UnderstandingtheDifferentObjectsinMicrosoftAccess
MicrosoftAccessisapowerfuldatabasemanagementsystemthatallowsuserstocreate,store,andmanagedatainavarietyofways.OneofthekeyfeaturesofAccessisitsabilitytoworkwithdifferenttypesofobjects,eachofwhichservesadistinctpurposeinthedatabase.Inthisarticle,we'lltakeacloserlookatsomeofthemostimportantobjectsinAccessandhowtheycanbeusedtoimproveyourdatamanagement.
Tables
Attheheartofanydatabaseareitstables,whichareusedtostoreallofthedata.Atableismadeupofoneormorefields,whichdefinethedifferentpiecesofinformationthatwillbestored.Forexample,atableofcustomerdatamightincludefieldsforname,address,andphonenumber.Tablescanbecustomizedinanumberofways,suchaslimitingthetypesofdatathatcanbeentered,creatingrelationshipsbetweentables,anddefininghowdataissortedanddisplayed.
Forms
Formsareusedtoenterandviewdatainamoreuser-friendlywaythansimplyworkingwithtables.Aformcanbedesignedtodisplayonlythedatathat'srelevantforaparticulartask,andtoprovidedrop-downlistsandotherfeaturesthatmakeiteasiertoenterdataaccurately.Formscanalsobecustomizedwithcolorschemes,logos,andotherbrandingelementstomakethemmorevisuallyappealing.Inmanycases,formsareusedastheprimarywayofinteractingwithadatabase,ratherthanworkingwithtablesdirectly.
Queries
Queriesareusedtoextractspecificdatafromadatabase,basedoncertaincriteria.Forexample,youmightcreateaquerythatshowsallsalesforaparticularproduct,orallcustomerswholiveinacertainarea.Queriescanbecreatedusingdrag-and-droptools,orbytypinginSQLcodemanually(foradvancedusers).Onceaqueryiscreated,itcanberunatanytimetogenerateup-to-dateresultsbasedonthecurrentstateofthedatabase.
ByunderstandingthesethreekeyobjectsinAccess–tables,forms,andqueries–youcanstarttogetabettersenseofhowthesoftwareworks,andhowitcanbecustomizedtofityourneeds.Ofcourse,therearemanyotherobjectsandfeaturesinAccessthatwehaven'tcoveredhere,suchasreports,macros,andmodules.However,bymasteringthesethreebasics,you'llbewellonyourwaytobecominganAccesspoweruser.
