Giáo trình Microsoft Access 2007 (Tiếng Anh)

Unofficial Guide® the to Access™ 2007 Jim Keogh Microsoft® Office 01 045978 ffirs qxp 2/28/07 11 08 PM Page i 01 045978 ffirs qxp 2/28/07 11 08 PM Page iii Unofficial Guide® the to Access™ 2007 Jim Ke[.]

The Unofficial Guide® to Microsoft® Office Access™ 2007

Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee

to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN

46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in render- ing legal, accounting, or other professional services If professional assistance is required, the services

of a competent professional person should be sought Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising here from The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, Unofficial Guide and all related trademarks, logos, and trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission Microsoft and Access are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other coun- tries All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners Wiley Publishing, Inc is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support please tact our Customer Care Department within the U.S at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

con-Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books For more information about Wiley products, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2006939465

This book is dedicated to Anne, Sandy, Joanne, and Amber-Leigh Christine, without

whose help and support this book couldn’t have been written.

Iespecially want to acknowledge the fine contributions of Beth Taylor,Jody Lefevere, and Ken Davidson to this book Their efforts aremuch appreciated

Quality Control Technicians

Cynthia FieldsJohn GreenoughCharles Spencer

About the Author

Jim Keogh is on the faculty of New York University and Saint Peter’sCollege in Jersey City, New Jersey where he teaches Microsoft Access andother computer courses He was a member of the faculty at ColumbiaUniversity where he developed the e-commerce tract Keogh has spentdecades developing applications for major Wall Street corporations and

is the author of more than 70 books including Java Database Programming

for Dummies, Unix Programming For Dummies, and Linux Programming For Dummies.

Acknowledgements vi

Introduction xxvii

I Getting Started 1

1 Getting In and Out 3

Starting Access 2007 3

Start from the desktop 4

Start from the Quick Launch toolbar 4

The Access 2007 environment 5

The Ribbon 5

Galleries 6

Quick Access toolbar 6

Customizing the Quick Access toolbar 7

The Office Button 8

Getting Started with Access 9

Using templates 10

Template Categories 11

From Microsoft Office Online 11

Building a database from a template 11

Building a database from scratch 14

Opening the Northwind 2007 database 16

Working with form views 16

Form view 18

Design view 19

Layout view 20

Working with data views 22

Datasheet view 23

Design view 23

PivotTable view and PivotChart view 24

Working with report views 25

Report view 26

Layout view and Design view 26

Print view 27

Navigating the Ribbon 27

Just the facts 29

vii

2 All About Data 31

Going over basic concepts 31

A database 32

A database management system 32

A database application 32

Differentiating between information and data 33

From information to data 33

From data to information 34

Organizing data 34

Name fields 35

Name tables 35

A closer look at a field 36

Data type 37

Data size 37

The primary key 38

Data entry 38

Garbage in, garbage out 39

Datasheets 39

Data entry form 40

Data validation 40

Querying the database 41

Writing a query 42

Return data 42

Query expressions 43

Multiple tables 43

Data display 44

What’s a form? 44

What’s a report? 44

Calculating data 45

Sharing data 45

Sharing over a local network 45

Sharing over the Internet 46

Local network versus the Internet 46

Exchanging information 47

Data security 47

Unauthorized access 48

Data backup 48

Corrupt data 49

Data compacting 49

Understanding indexes 49

Picking the key 50

Duplicate values 50

Locating the index 51

Knowing when to create an index 51

Too many indexes 51

Just the facts 52

II Data Design and the Database 53

3 Designing a Database 55

Identifying entities 56

Entities and procedures 57

Take samples 57

Deconstructing an entity .58

Make a list 58

Find duplicates 58

Group information 60

Decomposing information into data 61

Information and data, same thing 61

Calculated data 62

Transforming information into a table 62

Describing data 63

Data types 63

Text data type 64

Memo data type 64

Number data type 65

Date/Time data type 65

Currency data type 65

AutoNumber data type 65

Yes/No data type 66

OLE Object data type 66

Attachment data type 66

Hyperlink data type 66

Mask and format .66

Validation rules 67

Caption 67

Default value 67

Decimal places 67

Text alignment 68

Smart Tags 68

Required and Allow Zero Length 68

Lookup wizard 68

Identifying a primary key 69

Single field 69

Compound primary key 69

Auto-generated primary key 70

Relating tables 70

Foreign keys 71

How linking works 71

Creating relationships 71

Identifying Instances 72

One-to-many relationship 72

Many-to-many relationship 73

One-to-one relationship 74

Normalizing the database design 74

First normal form 74

Second normal form 75

Third normal form 75

Designing forms and reports 76

What queries do you need? 77

What’s next? 77

Just the facts 78

4 Working with Tables 79

Creating a blank database 79

Creating a table 80

Creating a table in the Datasheet view 81

The Datasheet view layout 81

Setting the data type by entering data 82

Setting the data type manually 82

Changing the field name 83

Setting the format for the field 84

Unique and required fields 85

Deleting and inserting fields 86

Using the New Field tool 87

Adding fields from another table 87

Creating a lookup column 89

Create a lookup column from a table 89

Maintain the relationship 92

Create a lookup column from a list created by hand 93

Modify the table design 94

Rename tables 94

Creating a table in the Design view 94

Exploring Design view 95

Enter a New field 95

Add a field description 95

Setting the primary key 96

Setting field properties 97

Using the Expression Builder .97

Exploring the Expression Builder 98

Common Expressions 99

Using the Input Mask wizard 100

Using Smart Tags 101

Creating a lookup list 102

Creating relationships 103

Just the facts 104

5 Entering and Editing Data 107

Forms and datasheets 107

Advantages of using a form 108

Tabbing through the form 110

Picking dates 112

Advantages of using a datasheet 113

Hide and display columns 113

Freeze and unfreeze a field 115

Moving fields 116

Using grid lines and changing colors 116

The Home tab 118

Cut, copy, and paste 118

Dress up the datasheet 120

Special treatment for Rich Text fields 121

The Records tool group 122

Totals 122

Check spelling 123

The Refresh tool 124

Cascading updates 124

Finding records 126

Searching 126

Wildcard characters 128

Find blank values 129

Replace values automatically 129

Handy shortcuts for data entry 130

Just the facts 132

6 Filtering and Sorting 133

Examining filters 133

The Selection tool 134

Ready-to-use filters .134

Common filters 135

Text ready-to-use filters 137

Number ready-to-use filters 138

Date/Time ready-to-use filters 139

Using Filter By Form 141

Modifying the filter criteria 143

Using the Or tab 143

Modifying the Or tab 144

Reusable Filter By Form forms 144

Advanced Filter/Sort 147

Using the Expression Builder 149

Using the Filter Tool 151

Sorting records 153

Sorting multiple fields 153

Watch out for strange sorts 154

Just the facts 155

7 Importing and Exporting Data 157

Examining importing and exporting data 157

Save time 158

Enhance existing database applications quickly 158

Avoid the pitfalls of importing/exporting 159

Importing and exporting essentials 159

Preparing the database 160

Importing/exporting records 160

Importing/exporting tables 161

Importing/exporting forms and reports 161

Importing/exporting queries 161

Importing/exporting data using Copy and Paste 162

Importing from Excel 162

Exporting to Excel 164

Importing from Word 165

Exporting to Word 166

Copying and pasting into another table 166

Exploring the Import and Export wizards 166

Using the Import wizard 168

Creating an import shortcut 170

Running an import shortcut 171

Using importing options .171

Importing from Excel into a new table 173

Importing from Excel into an existing table 175

Importing a text file 176

Delimited versus fixed width 176

Creating a delimited text file 177

Importing a delimited text file 177

Importing a fixed width text file 179

Importing from a XML file 181

Importing from a SharePoint list 182

Importing from an HTML document .183

Importing from an Outlook folder 184

Importing from an ODBC database .184

Import dBase, Paradox, Lotus 1-2-3 185

Using the Export wizard 185

Exporting to Excel 186

Exporting to a text file 186

Exporting to a PDF or XPS file 187

Exporting to a SharePoint list 187

Exporting to an XML document 188

Exporting to an HTML document 189

Exporting to dBase, Paradox, Lotus 1-2-3 189

Exporting to an ODBC database 189

Merge with Word .190

Just the facts 191

III Creating Queries 193

8 Creating a Query 195

Asking a query 195

Ad hoc query 196

Saved queries 196

Complex queries 197

Types of queries 197

Running a query 197

Getting results 198

Querying a query 198

Mastering the Query Wizard 198

Creating a query using multiple tables .200

Using summary options 202

Fine-tuning the Query wizard query 203

Creating a query from the results another query 206

Find Duplicates query 207

Find Unmatched query 208

Mastering the Query Design tool 209

Getting started 209

Selecting tables and queries 210

Relationships 210

Missing lines 211

Selecting fields 212

Displaying fields 212

Sorting results 213

Setting the query criteria 214

Equals 214

Or 214

And 216

Mixing it up with Or 216

Multiple Or values 217

Not 217

In 217

Between 218

Like 218

Using the Query Setup 219

Creating a Parameter query .220

Creating query parameters 220

Using query parameters 221

Creating a Union query 222

Creating a Pass-Through query 223

Creating a Data Definition query 225

Query properties .225

Joining tables 227

Equi-join 227

Outer joins 227

Cartesian join 228

Create a query join 228

Delete a query join 228

Just the facts 229

9 Creating Calculation Queries 231

Creating a calculated field in a query 231

Specifying tables and fields 231

Zooming into a cell on the query grid 232

Creating a Total query 233

Finding out about built-in functions 233

Using built-in functions 233

Setting criteria for a built-in function 234

Using GroupBy 235

Concatenate text 235

Using the inline If statement 236

Using the Expression Builder 237

Operator precedence 240

Just the facts 241

10 Creating Action Queries 243

Finding out about action queries 243

Using action queries 244

Getting ready to use action queries 245

Turning off disable mode 245

Creating an Append query 246

Creating an Update query 248

Creating a Delete query 250

Creating a Make Table query 252

Just the facts 253

11 Working with Crosstabs and PivotTables 255

All about Crosstabs 255

Using the Crosstab wizard .256

Working around limitations of the Crosstab wizard 259

Creating a crosstab using the Query Design tool 260

Creating a PivotTable 261

Creating a PivotChart 263

Changing the type of PivotChart 264

Insert titles 265

Add a legend 266

Changing the calculation 267

Insert values to the chart 267

Just the facts 267

IV Using Forms 269

12 Designing and Using Forms 271

Figuring out forms 271

Differentiating between a form and a datasheet 272

Types of forms 272

Ways to create a form 273

Sections of a form 274

Controls for forms 275

Creating controls from fields 275

Calculating controls 276

Modifying properties 276

Data sources for a control 276

Using the Form wizard 276

Using built-in forms 279

Modifying a built-in form 280

Changing the appearance of text 280

Changing the text conditionally 280

Formatting numbers 282

Formatting the grid 282

Adding bound controls 282

Changing the logo 283

Changing the title of the form 283

Inserting date and time 283

Changing lines on the form 283

Using AutoFormat 285

Deleting a control 285

Repositioning a control 285

Creating a modal dialog 285

Using the grid and dots 286

Placing and removing controls on the modal dialog 287

Changing the color of the modal dialog 288

Using the Form Designer 288

Resizing the form 288

Adjust your screen resolution 289

Selecting a resource source for a form 289

Creating the form 290

Using the form property 290

Inserting headers and footers 291

Using a form 292

Printing a form 293

Converting a form to a report 293

Just the facts .294

13 Using Controls on a Form 295

Choosing the right control .295

Available controls 296

Making tough decisions 297

Using Windows standards 298

Conforming to the Windows look 299

Placing a control onto a form 299

Working with a Label control and input control 299

Changing characteristics of a control 300

Sizing a control 300

Aligning controls 302

Copying and deleting a control 303

Naming controls .303

Setting the tab order 306

Using the Label control 307

Using the Text Box control 309

Using calculations 309

Working with Memo fields 310

Creating an input mask 310

Using the Tab control 311

Inserting a new tab in the Tab control 312

Changing the label on the tab 313

Using Line and Rectangle controls 313

Using Image control 314

Using OLE object controls 314

Just the facts 317

14 Creating Intelligent Forms 319

Looking at intelligent controls 319

Reacting to an event 321

Enabled versus disabled 322

Hide versus visible 322

Selecting events 323

Providing instructions for common events 324

Enabling a control 324

Making a control visible 327

Using the Control wizards 327

Using toggle button, option button, and check box controls 328

Using toggle button controls 328

Using option button and check box controls 330

Creating an Option Group 330

Using combo box and list box controls 332

Type values displayed in a combo box or list box 333

Use table/query for values displayed by a combo box or list box 333

Using command button control 334

Using a subform/subreport control 335

Using an existing form as a subform 335

Using a table/query to create the subform 335

Using an ActiveX control 335

Just the facts 336

V Creating Reports 337

15 Creating a Report 339

Reports versus forms 339

Choosing a report type 340

Creating a report 341

Designing the report 342

Mapping information to the sketch 342

Identify printing requirements 343

Test pieces before assembling 343

Understanding sections of a report 344

Understanding how reports are printed 346

Using the Report wizard 346

Creating a report 347

Adjusting the report 351

Using a Blank Report 352

Using the Report Design tool 355

Creating a report using the Report Design tool 355

Inserting a Group Header and Footer 356

Inserting a Report Header and Footer 358

Inserting page numbers 359

Entering a date and time 359

Growing and shrinking controls 360

Just the facts 361

16 Enhancing and Printing a Report 363

Creating labels 363

Creating a mail merge report 367

Setting the page layout and size 370

Using images on a report 372

Modifying the Image control’s settings 373

Inserting a logo 374

Inserting a watermark 374

Using Snapshot Reports .375

E-mailing your report 376

Creating a PDF file 376

Inserting page numbers, date, and time 376

Using lines and rectangles 378

Just the facts 379

17 Generating Charts and Graphs 381

Choosing the correct chart and graph 381

Identify your message 382

Labeling the chart 382

Making your choice 383

Avoiding common mistakes 384

Tell what your message means 385

Creating charts and graphs 385

Getting started creating a chart 385

Building your chart 386

Editing the chart 388

Converting the chart to an image 389

Modifying the chart 389

Just the facts 390

VI Working with Macros 391

18 Creating a Macro 393

Finding out about macros 393

Setting conditions 394

Embedding a macro 395

Creating a macro 395

Making a standalone macro 396

Making a macro group 398

Running a macro 399

Running a macro in an event 401

Choosing an event 402

Assigning a macro to an event 402

Setting a condition for an action 404

Creating a condition for an action 405

Making decisions within a macro 406

Debugging a macro 407

Using debugging tools 408

Using the Single Step tools .409

Using the SingleStep action 409

Modifying a macro 410

Just the facts 411

19 Using Macro Actions 413

Interacting with the database 413

Working with the OpenTable action 414

Running a query .414

Outputting data 414

Selecting an object 415

Finding data .416

Finding the next record .417

Making a record the current record 417

Using a query or a filter 418

Removing filters 418

Interacting with forms, reports, and controls 419

Opening a form 419

Selecting a control 420

Selecting a page .420

Displaying and printing a report 420

Interacting with windows 421

Maximizing, minimizing, and restoring a window .421

Moving a window .422

Importing and exporting 422

Transferring text .423

Transferring to a spreadsheet .424

General actions 425

Beeping 425

Display the hourglass 425

Stopping a macro 426

Cancelling an event .426

Closing an object .426

Turning off warnings 427

Hiding the results of the macro 427

Setting the value of a field, control, or property .427

Printing an object .428

Transmitting keystrokes .429

E-Mailing an object .429

Running an application from with in Access 2007 430

Running VBA code .431

Just the facts 431

VII Database Administration 433

20 Managing and Maintaining a Database 435

Understanding garbage information 435Preventing garbage from entering the database 436

Locating the source of the data 437 Identifying potential sources for errors 437 Devising solutions to reduce errors 438

Minimizing data-entry errors 438Designing the paper form 439Minimizing text information 439Testing for common sense 439Encouraging review of information 440Scheduling backups 440

Backing up the database 441 Restoring a backed-up database 442

Compacting the database 442

Increasing performance 443 Defragging your database 443 Purging the information 444 Compacting the database 444

Using database properties 445

Exploring database properties 446 Using the Summary properties 447 Using the General properties 447 Using the Statistics properties 447 Using the Contents tab 447 Using the Custom tab 448 Creating a customized property 448 Deleting a customized property 448

Dealing with a growing database 449

Understanding lightweight and heavyweight objects 450 Understanding cleanup 450 Shrinking VBA code 451 Giving your database a thorough cleaning 451

Repairing a corrupt database 452Just the facts 453

21 Securing a Database 455

Securing your database 455

Using the Trust Center 456 Looking inside the Trust Center 457 Working in disabled mode 457 Using add-ins 458 Enabling a disabled object 458

Using a database in trusted mode 458Understanding the concept of a trusted location 459Creating a trusted location 459Placing your application in a trusted location 461Packaging and signing an application .461

Creating a signed package .462 Using a signed package 463 Enabling disabled content 464

Using encryption 464

Encrypting your database 465 Removing a password 466

Just the facts 467

22 Working with SharePoint Sites 469

Looking at SharePoint 469Document Libraries and Shared Workspace 471

Peeking inside the Document Library 472 Creating a Document Library 473 Uploading a document in a Document Library 474 Checking out a document from a Document Library 475 Returning a document to the Document Library 475 Deleting a document from the Document Library 475 Creating a shared workspace 476

Moving the database to the SharePoint site .477Troubleshooting transfer problems 478

Importing from a SharePoint site 478 Exporting to a SharePoint List 479

Just the facts 479

VIII Programming with VBA 481

23 Creating Modules 483

What is a module? 483Types of procedures 485

Sub procedures 485 Function procedure 485

Passing parameters 486

Declaring parameters 487 Parameter data type 487 Parameter name .487 Supplying missing data 487 Calling a sequence of subs and functions 488

Categories of modules 488

Using standard modules 489 Using Form/Report modules 489

Creating a module and procedures 489

Testing your procedure 491 Compiling procedures 491 Changing the name of the module 492 Saving the module 492 Opening a saved module 492

Creating procedures in a form/report 492

Create a simple form 493 Creating and linking a procedure to the control 493 Modifying an existing event procedure 495 Deleting a procedure 495

Comparing macros to procedures 496

Replicating a macro in a procedure 497 Actions that can’t be called from a procedure 497 Converting a macro to VBA 498

Just the facts 500

24 Writing VBA Code 501

Before writing your first instruction 501

Making a plan 502 Using pseudo code .503

Using literals, constants, and variables 504

Working with constants 505 Working with variables 505

Declaring a variable 506Naming a variable 508Using the scope of the variable 509Using an array 510Using Private and Public 513Hidden problems with public variables 514Handling the public variables 514Expressions and statements 515

Looking inside an expression 515 Using operators 515 Using operands 517 Using properties of an object 518 Using field values of a table 519

Creating an expression 519Creating statements 521

Using statements to declare a variable 521 Assigning values 521

Working with values on a form 522 Creating the procedure 523 Changing the value of a property 525

Letting Access 2007 make decisions 526

Using the If Then End If statement 526

Using the Else statement 527Nesting If Then End If statements 528Using multiple conditions 528

Using the Select Case statement 529

Repeating statements without a lot of code 531

Using the Do Loop 531

Using the Do While Loop 532Using the Do Loop While loop 532Using the Do Until Loop 533Using the Do Loop Until loop 533Using the Exit Do statement 534

Using the For Next statement 534

Passing parameters to a procedure 536

Declaring an argument 536 Using an argument 537 Passing a value to a procedure 537 Working with multiple arguments 537

Returning a value from a function procedure 538Just the facts 539

25 Using Built-In Functions 541

Working with built-in functions 541

Identifying built-in functions for your procedure 542 Categories of built-in functions 543

Manipulating strings 543

Finding a series of characters in a string 543 Copying characters from a string 545 Trimming spaces 547 Changing the case of a string 548 Inserting spaces the easy way 548 Formatting a string 549

Working with numbers 550

Rounding a number 551 Removing the sign from a number 551 Generating a random number 552

Building the game form 553Writing the procedure 554Playing the game 556Using dates and times 556

Converting from one data type to another 558

Converting a string to a number 558 Converting a number to a string 559 Converting dates 559

Working with records 560

Looking up data 560

Creating the procedure 562Displaying the search result 563

Counting records 564 Tallying records 565

Using built-in functions for programming 565

Using the IFF() function 566 Using the IsNull() function 566

Just the facts 567

26 Using SQL in a Procedure 569

Understanding SQL 569Creating a model procedure 570

Retrieving data from a database 570

Using the model procedure 570Working with a recordset 572

Modifying records 573

Selecting data from a table 574

Selecting from multiple tables 575 Using an alias 576 Retrieving specific records 576 Selecting all fields 577 Specifying multiple conditions 577 Selecting a range of values 578 Matching partial values 578 Finding blank fields 579 Getting rid of duplicates 579 Selecting several values the easy way 580

Joining tables 580Calculating data in an SQL query 581Grouping and ordering data 582

Using the GROUP BY clause 582 Limiting records within a group 583 Using the ORDER BY clause 583

Inserting a record into a table 585Updating records in a table 586

Updating multiple fields 587 Updating using calculations 587

Deleting a record from a table 587Just the facts 588

IX Appendixes 589

Appendix A: Glossary 591 Appendix B: Using Standard Naming Conventions 607 Appendix C: Access Database Limitations 613 Index 617

have a copy of Access 2007 on your computer as part

of an upgrade and want to quickly get up to speedusing it or because you want to enhance your MicrosoftOffice skills by learning how to use Access 2007

Chances are also good that other books on Access 2007either tell you more than you ever wanted to know aboutAccess 2007 or not enough for you to get your job doneefficiently

I write the kind of books that I like to use A book thatgives a brief but to-the-point explanation of what needs to

be done to achieve my desired result and then immediatelyjumps to the steps I need to perform to complete my task Judging by the size of the book you probably realize thisisn’t a compendium of all the features in Access 2007.There are many more features in Access 2007 than what Icover in this book These you’ll rarely use and are specifi-cally designed for high power Access 2007 developers Andthere are plenty of books on the market that show how touse these features Pick up one of them if you find a need

to span your horizons beyond features that I show you inthis book

When you’re at work and need a quick reminder onhow to do something in Access 2007 more easily and faster,grab hold of this book I do when something puzzles mewhen building an Access 2007 application

Getting in and out

Microsoft Access has undergone a complete makeover With a new lookand feel – the Ribbon replaces menus Take a moment for a look-see, kickthe tires, and take Access 2007 for a spin Access 2007 is new so don’t skip

a chapter even if you currently use a previous version of Microsoft Access

If you do, you’ll be lost and miss out on many timesaving new features

All about data and designing a database

Begin your transformation from a mere mortal database user to a base application developer by learning how to organize data into so yourdatabase application can find that one piece of data you want fromamongst millions in a split second Chapters in this part show how to getyour data into topnotch shape

data-Tables are at the heart of your database design because this is whereinformation is stored, organized, and retrieved Sure I’ll show you how tocreate a table That takes about five minutes to do and you didn’t need tobuy a book to learn this because you can find out how to do it yourself

by poking around Access 2007 or surfing the Web

The big deal is that I show you the smart way to create and use tables.These are the tips and tricks that I picked up from using Access 2007 Ialso show you how to filter unwanted records and sort records trapped by

a filter Then you find out how to trade data electronically with cally any application Your colleagues will look to you as the whiz of tablesafter you read the tables chapters

practi-Creating Queries

You have a Jeanie who answers all questions Well, kind of a Jeanie It iscalled Access 2007 Access 2007 can tell you the product that will makeyou the most money — assuming the right data is in the database.Picking a winning lottery number? Access 2007 leaves that up to a realJeanie

Ask Access 2007 your question correctly in a form of a query And like

a real Jeanine Access 2007 answers it in seconds — minus the the-eye and a puff of smoke I’ll show you how to write questions and askAccess 2007 to answer them in the query chapters

blink-of-Designing and using forms

A form is the face of your Access 2007 database application It is wheredata is entered and displayed It is used to interact with your applicationmuch like the form you use to complete a transaction at the ATMmachine

Creating a form is easy to do However, creating a form that makes

your database application easy to use and that gets a wow from the person

using it requires a little know-how and a few tricks to dress-up your base application I call this dressing for success I’ll show you how todesign and create forms and add bells and whistles that you expect in aprofessional database application in the forms chapters

data-Designing and using reports

The paperless office that so many of us expected hasn’t materialized.Although e-mails dramatically reduce demand for paper, I’m forevergoing to meetings and being handed a hard copy of a report and thentold the report is also being e-mailed to me

Paper reports will be around for a while, but that shouldn’t be yourconcern because Access 2007 can generate practically any report thatyou can imagine — even reports that can be viewed on the screen Restassured that I’m not going to show you how to create the blah, dull, andunimpressive reports that you probably receive all the time from yourcolleagues I show you ways to insert pizzazz into your report — pizzazzthat you won’t find on the Access 2007 Ribbon These are reports thatinclude charts, graphs, crosstabs, and pictures, too! I share with youthese techniques in the report chapters

Automate your database application

You probably used an application where you pressed one button and theapplication performed a bunch of tasks automatically I show you how tocreate an Access 2007 database application that does this

You come up with the tasks to automate, and I show you how to write

a macro that automates those tasks in the macro chapter A macro is like a computer program, but it’s much easier to write than a computerprogram

Managing and maintaining your database

Garbage in garbage out A poorly managed and maintained databasegenerates garbage, unreliable information that gives the appearance ofrespectability but is really junk information You cannot prevent garbageinformation from finding its way into a database, but there are steps thatcan be taken to minimize it I show you these steps in the managing andmaintaining your database chapter so you can implement them in yourAccess 2007 database application

Securing your database

The question you’re probably asking yourself is how secure is the data in

my Access 2007 database application? The answer depends on whether

or not you implemented security features that are available in Access

2007 Nothing guarantees that your database won’t be hacked However,you can place obstacles in the database that a hacker must overcome togain access to the information I’ll show you how to use the Access 2007security features to secure your Access 2007 database application in thesecurity chapter

Developing your database application with your colleagues

Developing an application collaboratively with colleagues invites the riskthat two of you work on the same component simultaneously There’s agood chance that the last person to save his or her changes overwriteschanges made by the other, since only one copy of the component issaved

Not a problem if you use SharePoint because an electronic librariantracks changes for you You’ll learn how to use SharePointwith youAccess 2007 database application projects in the SharePoint chapter

Making the most of this book

Every book in the Unofficial Guide series offers sidebars that are devised

to help you get things done cheaply, efficiently, and smartly Each takes adifferent approach to providing you with useful information about thematerial in the chapters Use them to educate, inform, and guide your

way through the sometimes conflicting or confusing information vided by Microsoft

pro-1 Hacks:If you are comfortable with advanced techniques, the Hackssidebars will show you ways to get things done using more efficienttechniques or by using techniques that take you into the expert’srealm

2 Watch Out!:There are times when the route to success is flankedwith traps for the unwary The Watch Out! Sidebars warn you whenyou need to be open-eyed and sure-footed and provide you withguidance so you avoid potential harmful results

3 Bright Idea:If Watch Out! Sidebars point you away from danger,Bright Idea sides bars point you towards time, effort-, or money-saving techniques You don’t have to use these tips but they willreward you if you do

4 Inside Scoop:These sidebars give you real-world perspective and liftthe material from the theoretical to the practical Use them to guideyour own approach and choose which path is best for you

Getting Started

Getting In and Out

makeover It has a new name, Microsoft OfficeAccess 2007 to complement its new look and feel.The most noticeable change is that Ribbons now replacemenus Under the hood is the power to manage any datathat you can throw at it

Before you learn how to harness this power to createdatabase applications that the pros in IT will envy, take amoment for a look-see — kick the tires and take Access

2007 for a spin

Access 2007 is new, so don’t skip this chapter even if youcurrently use a previous version of Microsoft Access; other-wise you’ll be lost and miss out on many time-saving newfeatures

Starting Access 2007

Starting Access 2007 is the same as starting other grams Click the Windows Start button, then All Programs,and find the Microsoft Office entry Access 2007 is listedamong the other products that comprise Microsoft Office

pro-A faster, more efficient way to start the program is toadd the Access 2007 icon to your desktop, so you need only

to double-click the icon to open Access 2007, or placeAccess 2007 on the Quick Launch toolbar

Start from the desktop

Some programs automatically place an icon on the desktop for you whenyou install the program, whether or not you want to launch the programfrom your desktop

To place Access 2007 on your desktop, follow these steps:

1.Create a shortcut in the Microsoft Office section of the All Programswindow

2.Highlight the Microsoft Office Access 2007 entry and right-click themouse button

entry of Microsoft Office Access 2007 appears in the Microsoft Officesection A 2 next to the name indicates that this is a shortcut entry

4.Drag and drop it to your desktop

To remove Access 2007 from your desktop, right-click the icon andselect Delete Although the icon is gone from the desktop, the entry isstill in the Microsoft Office section of the All Programs window

Start from the Quick Launch toolbar

The Quick Launch toolbar (see Figure 1.1) is to the right of the Startbutton and is a great time-saver when you have multiple programs open

at the same time that obscure the desktop Simply kick off Access 2007from the Quick Launch toolbar instead of digging through open screens

to find Access 2007 on your desktop

To place Access 2007 on the Quick Launch toolbar:

1.Create a shortcut for Access 2007 (see “Start from the desktop”)

You can remove Access 2007 from the Quick Launch toolbar by clicking the icon on the Quick Launch toolbar and then clicking Delete

Figure 1.1 The Quick Launch toolbar on my taskbar.

The Access 2007 environment

You’ll find a lot of unfamiliar terms and objects in the Access 2007 scape if you’re new to Microsoft Access If you currently use MicrosoftAccess, you notice that the new landscape is much different than previ-ous versions

land-The first thing you notice is that there are no menus or toolbars.These items are a thing of the past and are replaced by tabs that containmany features that use to be found on menus This is a good thingbecause many time-saving features were overlooked, buried beneath lay-ers of menus

The Ribbon

The Ribbon (see Figure 1.2) is the area on top of the program windowwhere you choose commands Commands are grouped in a logical way Related commands are grouped into a tab For example, you’ll findall commands needed to design a page layout in the Page Layout tab.Many tabs are hidden until you need them to work on a task Theseare called contextual tabs So you won’t see the Page Layout commandtab if you are not designing a page layout

Figure 1.2 The Ribbon contains tabs that group together related commands.

Active command tab

Related commands

Name of current database Ribbon Command tabs

Office Access 2007

A gallery (see Figure 1.3) is a control that shows what the commandcan do and the results of using the command For example, theMargin gallery control displays options for standard margins, such asNormal, Narrow, and Wide Each option displays measurements for thetop, bottom, right, and left margins and shows a thumbnail image ofthe margin

Figure 1.3 A gallery control for setting margins.

Quick Access toolbar

Some commands need to be handy You find these commands on theQuick Access toolbar (see Figure 1.4) in the upper-left corner of the win-dow next to the Office Button

Save, Print, and Undo are the default commands on the Quick Accesstoolbar They appear as small icons Simply click the icon to use thecommand

Inside Scoop

You might find that the Ribbon takes up too much screen space You can mize a Ribbon by double-clicking the name of a tab on the Ribbon Double-click the tab name again to maximize the Ribbon

mini-Inside

Scoop