click Next and then click Finish.

425. Click Close at the Save Import Steps message.

426. Open the People table to view the three new records.

427. Save the table and close it, then close the database.

Note: The Import group on the External Data tab has several options. Data can be imported from other Access databases or from text files. Clicking the more button will show many more types of file that can be imported.



Exercise 58 - Exporting DataGuidelines:

As well as importing data into Access, data can be exported from Access into a variety of other sources. The following exercise covers exporting tables as spreadsheets and text files, and also exporting customer names and addresses from an Access table, into a Word document ready for Mail Merge.

Actions:

1. Open the CiA database. Select the Customer Details table. This is to be exported as a spreadsheet file.

2. Select the External Data tab and click the Excel button in the Export group.

3. Use the Browse button to locate the supplied data folder.

4. Change the File name to Customers and make sure that Save as type is Excel Workbook.

428. Click Save to return to the Export dialog box.

429. Select the option to Export data with formatting and layout, then click OK.

430. Click Close at the Save Export Steps message. A spreadsheet file called Customers has been created in the supplied data folder.

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Exercise 58 - Continued431. Now select the Products table, which is to be exported as a basic text

file.

432. Look in the Export group and select Text File. (the process is the same for both text and .csv files).

433. Click Browse, make sure the supplied data folder is selected and leave the File name as Products and the type of file as Text Files. Click Save to return to the Export dialog box.

434. Click OK without selecting any export options. The Export Text Wizard starts. Select Delimited as the export format.

435. Click Next and select Comma as the delimiter and “ as the Text Qualifier.

436. Click Next, check the export file path, then click Finish.

437. Click Close at the Save Export Steps message. A text file called Products has been created in the supplied data folder.

Note: The two exported files Customers.xls and Products.txt can now be found in the data folder and can be opened in Excel and Word respectively to examine their content.

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Exercise 58 - Continued438. Select the Prospective Customers table from the Navigation pane.

439. With the External Data tab still displayed, select from the Export group.

440. The Microsoft Word Mail Merge Wizard appears. Select the Create a new document option.

441. Click OK. Microsoft Word starts with a blank document (Document 1) open and the first step of the Mail Merge process displayed in the Task Pane. You may need to select the window from the Task Bar to view it.

442. It is now possible to work through the Mail Merge process. If you wish to do this, detailed information on the process can be found in another guide in this series, the Open Learning Guide for Microsoft Word Intermediate. At step 3, the recipient list will already be defined as the Prospective Customer table. If you do not want to work through Mail Merge at this stage, close the Word window without saving.

443. Close the CiA database.



Exercise 59 - Database ObjectsGuidelines:

Once an object has been created within Access, it can be copied and modified, renamed or deleted. Such actions can be useful, particularly during the development of a database. This exercise uses tables, but all other objects can be manipulated in the same way.

Actions:

1. Open the Pets database. Right click on the Pet Details table in the Navigation Pane and select Copy from the shortcut menu.

444. Click the Paste button from the Home tab.

445. The Paste Table As dialog box appears. Change the Table Name to Test.

446. With the Structure and Data option selected under Paste Options, click OK. A new copy of the table is created.

447. Right click on the Test table in the Navigation Pane and select Rename from the menu. Type the new name as Pet Data and press <Enter>.

Note: Be careful when renaming tables if they are used in other objects. Objects may fail if they cannot locate the table name that was originally used in their creation.

448. Select Pet Data and press <Delete>.

449. Confirm Yes at the delete dialog box.




Exercise 60 - Revision: Tools1. Create a new database called Personnel.

451. Import the Excel file Sick that accompanied this guide to create the table Sick.

452. Create a query called Memo from the table that contains all the fields from Sick but has a selection criteria of Absent > 0.

453. Close down the Personnel database then reopen it (the merge process will not work on a new database that has not yet been saved).

454. Select the query Memo and merge it with Word in a Mail Merge process. This will require knowledge from the Open Learning Guide for Microsoft Word Intermediate. Create the following new document:

455. At step 5 of the Mail Merge preview some of the merged documents. There should only be letters for people who have had days absence.

456. At step 6 of the Mail Merge select the Print option and print the first two memos.

457. Close the documents without saving.

458. Close Microsoft Word.




Section 10

Action Queries


Append and Delete QueriesUse Make-Table Queries

Update Queries



Exercise 61 - Append QueryGuidelines:

Action Queries select records like basic selection queries, but then perform some action with those selected records. An Append Query is an Action Query which selects a group of records from one table and adds them to the end of another table. The information is not removed from the original table.

Actions:

1. Open the CiA database.

460. All Action queries require that the security setting for the database source is enabled. If the Security Warning message is displayed now underneath the ribbon, click Enable Content. The warning message will disappear.

461. Select the Create tab and click on Query Design to start a new query. This query will search the Prospective Customers table and select those records with a status of A (this has been entered to mark Prospective customers who have now become Actual customers). These records will be automatically added to the Customer Details table.

462. From the Show Table dialog box choose the Prospective Customers table. Click Add and then Close.

463. Make sure the Design tab is displayed and click the Append query button from the Query Type group.

464. The Append dialog box appears. From the Table Name drop down list select Customer Details as the table to which the records are to be added.

465. Click OK. A new row appears on the query grid, Append To:

466. Place the Customer Ref field on to the grid. Notice Append To also contains Customer Ref. This is because there is a field with the matching name Customer Ref in the Customer Details table.

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Exercise 61 - Continued467. Place all the remaining fields from Title to Status on to the grid: Each

field on the grid has an Append To value, indicating the field on the new table that this value will go to, except for Postcode and Status.

468. The Append To field is empty for Postcode because the field name on the Customer Details table is spelled differently so there is no automatic match. From the drop down list in the Append To field, select Post Code.

469. The Status field has no Append To value because it has no matching field in the Customer Details table and will not be included in the append. The field is however used in the selection process. Under Status enter A, in Criteria.

470. To view the information that is to be appended without actually appending

it, click the Datasheet View button , prior to Run. This will show the records that will be appended. Take a note of the details on these records.

471. Return to the Design View. Click the Run button, , from the Design tab. A dialog box appears stating how many records will be appended.

Note: Action queries will not run if security settings prevent them.

472. Click Yes to append the records to the stated table.

473. Save the query as Append New Customers. The query can now be run whenever required and will take any records flagged with a Status of A, and add them to the Customer Details table.

474. Close the query and open the Customer Details table to view the appended records.

475. The first five records in this table have been copied from the Prospective Customers table. Close the table.

476. Open the Prospective Customers table. The five records that were added to the Customer Details table are still present. They have not been deleted by using the Append Query.

477. Close the Prospective Customers table and leave the database open for the next exercise.



Exercise 62 - Delete QueryGuidelines:

A Delete Query will delete a selected group of records from one or more tables. It is often run after an append query to remove all the selected records from the original table. Only complete records are deleted, regardless of how many fields are actually used in the Query.

Actions:

1. With the CiA database still open, create a new query in Design View.

2. Add the Prospective Customers table to the query grid and close the Show Table dialog box.

478. Choose the Delete option, from the Query Type area of the Design tab.

479. Add Customer Ref, Company and Status to the grid.

480. Specify the Criteria for the Status field as A.

481. Click the View button to view the records that will be deleted. These are the same records that were appended to the Customer Details table.

Note: More fields can be added to the grid to help identify exactly which records are to be deleted, but it is the whole record that will be removed.

482. Return to Design View and Run the query.

483. Click Yes to confirm the deletion, then save the query as Delete Appended Records and close it.

484. Open the Prospective Customers table. All the customers whose Status was A have been deleted.

485. Close the table and leave the database open for the next exercise.



Exercise 63 - Make-Table QueryGuidelines:

A Make-Table Query selects data from one or more tables, using all the features of a query, and creates a new table from that data. Not all the fields from the original table(s) need to be included in the new table.

Actions:

1. A table is to be made containing all the unpaid orders. From the CiA database create a new query in Design View and add the Customer Details and Orders tables to the query grid.

486. Choose the Make-Table query option, from the Query Type area of the Design tab.

487. At the dialog box enter the Table Name as Unpaid Orders.

488. Click OK. From Customer Details place the Title, First Name, Surname, Company and Telephone fields on to the grid. From Orders, place the Order Ref, Order Date and Paid fields on to the grid.

489. Specify the Criteria for Paid as No.

490. Uncheck the Show box for Paid. This means that the Paid field, will not be included in the new records, even though it was needed on the query.

491. Run the query.

492. Click Yes at the dialog box. Save the query and name it Make Unpaid Orders Table. Close it.

493. Open the Unpaid Orders table to see all unpaid orders.

494. Close the table but leave the database open.



Exercise 64 - Update QueryGuidelines:

An Update Query will update a specific field within selected records in a table. For example, changing prices for selected records or changing the name of a specific product, etc.

Actions:

1. From the CiA database, print a copy of the Products table.

495. Create a new query in Design View based on the Products table and from the Query Type area on the Design tab select Update. A new row Update To appears on the grid.

496. Place the Price field on to the grid. In Update To: enter [Price]*1.1, and in Criteria enter >=10. This will increase the prices of all Products which cost £10 or more, by 10%.

497. Click the View button to view the data that will be updated.

498. Return to Design View and Run the query.

499. Click Yes at the update dialog box.

500. Open the Products table to view the updated data. Compare it with the print obtained earlier. All prices that used to be £10 or more have now increased by 10%.

501. Save the query as Update Prices and close it.

502. Close the Products table and close the database.



Exercise 65 - Revision: Action Queries1. Open the Premises database.

Note: Remember to click Enable Content if the security warning is displayed.

503. Create a Make-Table query based on the Commercial table, to create a table called Selected, using the conditions below.

504. Include all data fields from the Commercial table and set the criteria to only pick out properties with a Price of more than £100000. Save the query as Top Properties and then run it. How many records are added to the Selected table?

505. Create an Append query, to add all the records from the Commercial table whose Price is exactly £100000, to the Selected table. Call the query Next Properties. How many records are now in the Selected table?

506. Create a Delete query to remove any property from the Selected table with a Location of Dockland. How many records are now in the Selected table?

507. Save the query as Not Docks and close it.

508. Increase the Price of the properties in the Selected table by at 10% using an Update query. Call the query Increase.

509. Check the prices in Selected.

510. Close all the open objects.


Note: Answers to this exercise can be found in the Answers Section at the end of the guide.



Section 11

Query Wizards


Use Crosstab QueriesFind Duplicate Records

Find Unmatched Records



Exercise 66 - Crosstab QueryGuidelines:

A Crosstab Query shows summarised values such as Sum, Avg, Count, Max, Min, etc. for fields and groups them together into a matrix of results. The columns and rows of the matrix can be any fields from the source table or query.

Crosstab queries can either be created via the wizard or manually. It is recommended to use the wizard. Crosstab queries can only have one object as their source, if data from more than one table is required, an intermediate query must be created first.

Actions:

1. Open the CiA database and open the Product Info query in Design View. It lists the following tables and fields.

Table: Customer Details Orders Order Details ProductsField: Company Amount Product

Note: Even though there are no fields placed on to the query grid from the Orders table, it needs to be included in the query to maintain the relationships through from Customer Details to Products.

512. Run the query and then close it.

513. From the Create tab select Query Wizard and select Crosstab Query Wizard from the dialog box. Click OK.

514. Choose the Queries option and select the query, Product Info.

Note: There may be more queries to choose from if you have completed previous exercises.

continued over



Exercise 66 - Continued515. Click Next. Click on Product, then to select that field for the row

headings.

516. Notice that the lower half of each wizard screen shows a sample of the final query, as far as it has been defined. Click Next then select Company to specify that field for the column headings.

517. Click Next. With the Amount field selected, click the Sum function.

518. Click Next.

519. Name the query as Product Info Results.

520. Click Finish to view the results. The query is a grid of the total amount of products each company has bought.

521. Close the query without saving, but leave the database open.



Exercise 67 - Find Duplicates QueryGuidelines:

A Find Duplicate Query is used to search for records or individual fields in a table that have duplicate values in specified fields. For example, the same company name may have been entered twice with different Customer Ref codes.

Actions:

1. A query is to be created to find companies that appear more than once in the database. In the CiA database click Query Wizard from the Create tab and select Find Duplicates Query Wizard from the dialog box. Click OK.

522. Choose the Customer Details table and click on Next.

523. Select the Company and Address fields using the button.

524. By selecting two fields here, both fields must match before records will be selected as duplicates. In this example, two records with the same Company name but different Address fields will not be selected as duplicates. Click Next.

525. Click to show all the fields in the query results then click Next.

526. Finally, name the query Duplicate Company Details and click Finish.

527. The results will contain the details of the companies that appear more than once in the Customer Details table.

528. Close the query but leave the database open.



Exercise 68 - Find Unmatched QueryGuidelines:

The Find Unmatched Query is used to find records in one table that do not have a matching record in another table. For example, customers who do not have any orders.

Actions:

1. A query is to be created to find all the companies who have not placed any orders. In the CiA database click Query Wizard from the Create tab and select Find Unmatched Query Wizard from the dialog box. Click OK.

529. Select the Customer Details table as the table that contains the information. Click Next.

530. Select the Orders table as the table to be searched for matching records. Click Next.

531. Highlight the Customer Ref in both tables and then click the button.

532. This is the field that is to be matched in both tables. Click Next.

533. Click the button, to view all the fields in the query results. Click Next.

534. Name the query No Orders.

535. Click on Finish to view the results. A list of all the customers who do not appear on the Orders file is displayed.




Exercise 69 - Revision: Query Wizards1. Open the Premises database.

537. Use a query to create a table containing all the properties whose Glazing is Tinted based on the Commercial table. Call the new table Tinted.

538. Close the query without saving.

539. Create a Crosstab Query to show the Types of premises in each Location.

540. Name it Properties.

541. Close the query.

542. Create a Find Duplicates Query based on the Offers table to show which properties have had more than one offer.

543. Name it Popular.


545. Create a Find Unmatched Query based on the Commercial table to show the Property Ref and Address for all properties that have not had offers.

546. Name it Unpopular.



Note: Answers to this exercise can be found in the Answer Section at the end of this guide.



AnswersExercise 13

Step 2 6 engineers

Step 3 £150.00

Step 4 £77.50

Step 5 £2550

Exercise 20Step 6 3 bookings

Step 7 Because there are booking records for this reference (and cascade options are not applied)

Step 8 Yes, the booking records would be changed accordingly

Step 10 Because there is no property with reference D13

Step 11 No. Booking records can never exist for a property which does not exist on the Property table.

Exercise 34Step 8

Note: Higher screen resolution is required to see the whole form in one display.



Exercise 44Step 11

Exercise 56Step 8

Exercise 65Step 3 12 records

Step 4 15 records

Step 5 13 records

Exercise 69Step 2 13 records

Step 7 2 records

Step 10 31 records



GlossaryAND A logical operator. Can be used in queries when a value

must satisfy all of the conditions.

AutoNumber A data type that automatically enters a sequential number for each record that is added to a table.

Bound Control Refers to a field on a form or report that obtains its content from a specific data field on a table.

Calculated Field A field created by the user, in a query, on a form or a report, that displays the result of a calculation defined by an expression.

Combo Box A field on a form, which allows a value to be chosen from a drop down list instead of being typed.

Command Button A button on a form which, when clicked, performs an action that has been attached to it by the user.

Crosstab Query Shows summarised values for fields and groups them into a matrix of results.

Database Object Any named component of a database, e.g. a table, a query, form, report, macro, etc.

Database Window The first window seen when opening a database. All objects can be accessed from here.

Default Value A value that is automatically entered into a particular field of every new record. This value may be overwritten.

Field The separate areas in a table, which form rows and columns and records.

Field Properties Define how data is entered and stored in a table.

Foreign Key A primary key from table A, which is also used as a key field in table B is called a foreign key.

Form A user defined display on the screen which controls how the user interacts with the database. Used for data entry and enquiry.

Input Mask A property that controls how data is entered and displayed within a field.

Integer A positive or negative whole number (no decimals) or zero.

Joins Define how relationships between tables are applied in queries.

Label Area on forms and reports displaying content not obtained from any database field (unbound). Often contains the names of data fields.

List Box A field that displays the data options as a list on permanent view, rather than a drop down list.



Long Integer A format the same as Integer, but it can contain larger numbers (and takes up more space).

Lookup Field A field that can obtain (look up) its values from an existing source, either from a built in list or from another table.

One-to-many Any one record from table A may be related to one or many records from table B.

One-to-one One record from table A is related to one record in table B.

Option Group A group of option buttons that allows a single choice to be selected from the options to be the data entry.

Parameter A value which is used in an operation, e.g. as a query selection criterion, but can be changed each time the operation is run.

Primary Key A field which uniquely identifies a record, e.g. telephone number in a table.

Quick Form A form generated automatically by Access with no user input.

Quick Report A report automatically generated by Access with no user input.

Referential Integrity A set of rules which are applied to a relationship, to prevent or control the alteration and deletion of records in one table, that would affect records in the second table. Ensures the data in related tables is always valid.

Relationships The ability to connect tables of data, so that no data need to be repeated.

Ribbon Area at the top of the Access window which contains all necessary commands and functions.

Select Query The basic type of query, which selects data from one or more tables.

Subdatasheet A datasheet within a main datasheet which shows details of records from a related, subsidiary table.

Subform A form within a main form which shows details of records from a related, subsidiary table.

Summary Calculations In queries, these produce data calculated from a group of records without showing the individual records.

Unbound Control Refers to a field on a form or report where the content is not from a specific data field on a table, e.g. a label.

Validation Rules Defines the values which can be entered into a field. Entries that do not conform to the rule cannot be entered.

Wildcards Characters which represent other unknown characters when selecting records in a query or find operation.



IndexAction Queries 109

Append Query 110

Delete Query 112

Make-Table Query 113

Revision 115

Update Query 114

Advanced Editing 7Clipboard 10

Copy and Paste 8

Cut and Paste 9

Replacing Text 12

Revision 14

Advanced Forms 52Form Wizard 53

Linking 59

Manual Main/Subform 57

Multiple Table Forms 61

Revision 62

Subform Wizard 55

Advanced Queries 15Average Values 19

Calculated Fields 21

Count 17

Group By 16

Maximum and Minimum Values 20

Parameter 23

Revision 25

Sum 18

Advanced Reports 90Calculated Fields 98

Chart Wizard 97

Grouped Report: Manual 93

Grouped Report: Wizard 91

Label Wizard 95

Revision 100

AutoNumber 50

Append Query 110

Average Values 19

Calculated FieldsQueries 21

Reports 98

Form Controls 64

Chart Wizard 97

Clipboard 10

Combo BoxesManual 75

Wizards 69, 73, 74

Command Button Wizard 66

Copy and Paste 8

Cut and Paste 9

Count 17

Crosstab Query 117

Cycle Properties 87

DataExporting 104

Importing 102

Data AmendmentsForm 86

Database Objects 107

Default Values 43

Delete Query 112

Find Duplicates Query 119

Find Unmatched Query 120

Forms (see Advanced Forms)

Form Controls 63Calculated Fields 64

Combo Box Wizards 69, 73, 74

Command Button: Wizard 66

List Boxes 76

Manual Combo Box 75

Option Groups 78

Revision 82

Tab Control 80

Form Properties 83Cycle Properties 87

Data Amendments 86

Revision 89

Shortcut Menu Properties 88

Titles 84

Views 85

Group By 16

Grouped Reports 91, 93

Input Masks 46



Label Wizard 95

Linking Forms 59

List Boxes 76

Lookup Fields 39

Make-Table Query 113

Maximum and Minimum Values 20

Multiple Table Forms 61

Option Groups 78

Parameter Queries 23

Primary Keys 27

QueriesAppend 110

Delete 112

Make Table 113

Revision 115

Update 114

Query Wizards 116Crosstab Query 117

Find Duplicates Query 119

Find Unmatched Query 120

Revision 121

RecordsUpdating and Deleting 33

Referential Integrity 32

Relationships 26Applying 29

Primary Keys 27

Referential Integrity 32

Revision 37

Updating and Deleting Records 33

Viewing a Subdatasheet 35

Reports (see Advanced Reports)Revision

Action Queries 115

Advanced Editing 14

Advanced Forms 62

Advanced Queries 25

Advanced Reports 100

Field Properties 51

Form Controls 82

Form Properties 89

Query Wizards 121

Relationships 37

Tools 108

Shortcut MenuProperties 88

SubdatasheetViewing 35

SubformWizard 55

Sum 18

Tab Control 80

Table Field Properties 38AutoNumber 50

Default Values 43

Format 41

Input Masks 46

Lookup Fields 39

Other Properties 48

Revision 51

Validation Rules 44

TextReplacing 12

Validation Rules 44

TitlesForm 84

Tools 101Database Objects 107

Exporting Data 104

Importing Data 102

Revision 108

Update Query 114

Validation Rules 44

ViewsForm 85

WizardsChart 97

Combo Box 69, 73, 74

Command Button 66

Form Wizard 53

Grouped Report 91

Label 95

Query Wizards 116

Subform 55



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