microsoft office access 2003 - the complete reference (2003)

Complete Reference / Microsoft Office Access 2003: TCR / Anderson / 222917-9Blind Folio ii About the Author Virginia Andersenbecame a writer and consultantafter retiring from her defense

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Microsoft ®

Office Access 2003: The Complete Reference

Complete Reference / Microsoft Office Access 2003: TCR / Anderson / 222917-9

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About the Author

Virginia Andersenbecame a writer and consultantafter retiring from her defense contracting career

Since then, she has written over 35 books aboutpersonal-computer-based applications, includingdatabase management, word processing, andspreadsheet analysis Virginia spent nearly 15 yearsteaching computer science, mathematics and systemsanalysis at the graduate and undergraduate levels atseveral southern California universities During heryears as a programmer/systems analyst, Virginia usedcomputers for many diverse projects, including lunarmapping for the Apollo astronauts’ landing, reliabilityengineering, undersea surveillance, weapon systemsimulation, and naval communications She has alsorecently published her memoirs, “Digital Recall:

Computers Aren’t the Only Ones with Memory”

describing many of these hands-on experiences

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Microsoft ®

Office Access 2003: The Complete Reference

Virginia Andersen

McGraw-Hill/OsborneNew York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City

Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto

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2100 Powell Street, 10th Floor

Emeryville, California 94608

U.S.A

To arrange bulk purchase discounts for sales promotions, premiums, or fund-raisers, please

contact McGraw-Hill/Osborne at the above address For information on translations or

book distributors outside the U.S.A., please see the International Contact Information pageimmediately following the index of this book

Microsoft ® Office Access 2003: The Complete Reference

Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies All rights reserved Printed in theUnited States of America Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part ofthis publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in

a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of publisher, with theexception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computersystem, but they may not be reproduced for publication

Peter F Hancik, Lyssa Wald

This book was composed with Corel VENTURA™Publisher

Information has been obtained by McGraw-Hill/Osborne from sources believed to be reliable However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, or others, McGraw-Hill/Osborne does not

guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from the use of such information.

Complete Reference / Microsoft Office Access 2003: TCR / Anderson / 222917-9 / Front Matter

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Contents at a Glance

Part I Getting Started

1 Quick Tour of Microsoft Office Access 2003 3

2 The World of Relational Databases 27

3 Creating a Database 41

4 Creating and Modifying Tables 57

5 Relating Tables 95

6 Entering and Editing Data 113

Part II Retrieving and Presenting Information 7 Sorting, Filtering, and Printing Records 159

8 Extracting Information with Queries 179

9 Creating Advanced Queries 221

10 Creating Form and Report Designs 245

11 Using the Form Wizard 283

12 Customizing Forms 307

13 Using the Report Wizard 345

14 Customizing Reports 375

15 Creating Charts and Graphs 409

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Part III Improving the Workplace

16 Customizing the Workplace 437

17 Improving Database Performance 461

18 Understanding Events and the Event Model 481

19 Automating with Macros 497

20 Customizing Menus and Toolbars 525

21 Creating Custom Switchboards and Dialog Boxes 553

Part IV Sharing Data with Others 22 Exchanging Database Objects and Text 585

23 Exchanging Data with Outside Sources 609

24 Sharing with Multiple Users 629

25 Securing a Database 643

A Converting to Access 2003 667

B What’s on the CD 675

Index 679

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Acknowledgments xxiii

Introduction xxv

Part I Getting Started 1 Quick Tour of Microsoft Office Access 2003 3

Starting Access and Opening a Database 3

Touring the Access Window 4

Opening a Database 5

Touring the Database Window 9

Looking at Menu Options and Toolbar Buttons 12

Using Shortcut Menus 14

Opening a Table 15

Touring the Datasheet View 16

Looking at a Subdatasheet 18

Looking at Data in a Form 19

Looking at the Wizards 21

Getting Help 21

Asking a Question 22

Using the Microsoft Access Help Task Pane 23

Asking the Office Assistant 25

Asking What’s This? 26

Getting Help with What You’re Doing 26

Summary 26

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2 The World of Relational Databases 27

What Is a Relational Database? 27

Purpose of Relationships 28

Types of Relationships 29

Referential Integrity 30

Defining Database Objects 32

Inspecting the Sample Database 33

Looking at the Data Distribution 33

Viewing Table Relationships 34

The Payoff 36

A Custom Form 36

A Custom Report 38

Summary 39

3 Creating a Database 41

Designing the Database 41

Introducing Home Tech Repair 42

Determining Goals of the Database 42

Distributing the Data 42

Specifying Key Fields and Relationships 46

Completing the Database 47

Using the Database Wizard 48

Previewing the Database Templates 48

Stepping Through the Wizard 49

Running the New Application 53

Starting with a Blank Database 55

Summary 56

4 Creating and Modifying Tables 57

Creating a New Table Structure with the Table Wizard 57

Adding Fields 58

Setting the Primary Key 59

Relating to Existing Tables 61

Creating a New Table from Scratch 63

Touring the Table Design View 63

Adding Fields 63

Choosing a Primary Key 75

Creating Other Indexes 77

Saving the Table Design 78

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Modifying the Table Design 79

Switching Table Views 79

Adding/Deleting Fields 80

Changing the Field Order 81

Changing a Field Name or Type 81

Changing a Field Size 83

Modifying or Deleting the Primary Key 83

Ensuring Data Validity 84

Defining Field Validation Rules 85

Defining a Record Validation Rule 87

Requiring an Entry and Preventing Duplicates 88

Handling Blank Fields 88

Assigning a Default Value 89

Copying an Existing Table Structure 91

Setting Table Properties 92

How to Change the Default Table Design Properties 92

Summary 93

5 Relating Tables 95

Defining a Relationship 95

Ready-Made Relationships 96

Using the Relationships Window 96

Viewing and Editing Relationships 106

Viewing Existing Relationships 107

Modifying or Deleting a Relationship 107

Changing a Table Design from the Relationships Window 108

Printing the Relationships 109

Summary 110

6 Entering and Editing Data 113

Entering New Data 113

Copying and Moving Data 115

Inserting Pictures 118

Inserting Hyperlinks 120

Customizing Data Entry 125

Adding Custom Input Masks 125

Creating Lookup Fields 129

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Changing the Datasheet Appearance 135

Displaying Subdatasheets 136

Moving and Resizing Columns and Rows 137

Freezing and Hiding Columns 139

Changing the Font 141

Changing Grid Lines and Cell Appearance 141

Setting Datasheet Default Options 143

Changing Table Definition in Datasheet View 144

Inserting a Subdatasheet 144

Inserting/Deleting a Column 145

Changing Field Names 146

Editing Record Data 146

Selecting Records and Fields 146

Locating Records 147

Finding and Replacing Data 151

Deleting Data 153

Using the Spelling Checker and AutoCorrect 153

Printing Table Data 154

Summary 155

Part II Retrieving and Presenting Information 7 Sorting, Filtering, and Printing Records 159

Sorting Records 159

Sorting on a Single Field 159

Sorting by Two or More Fields 161

Saving the Sort Order 162

Filtering Records 162

Filtering By Selection 163

Using an Exclusion Filter 165

Filtering By Form 165

Optimizing Filter By Form 172

Filtering For 173

Filtering with Advanced Filter/Sort 174

Modifying a Filter 175

Saving a Filter 175

Removing and Deleting Filters 176

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Printing Table Data 177

Summary 178

8 Extracting Information with Queries 179

How Do Queries Work? 179

Access Query Categories 180

When to Use a Filter and When to Use a Query 180

Creating Select Queries 182

Using the Simple Query Wizard 182

Touring the Query Design Window 184

Without the Wizard 187

Relating Multiple Tables in a Query 189

Adding/Removing Fields 191

Running and Saving the Query 192

Hiding/Showing Fields 194

Specifying the Record Order 194

Showing Highest or Lowest Values 195

Adding Selection Criteria 196

Using Wildcards and Operators 197

Using a Single Criterion 199

Using Multiple Criteria 200

Getting Help from the Expression Builder 202

Handling Blank Fields 204

Setting Query Properties 204

Modifying a Query 205

Inserting a Field and Changing the Field Order 205

Changing Field Properties 205

Performing Calculations in a Query 207

Adding a Calculated Field 207

Summarizing with the Wizard 209

Summarizing with Aggregate Functions 210

Creating Special Queries with the Query Wizard 214

Creating a Find Duplicates Query 214

Creating a Find Unmatched Query 215

Creating a Crosstab Query 216

Printing the Query Results 219

Deleting a Query 220

Summary 220

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9 Creating Advanced Queries 221

Creating Special Purpose Queries 221

Parameter Queries 221

AutoLookup Queries 225

Designing Action Queries 226

Update Query 227

Append Query 231

Delete Query 233

Make-Table Query 234

Introducing Structured Query Language 236

Looking at SQL Statements 236

SQL Conventions and Syntax 238

Creating a Subquery 241

Defining a Criterion 241

Defining a New Field 242

Summary 243

10 Creating Form and Report Designs 245

Deciding Which Database Object 245

Describing the Common Design Elements 246

Choosing a Record Source 246

Understanding Controls 246

Form and Report Design Properties 247

Working in the Design Window 249

Touring the Form Design Window 249

Starting a New Design 254

Adding Controls 255

Modifying Controls 261

Selecting Controls and Other Objects 261

Moving and Resizing Controls 263

Aligning and Spacing Controls 265

Using Property Sheets 266

Using the Formatting Toolbar 269

Formatting Conditionally 270

Changing a Control Type 272

Deleting Controls 273

Adding Other Objects and Special Effects 273

Linking vs Inserting Objects 273

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Adding Bound Objects 274

Adding an Unbound Object 274

Adding a Picture 275

Changing Form and Report Properties 277

Changing the Record Source 277

Applying Filters and Sort Orders 278

Resizing a Form or Report 278

Using AutoFormat 279

Adding a Background Picture 280

Adding a New Object to a Group 281

Summary 282

11 Using the Form Wizard 283

Creating a New Form Design 283

Designing the Form 283

Starting a New Form 285

Choosing an AutoForm 286

Selecting the Form Data 287

Choosing the Form Layout and Style 289

Modifying the Form Design 291

Looking at Some of the Form Properties 291

Changing Form Sections 292

Moving and Adding Controls 294

Sorting and Filtering Data in a Form 297

Using the Form for Data Entry 298

Sizing the Form 299

Navigating in the Form 299

Changing the Tab Order 300

Locating Records 302

Viewing Multiple Records 302

Printing the Form 303

Looking at the Other Wizards 303

Creating a Hierarchical Form from Related Tables 304

Summary 306

12 Customizing Forms 307

Starting a New Custom Form 307

Placing and Customizing Data-Related Controls 307

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Adding Yes/No Controls 312

Adding User-Interactive Controls 315

Creating a Multiple-Page Form 320

Using the Page Break Control 320

Adding a Tab Control 321

Customizing a Tab Control 323

Adding Special Controls 323

Adding Calculated Controls 324

ActiveX Controls 327

Introducing the Police Department Database 330

Adding a Subform 332

With the Subform Wizard 333

Without the Subform Wizard 335

Using the Hierarchical Form 335

Modifying a Subform 336

Linking and Synchronizing Forms 337

Adding Custom Help 339

Custom Control Tips 340

Status Bar Messages 340

Validating or Restricting Data in Forms 341

Validating with Properties 341

Validating with Events 342

Summary 343

13 Using the Report Wizard 345

Creating a New Report Design 345

What Is the Purpose of the Report? 345

Selecting, Sorting, and Grouping the Data 346

Starting a Report 348

Choosing an AutoReport 349

Using the Report Wizard 350

Previewing the Report 358

Working in the Print Preview Window 359

Using the Layout Preview 361

Printing the Report 362

Running Page Setup 362

Modifying the Report Design 364

Touring the Report Design Window 364

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Examining Report Sections 364

Setting Report and Section Properties 365

Placing and Adjusting Controls 366

Changing the Report Style 366

Adding Page Numbers and Date/Times 367

Adding Page Breaks 370

Saving the Report Design 370

Using Report Snapshots 370

Creating a Report Snapshot 371

Viewing the Report Snapshot 372

Sending the Report Snapshot 373

Summary 373

14 Customizing Reports 375

Creating a New Report Design 375

Adding Headers and Footers 376

Customizing with Special Controls 378

Basing a Report on a Parameter Query 381

Sorting and Grouping Records in a Report 384

Changing the Sort Order 385

Adding Group Sections 385

Customizing Group Headers and Footers 387

Adding Summaries and Running Totals 388

Applying the Finishing Touches 390

Modifying and Adding Groups 390

Adding a Subreport 395

Creating a Subreport Control 395

Inserting an Existing Subreport 397

Linking the Report and Subreport 398

Modifying a Subreport Control 399

Designing a Multiple-Column Report 400

Grouping Records in a Multiple-Column Report 401

Printing Mailing Labels and Envelopes 402

Using the Label Wizard 403

Manipulating Text Data 405

Printing Addresses on Envelopes 406

Summary 407

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15 Creating Charts and Graphs 409

Creating a New Chart 409

The Anatomy of a Chart 410

Selecting the Data for the Chart 413

Using the Access Chart Wizard 413

Printing and Saving the Chart 417

Linking to Record Data 418

Adding an Existing Chart 420

Modifying the Chart 420

Modifying with Access 420

Editing with Microsoft Graph 425

Summary 434

Part III Improving the Workplace 16 Customizing the Workplace 437

Personalizing the Workplace 437

Rearranging Icons 437

Creating a Shortcut 439

Setting Workplace Options 439

Setting Some Command Bar Default Options 453

Creating Custom Groups 455

Changing the Way Access Starts 455

Modifying the Office Assistant 458

Showing and Hiding 458

Setting Office Assistant Options 458

Choosing a Different Assistant 460

Summary 460

17 Improving Database Performance 461

Optimizing a Database 461

Using the Analyzer Wizards 461

Optimizing Tables and Queries 467

Working with Linked Tables 469

Optimizing Filter By Form 469

Optimizing Forms and Reports 469

Optimizing Controls 471

Avoiding Errors 472

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Backing Up and Restoring a Database 474

Compacting and Repairing a Database 475

Documenting a Database 477

Summary 479

18 Understanding Events and the Event Model 481

What Are Events? 481

Types of Events 482

Understanding the Sequence of Events 487

Form Control Events 488

Form Record Events 489

Form and Subform Events 490

Keystrokes and Mouse Click Events 492

Report and Report Section Events 493

Setting Event Properties 494

Summary 495

19 Automating with Macros 497

How Do Macros Work? 497

Creating a Macro 498

Touring the Macro Window 498

Creating a Simple Macro 500

Choosing Actions 501

Setting Action Arguments 502

Testing and Debugging a Macro 502

Starting the Macro 503

Stepping Through a Macro 504

Modifying a Macro 504

Adding Conditions to a Macro 505

Running a Macro with a Condition 506

Choosing Between Two Actions 506

Assigning a Macro to an Event Property 507

Deciding Which Event to Use 508

Some Common Uses for Macros 509

Displaying a Message Box 509

Validating Data 510

Filtering Records 511

Setting Values and Properties 514

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Changing the Flow of Operations 516

Nesting Macros 519

Create a Macro Group 520

Assigning AutoKeys 520

Documenting Macros 522

Creating an AutoExec Macro 523

Summary 523

20 Customizing Menus and Toolbars 525

Using Access Command Bars 525

Showing/Hiding Built-in Toolbars 527

Showing/Hiding Toolbar Buttons 528

Moving/Resizing Command Bars 530

Changing Menu and Toolbar Options 531

Customizing Command Bars 532

Creating a Global Toolbar 533

Creating Custom Toolbars and Menu Bars 533

Attaching a Custom Command Bar to an Object 541

Specifying Global Command Bars 542

Deleting a Custom Command Bar 543

Modifying Command Bars 543

Moving Controls 545

Adding and Deleting Controls 545

Modifying a Selected Control 545

Restoring Built-in Command Bars 551

Summary 552

21 Creating Custom Switchboards and Dialog Boxes 553

Creating Switchboards 553

Using the Switchboard Manager to Create Switchboards 554

Modifying the Switchboard 562

Creating a Switchboard from Scratch 565

Copying the Button Event Procedure 567

Creating a Custom Dialog Box 571

Designing the Form 572

Creating and Attaching the Macros 575

Setting Form Properties and Style 576

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Creating a Dialog Box for User Input 579

Setting the Input Form Properties 580

Creating the Macros 580

Modifying the Query 580

Summary 581

Part IV Sharing Data with Others 22 Exchanging Database Objects and Text 585

Copying Objects Among Access Databases 585

Copy-and-Paste 586

Drag-and-Drop 587

Importing or Linking Access Data 587

Importing Objects 588

Setting Import Options 590

Linking Access Tables 591

Importing or Linking to Other Data Sources 592

Using Data from dBASE or Paradox 593

Importing and Linking Text Files 594

Using Delimited Text Files 595

Using Fixed-Width Text Files 599

Changing Import Specifications 600

Using Linked or Imported Tables 600

Renaming a Linked Table in Access 601

Changing Linked Table Properties 601

Updating Links with the Linked Table Manager 602

Unlinking Tables 603

Exporting to an Existing Access Database 604

Exporting to Another Database Format 605

Exporting to Text Files 606

Summary 608

23 Exchanging Data with Outside Sources 609

Copying or Moving Records 609

Copying or Moving Data from a Word Processor 609

Copying or Moving Data from a Spreadsheet 611

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Copying or Moving Records from Access to

Another Application 612

Saving Access Output as an External File 612

Working with Word 614

Saving in Rich Text Format 614

Saving an Access Table or Query as a Mail Merge Data Source 614

Publishing with Word 615

Using Merge It with Microsoft Word 616

Working with Excel 618

Importing from and Linking to Excel Spreadsheets 618

Exporting a Table or Query to Excel 622

Using Analyze It with Microsoft Excel 623

Working with HTML Documents 624

Importing Data from HTML Documents 624

Exporting Data to HTML Documents 625

Mailing Access Objects 625

Summary 627

24 Sharing with Multiple Users 629

Sharing a Database on a Network 629

Sharing an Entire Database 630

Splitting the Database 630

Preventing Exclusive Access 633

Replicating a Database 634

Database Administration in a Multiuser Environment 635

Controlling Data Editing 636

Minimizing Conflicts 638

Updating Records with Refresh and Requery 639

Editing Shared Database Objects 640

Summary 641

25 Securing a Database 643

Securing a Database with a Password 643

Securing a Multiple-User Database 645

Understanding the User-Level Security Model 645

What Is Needed to Secure a Database? 647

Securing a Database with the User-Level Security Wizard 647

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Creating a Workgroup Without the Wizard 652Assigning or Changing Permissions and Ownerships 659Securing a Replicated Database 662Removing User-Level Security 662Other Security Measures 663Encoding and Decoding a Database 664Hiding Database Objects 665Summary 666

A Converting to Access 2003 667

Deciding on a Conversion Strategy 667Converting a Database 668Converting a Workgroup Information File 669Converting a Secured Database 669Converting a Replicated Database 670Enabling a Database 670Sharing a Database Across Several Access Versions 672Converting from Access 2002–2003 to Access 97 672Converting from Access 2002–2003 to Access 2000 673

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Revising this book for the third edition was a pleasure, due especially to working with

the talented and highly professional Osborne editorial and production staff MeggMorin, my Acquisitions Editor, is not only an efficient and professional member ofOsborne’s staff—I also consider her a good friend I would also like to thank Tana Allen andAthena Honore for their efforts on behalf of this complex book I appreciate Elizabeth Seymourfor seeing this project through as my project editor Margaret Levine Young, as the technicaleditor, applied her keen eye and clear understanding of the subject matter

I would also like to express my appreciation to the production staff

Thanks go, too, to the Coronado Police Department for sharing its Access database with

me and my readers, as well as to my friends and neighbors who posed good-naturedly forthe badge photos you can see in one of the databases They tell me it’s a good thing I’m awriter, not a photographer

I also owe a big debt of gratitude to my literary agent of many years, Matt Wagner ofWaterside Productions, for his continuing support and encouragement

Finally, my husband, Jack, and all the cats must get a lot of credit for being so patientwith me throughout this long, involved process The cats don’t really mind because, when

I am working, I have a lap

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Asuccessful database is efficient, quick, accurate, and easy to use This book shows

you how to create just such a database with Microsoft Office Access 2003 Theclearly written explanations of the database processes present exactly what youneed to create an Access object or present information The step-by-step exercises thatfollow the explanations further enhance your understanding by illustrating exactly how

to complete the process successfully The many tips, notes, and cautions help guide you tofaster and better database management

Whom Is This Book For?

This book is the ideal resource for anyone currently using Microsoft Office Access 2003

or who wants to learn how to use it In planning this book, I envisioned it in the form of

a large triangle, with the base scaled from the beginning user at the left end to advanceduser at the right end This book has enough material to get even the newest user of Accessstarted with relational database management and has enough at the other end to helpadvanced users wade into the depths of customizing the Access workplace and designingspecial user interactive tools

The bulk of the material lies between the two extremes under the peak of the triangleand that is of the utmost interest to the readers who fall in between This book is extremelyrich in the art of designing and creating efficient relational databases with all the appropriatequeries, forms, and reports Many different approaches are taken with respect to extractingand summarizing information in useful arrangements, including charts and graphs Afterall, what good is data stored in a database if you can’t get it out and turn it into useful andeasy to interpret information?

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This book is also intended for the users of the other Office applications, such as Wordand Excel, who need to know how to interface with Access With the boundaries betweenthe programs rapidly vanishing, use of Access isn’t limited to database managers All theOffice members can now interact with each other smoothly and with little translation.

What’s in This Book?

This book is organized so you can progress at your own pace beginning with basic databaseand Access principles, and followed by increasingly advanced topics The book is dividedinto four parts, each focusing on a specific aspect of Access database management

Part I: Getting Started

Part I takes a quick tour of Microsoft Office Access 2003 and examines the concept ofrelational databases Many tips are included to help you design an efficient databasethat is easy to maintain and can ensure data integrity In Part I, the reader creates andrelates tables, and then enters data into them Several methods of validating new dataare investigated and means of presenting data for editing are also addressed

Part II: Retrieving and Presenting Information

Part II is concerned with retrieving information with filters and queries, as well as

presenting that information in forms and reports This important set of chapters includeshow to create expressions to extract exactly the information you want Five chapters aredevoted to creating form and report designs (including synchronized data entry forms),creating reports that summarize grouped information, and even printing mailing labels inconjunction with Word 2003 The final chapter in this part describes how to create chartsand graphs to include in forms and reports

Part III: Improving the Workplace

Part III is a little more advanced and discusses customizing the workplace with specialtoolbars, menus, and dialog boxes for the more interactive applications Several importantmeans of optimizing Access performance are included in this part Part III also introducesprogramming techniques with chapters about using macros, as well as understandingevents and when events occur

Part IV: Exchanging Data with Others

Part IV discusses the important topic of exchanging information with other users of

Access and with other applications Importing and exporting information in many forms,including text, is an integral part of developing a complete user application This part alsocovers using Access in a multiple-user environment and investigates measures to ensureinformation security

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In Every Chapter

Every chapter is constructed to include basic learning tools, such as the following:

• Complete explanations of all processes involved in the creation and management

of effective relational databases

• Numbered, step-by-step exercises with illustrations and explanations of each step

• Many tips, notes, and cautions that add shortcuts for many of the activities andpinpoint potential pitfalls

• A summary at the end of each chapter that reviews the material covered andhighlights the more important topics discussed in that chapter

Quick Reference

In addition to the chapter material, this book includes a Quick Reference section on the

accompanying CD The Quick Reference contains complete lists and descriptions of elements

of Microsoft Office Access 2003 database design and maintenance This reference serves as

an immediate resource for any details in question It can save time when you need a specific

piece of information by presenting concise lists and tables you can jump directly to without

having to browse through the more descriptive chapter material in the book itself

What’s on the Companion CD?

Appendix B presents a thorough explanation of the contents of the CD that accompanies

this book This appendix explains how to install the Access databases on your computer

and how to look up specific information in the Quick Reference

The CD includes the following:

• The Quick Reference lookup resource

• The complete Home Tech Repair database

• A set of tables to use as the basis for creating the Home Tech Repair database

• The complete Police database

• A set of tables to use as the basis for creating the Police database

• Scanned image files required by the two databases

Conventions Used in This Book

To help make this book more useful and interesting, we included a few conventions and

margin art that will attract your attention to important pieces of information Following

are descriptions of these conventions:

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NOTE This is a note Notes further define terms used in the text or point you in the direction

of more information about the subject under discussion.

TIP This is a tip Tips often provide shortcuts to the process under discussion or offer useful pieces of advice about how to make better use of Access 2003.

CAUTION This is a caution Cautions warn you to be careful when you’re about to make crucial decisions or take risky steps Access tries hard not to put you in harm’s way, but this does happens now and then I post a caution for you when this does happen.

This is an example of the margin icons that often accompany a step in the numberedexercises in this book The margin icons illustrate the toolbar button you need to click toaccomplish the activity under way

What’s New in Microsoft Office Access 2003?

This book attempts to show you the new look and feel that comes with Microsoft OfficeAccess 2003 There are the many time-saving and user-friendly features that make MicrosoftOffice Access 2003 a total database management system

Some of the new features in Microsoft Office Access 2003 apply to database design;others apply to creating database objects or to customizing the workplace itself Here aresome of the more significant improvements covered in this book:

• The new and improved task panes that include Getting Started, Help, SearchResults, and Research give Access 2003 a new, more flexible and interactive look

• An automatic error checking system helps you detect and fix common errors informs and reports When you enable error-checking, you can see the reason for theerror and some suggestions for correcting it

• You now have more control over the Name AutoCorrect feature so you can undothe automatic corrections, if necessary

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• When you modify a field property that is inherited by a control in a form or report,Access displays an option to update the property of all or only a few of the controlsthat are bound to that field.

• You can view the interdependencies among Access objects You can ask to seewhat objects depend on the object you selected or see what objects your selectedobject relies on

These are just a few of the new features you will see when you get to work on yourdatabase with Microsoft Office Access 2003

Got Comments?

During my years spent teaching at the University of Southern California, I discovered, to

my dismay, that I often learned as much from my students as I hoped they would learn

from me With this philosophy in mind, I invite you to share with me any new tricks or

clever shortcuts you’ve devised Please e-mail them to me at vandersenz@aol.com In fact,

I would enjoy hearing any comments, good and bad, you might have about the book or

the databases I have developed as examples Only by tapping fresh minds can I hope to

make these books better and better

I’ve been delighted to hear from readers all over the world about the last two editions

of The Complete Reference Some readers are from far away places as South Africa, Scotland,

and Japan I have certainly benefited from the correspondence and I hope I could resolve

some of the readers’ problems as well

I n t r o d u c t i o n xxixComplete Reference / Microsoft Office Access 2003: TCR / Anderson / 222917-9 / Front Matter

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Blind Folio xxx

Team-Fly®

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CHAPTER 2The World of RelationalDatabases

CHAPTER 3Creating a Database

CHAPTER 4Creating andModifying Tables

CHAPTER 5Relating Tables

CHAPTER 6Entering and Editing Data

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Complete Reference / Microsoft Office Access 2003: TCR / Anderson / 222917-9 / Chapter 1

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Quick Tour of Microsoft

Office Access 2003

In this, the Information Age, we are surrounded by mountains of data To use this data

effectively, the information must be stored so it can be retrieved and interpreted withflexibility and efficiency Microsoft Office Access 2003 is a top-notch databasemanagement system that you can use for all your information management needs—from asimple address list to a complex inventory management system It provides tools not onlyfor storing and retrieving data, but also for creating useful forms, reports, and interactiveweb data pages All you need is a basic acquaintance with Microsoft Windows and a sense

of exploration to build the database you need

This chapter shows you how to start Microsoft Office Access 2003 and gives you a tour

of the Access workplace If you’re already an experienced user, you might want to scan thematerial in this chapter quickly and move on to Chapter 2 for insight into the power of thetool called a relational database

Starting Access and Opening a Database

You can start most software built for the Windows environment in the same way: by

clicking the Start button and pointing to Programs in the Start menu Depending on howyou installed Access 2003, the name might appear as a separate item in the Programs (or

All Programs, if you’re using Windows XP) list or as one of the programs in the MicrosoftOffice menu If you don’t see Microsoft Access in the Programs list, choose Microsoft Office,and then click Microsoft Access 2003

When first opened, the Access main window displays a Getting Started task pane, offeringyou a choice of accessing Microsoft Office Online, opening one of the existing database files,

or creating a new file, as shown in Figure 1-1 The Open panel contains the names of recentlyopened databases (your list will be different) The Access opening window is where yoursession with Access begins

The Getting Started task pane shown in Figure 1-1 appears automatically wh en Accessfirst starts or when you choose File | New Several other task panes are available to help

with other activities For now, click the Close button (the × in the upper-right corner) to

close the task pane and leave the Access window empty for a tour of the window

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Touring the Access Window

The Access window shows a title bar, a menu bar, and a toolbar common to Windowsprograms In addition to displaying the program name—Microsoft Access—the title barcontains buttons you can use to manipulate the window:

4 P a r t I : G e t t i n g S t a r t e d

Complete Reference / Access 2003: TCR / Anderson / 222917-9 / Chapter 1

FIGURE 1-1 The Access opening window with the Getting Star ted task pane

Minimize button

Maximize button

Close button Status bar

Resize handle Control menu

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• The Close button closes the program.

• The Maximize button appears only when the window is less than maximum size and

enlarges the window to fill the screen

• The Restore button replaces the Maximize button when the window is maximized

and returns the window to its previous reduced size

• The Minimize button reduces the window to an icon on the Windows taskbar.

• The Control Menu icon at the far-left end of the title bar opens a menu with the

commands that accomplish the same things as the other buttons Click the ControlMenu icon to open the menu

When the window is less than maximum size, you can move it to a new position onthe desktop by dragging its title bar You can also change its height and width by draggingeither its borders or the resize handle in the lower-right corner, where you see the three

diagonal lines

Most of the menu commands are dimmed and unavailable in the empty Database window

The File menu offers options to create a new database, to open an existing one, or to search for a specific file Other options, such as the Toolbars option in the View menu, let you tailor

the database workplace All the Help menu options are available

The buttons on the toolbar offer shortcuts to many of the commonly used menu commands.Even if a button is dimmed, you can still rest the mouse pointer on the button and see its

name displayed below the button in a ScreenTip (called a ToolTip in earlier versions of Access).

The toolbar, as well as the menu bar, presents different options, depending on the current

activity

The status bar, located at the bottom of the Access window, provides a running commentaryabout the ongoing task and the Access working environment The right side of the status baralso shows boxes that indicate the presence of a filter and the status of various toggle keyssuch asINSERT,CAPS LOCK,SCROLL LOCK,andNUM LOCK You’ll see some of these when youstart working with a database

Opening a Database

If the database you want to open is listed in the Getting Started task pane that appears

when Access starts, you can open it by simply clicking the filename If the one you want

isn’t on the list, click More The Open dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-2 (Your

list of folders and files will be different.) The same dialog box appears if Access is already

running when you choose File | Open or click the Open toolbar button

TIP If Access is already running, you can open a recently opened file by choosing File on the menu bar and selecting the filename from the list.

C h a p t e r 1 : Q u i c k T o u r o f M i c r o s o f t O f f i c e A c c e s s 2 0 0 3 5Complete Reference / Microsoft Office Access 2003: TCR / Anderson / 222917-9 / Chapter 1

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The Groups pane at the left contains five buttons, which you can click to open otherfolders or to return to the Windows desktop.

• The top button, My Recent Documents, opens the new Recent folder that containsthe name, size, type, and date of the last modification for each recently accesseddatabase When you click the My Recent Documents button, the Recent folder nameappears in the Look in box

• The Desktop button displays a list of the desktop components on your computerthat you can move to, including such items as My Computer, My Documents,Network Neighborhood, and Online Services

• The My Documents button (or the name of your personal default folder) shows thecontents of that folder This is the default display in the Open dialog box

• The My Computer button displays the list of available hard disks, floppy disk drives,

CD drives, and other data storage systems

• In Windows 2000, the My Network Places button displays the folders and objects yousaved in web folders In Windows XP, you see the network drives on your LAN, aswell as the names of any web folders you’ve set up

The trick is to know where you stored your database If you have used other applications,such as Word or Excel, you know how to find the file you want with the Open dialog box

FIGURE 1-2 The Open dialog box

Search the Web

Views Tools

Delete Create new folder

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You use the Look in box to zero in on the folder that contains the database, double-click thefolder name or icon to open it, and then simply select the one you want from the list that

appears in the dialog box

The Open dialog box contains several buttons that help you find the file you want toopen You can see the name of each button by resting the mouse pointer on the button in

the command bar

The Views drop-down list includes the following options:

• Large Icons Displays the names of the files and subfolders located in the folder

specified by the Look in box in rows accompanied by large type icons

• Small Icons Displays the file and subfolder names in rows with small type icons.

• List Displays the file and subfolder names in a columnar list.

• Details Displays the size, type, and date last modified for each file in the list.

• Properties Displays the properties of the currently selected file, such as title,

author, and application

• Preview Shows a preview of the file, if one is available, without opening it.

• Thumbnails Creates thumbnail graphics of files in the selected folder if their file

formats permit

• WebView Shows the web view of files in the selected folder, if available.

The Tools drop-down list includes the following options:

• Search Opens the File Search dialog box that you can use to locate a database by

means other than its name

• Delete Deletes the currently selected item You’re always

asked to confirm the deletion before Access removes the file

Same as Delete command bar button

• Rename Enables you to change the name of the item.

• Add to “My Places” Adds a shortcut to the Groups pane.

The item appears in the dialog box list when you click the MyNetwork Places button or the Web Folders button, depending

on which version of Windows you’re using

• Map Network Drive Enables you to indicate the drive and

path to a network connection

• Properties Opens the Properties dialog box for the currently

selected database

To choose a different file type to open, click the down arrownext to the Files of type box and choose from the list of 18 types

or All Files The default file type for Access 2003 is Microsoft

Access, which includes all Access databases and any other Office

documents that have been linked to an Access database, such as

an Excel spreadsheet or a Word document Choose Microsoft

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Access Databases to see only the database files in the current folder or Microsoft AccessProjects to see only the list of projects.

Once you locate the database you want to open, double-click the name or select it andclick Open

NOTE The Open button offers other ways to open the database, such as read-only, exclusive, or both More about these options in later chapters.

To start working with a database in Access 2003, let’s open the Northwind sampledatabase that comes with Microsoft Office The Northwind database is an order-processingapplication that demonstrates the power and usefulness of a relational database Eventhough the purpose of the database seems straightforward enough—taking and fillingorders from customers for the company products—a lot of data still must be manipulated.The database is introduced in this chapter and discussed further in Chapter 2

To open the Northwind sample database:

1 Start Access and click More in the opening Getting Started task panel If Access isrunning and you closed the Getting Started task pane, click the Open button TheOpen dialog box appears

2 Click the Look in arrow at the top of the dialog box and click C: to revert to theroot directory of your hard drive (If Access is installed on another drive, choosethat one instead.)

3 In the list of folders and files in the C: directory, double-click Program Files ProgramFiles now appears in the Look in text box A list of the subfolders and files in thatfolder shows in the window

4 Continue to open the folders for the Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Samples path If Office 2003 is installed in a different directory, use that pathname

5 Select Northwind and click Open If the Northwind Traders welcoming screenappears, click OK to close the screen

6 If you’re greeted by the Main Switchboard, click the Display Database Windowbutton to open the Database window (see Figure 1-3)

TIP If you don’t have the Northwind database installed, you might need to reinstall Access and add the sample database Also, if you don’t want to be greeted by the Northwind welcoming screen every time you open the database, check the Don’t show this screen again check box.

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NOTE In the next section, a distinction is made between the Access window with the menu bar and toolbars, and the Database window that contains lists of all the objects in the database and has a separate command bar.

Touring the Database Window

The Database window represents the database itself When you close the window, you alsoclose the database You can see all the components of the database in the Database window.The left pane of the Database window shows a set of buttons grouped under the Objects

title button The buttons are labeled with the names of the Access database objects: Tables,Queries, Forms, Reports, Pages, Macros, and Modules

Another title button named Groups includes buttons that open other folders, such asthe Favorites folder Groups can be quite useful if your database is used by more than one

FIGURE 1-3 Viewing the Nor thwind database in the Database window

Access window Delete

Large Icons

Database window Details

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