Introduction
Microsoft Access 2013 is a database creation and management program. To understand Access, you must first understvà databases.
In this lesson, you will learn about databases and how they are used. You will familiarize yourself with the differences between data management in Access and Microsoft Excel. Finally, you will get a look ahead at the rest of the Access tutorial.
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What is a database?
A database is a collection of data that is stored in a computer system. Databases allow their users to lớn enter, access, và analyze their data quickly và easily. They're such a useful tool that you see them all the time. Ever waited while a doctor's receptionist entered your personal information into lớn a computer, or watched a store employee use a computer lớn see whether an vật phẩm was in stock? Then you’ve seen a database in action.
The easiest way lớn understvà a database is lớn think of it as a collection of lists. Think about one of the databases we mentioned above: the database of patient information at a doctor's office. What lists are contained in a database lượt thích this? Well, lớn start with, there's a menu of patients' names. Then there's a danh mục of past appointments, a list with medical history for each patient, a danh sách of liên hệ information, và so on.
This is true of all databases, from the simplest to the most complex. For instance, if you like lớn bake you might decide to keep a database containing the types of cookies you know how to lớn make & the friends you give sầu these cookies lớn. This is one of the simplest databases imaginable. It contains two lists: a danh mục of your friends, and a danh mục of cookies.
However, if you were a professional baker, you would have sầu many more lists khổng lồ keep trachồng of: a list of customers, a danh mục of products sold, a danh mục of prices, a danh sách of orders, & so on. The more lists you add, the more complex the database will be.
In Access, lists are a little more complex than the ones you write on paper. Access stores its lists of data in tables, which allow you to lớn store even more detailed information. In the table below, the People các mục in the amateur baker’s database has been expanded lớn include other relevant information on the baker’s friends.
If you are familiar with other programs in the Microsoft Office suite, this might remind you of Excel, which allows you khổng lồ organize data in a similar way. In fact, you could build a similar table in Excel.
Why use a database?
If a database is essentially a collection of lists stored in tables và you can build tables in Excel, why bởi you need a real database in the first place? While Excel is great at storing và organizing numbers, Access is far stronger at handling non-numerical data, lượt thích names & descriptions. Non-numerical data plays a significant role in almost any database, và it's important to lớn be able to sort and analyze it.
However, the thing that really sets databases apart from any other way of storing data is connectivity. We gọi a database lượt thích the ones you’ll work with in Access a relational database. A relational database is able to underst& how lists và the objects within them relate to lớn one another. To explore this idea, let's go bachồng lớn the simple database with two lists: names of your friends, và the types of cookies you know how khổng lồ make. You decide to create a third danh mục to lớn keep traông chồng of the batches of cookies you make and who they’re for. Because you're only making cookies you know the recipe for and you're only going to give sầu them to your friends, this new các mục will get all of its information from the lists you made earlier.
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See how the third danh sách uses words that appeared in the first two lists? A database is capable of understanding that the Dad & Oatmeal cookies in the Batches danh sách are the same things as the Dad & Oatmeal in the first two lists. This relationship seems obvious, & a person would understvà it right away. However, an Excel workbook wouldn’t.
Excel would treat all of these things as distinct và unrelated pieces of information. In Excel, you'd have sầu lớn enter every single piece of information about a person or type of cookie each time you mentioned it because that database wouldn't be relational lượt thích an Access database. Simply put, relational databases can recognize what a human can: If the same words appear in multiple lists, they refer khổng lồ the same thing.
The fact that relational databases can handle information this way allows you lớn enter, tìm kiếm for, và analyze data in more than one table at a time. All of these things would be difficult lớn accomplish in Excel, but in Access even complicated tasks can be simplified & made fairly user friendly.
Taking the Access 2013 tutorial
What khổng lồ expect from this tutorialThis tutorial will not teach you how to lớn build a database from scratch. It is designed for people who plan lớn use a pre-existing database, most likely in the workplace.
The tutorial begins with a basic introduction to Access. You will become familiar with the structure of an Access database and learn how to navigate its various windows và the objects contained in it. As the tutorial goes on, you will learn how to enter information in several ways. You will also learn how to sort, retrieve sầu, and analyze this information by running queries. After you underst& how to lớn use your database, you’ll be introduced to tools that let you modify its structure và appearance.
By the time you've finished reading this tutorial, you will be able lớn use a database with confidence. You should also be able to alter it to best suit your needs.
Is this tutorial right for you?If you’ve sầu read the description and believe sầu this tutorial fits your needs, then go ahead & jump in. As mentioned, it's primarily designed to teach people how lớn use an existing database. But no matter your eventual goal, it can provide you with a solid foundation.
If you’re planning to lớn create a system to lớn keep trachồng of personal information, strongly consider whether you need the full functionality of Access in your database. While Access is an extremely useful tool, setting up a new database can be difficult & time consuming. If you don't necessarily need the full connectivity of a relational database, consider managing your information with Excel instead. If you vày decide to lớn create your own database, review our lesson on Designing Your Own Database for resources on database creation.
