Access Tutorial 2

Building a Database
and Defining Table Relationships

Microsoft Office 2013

® ®
Objectives XP

• Session 2.1
– Learn the guidelines for designing databases and setting
field properties
– Create a table in Design view
– Define fields, set field properties, and specify a table’s
primary key
– Modify the structure of a table
– Change the order of fields in Design view
– Add new fields in Design view
– Change the Format property for a field in Datasheet view
– Modify field properties in Design view

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Objectives (Cont.)
XP

• Session 2.2
– Import data from an Excel worksheet
– Create a table by importing an existing table structure
– Add fields to a table with the Data Type gallery
– Delete and rename fields
– Change the data type for a field in Design view
– Set the Default Value property for a field
– Add data to a table by importing a text file
– Define a relationship between two tables

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Guidelines for Database Design XP

• Case - Chatham Community Health Services

– Database currently contains one table (Visit table)
– User wants to track information about the clinic’s
patients and the invoices sent to them for services
provided
• This information includes such items as each patient’s
name and address, and the amount and billing date for
each invoice
– Create two new tables —named Billing and
Patient—to contain the additional data the user
wants to track
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Guidelines for Database Design XP
(Cont.)

• Case - Chatham Community Health Services

– After adding records to the tables, you will define
the necessary relationships between the tables in
the Chatham database to relate the tables

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Guidelines for Database Design XP
(Cont.)

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Guidelines for Database Design XP
(Cont.)

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Guidelines for Database Design XP
(Cont.)

• Identify all the fields needed

to produce the required
information
• Organize each piece of data
into its smallest useful part
• Group related fields into tables
• Determine each table’s
primary key
• Include a common field in related
tables
• Avoid data redundancy

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Guidelines for Database Design XP
(Cont.)

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Guidelines for Setting Field Properties XP

• Naming Fields and Objects

– You must name each field, table, and other object in an
Access database
• Assigning Field Data Types
– Each field must have a data type
• Data types are assigned automatically by Access or
specifically by the table designer
• The data type determines what field values you can enter for
the field and what other properties the field will have

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Guidelines for Setting Field Properties (Cont.) XP

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Guidelines for Setting Field Properties (Cont.) XP

• Setting Field Sizes

– The Field Size property defines a field value’s maximum
storage size for Short Text, Number, and AutoNumber
fields only
– The other data types have no Field Size property because
their storage size is either a fixed, predetermined amount
or is determined automatically by the field value itself
• Setting the Caption Property for Fields
– The Caption property for a field specifies how the field
name is displayed in database objects
– If you don’t set the Caption property, Access displays the
field name as the column heading or label for a field
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Creating a Table in Design View XP

• Creating a table in Design view involves entering the field

names and defining the properties for the fields, specifying a
primary key for the table, and then saving the table structure
• Defining Fields
– When you first create a table in Design view, the insertion point is
located in the first row’s Field Name box, ready for you to begin
defining the first field in the table
– Enter values for the Field Name, Data Type, and Description field
properties, and then select values for all other field properties in the
Field Properties pane
– These other
properties will
appear when you
move to the first
row’s Data Type box
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Creating a Table in Design View (Cont.) XP

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Creating a Table in Design View (Cont.) XP

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Creating a Table in Design View (Cont.) XP

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Creating a Table in Design View (Cont.) XP

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Creating a Table in Design View (Cont.) XP

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Creating a Table in Design View (Cont.) XP

• Specifying the Primary Key

– A primary key uniquely identifies each record in a table
– Access does not allow duplicate values in the primary key field
– When a primary key has been specified, Access forces you to enter a
value for the primary key field in every record in the table (entity
integrity)
– You can enter records in any order, but Access displays them by default
in order of the primary key’s field values
– Access responds faster to your requests for specific records based on
the primary key
• Saving the Table
Structure
– The last step in
creating a table
is to name the table and save the table’s structure
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Modifying the Structure of an Access Table XP

• Moving a Field in Design View

– To move a field, you use the mouse to drag it to a new
location in the Table Design grid
• You can move a field in Datasheet view by dragging its column
heading to a new location, doing so rearranges only the display of
the table’s fields; the table structure is not changed
• To move a field permanently, move the field in Design view
• Adding a Field in Design View
– To add a new field between existing fields, you must insert
a row
– Begin by selecting the row below where you want the new
field to be inserted

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Creating a Table in Design View (Cont.) XP

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Creating a Table in Design View (Cont.) XP

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Modifying Field Properties XP

• Changing the Format Property in Datasheet View

– The Formatting group on the FIELDS tab in Datasheet view
allows you to modify formatting for certain field types
– When you format
a field, you change
the way data is
displayed, but not
the actual
values stored
in the table

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Modifying Field Properties (Cont.) XP

• Changing Properties in Design View

– Each of the Short Text fields has the default field size of
255, which is too large for the data contained in these
fields

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Understanding Table Relationships
XP

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Adding Records to a New Table XP

• Adding Records to a New Table

• The Billing table design is complete and you would like to
add records to the table so it will contain the invoice data
• Add records to a table in Datasheet view by typing the
field values in the rows below the column headings for the
fields

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Adding Records to a New Table (Cont.) XP

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Importing Data from an Excel Worksheet XP
• When data you want to add to an Access table exists
in another file -- like Word or Excel -- you can bring
the data from other files into Access in different
ways
• Copy and paste the data from an open file
• Import the data, which is a process that allows
you to copy the data from a source without
having to open the source file

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Importing Data from an Excel Worksheet XP
(Cont.)

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Importing Data from an Excel Worksheet XP
(Cont.)

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Importing Data from an Excel Worksheet XP
(Cont.)

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Creating a Table by Importing an XP
Existing Table Structure
• If another Access database contains a table—or even
just the design, or structure, of a table—that you
want to include in your database, you can import the
table and any records it contains or import only the
table structure into your database

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Creating a Table by Importing an XP
Existing Table Structure (Cont.)

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Adding Fields to a Table Using the XP
Data Type Gallery
• The Data Type gallery (in the Add & Delete group on
the FIELDS tab) allows you to add a group of related
fields to a table at the same
time, rather than adding
each field to the table
individually

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Modifying the Imported Table XP

• Deleting Fields from a Table Structure

– After you’ve created a table, you might need to delete one
or more fields (which also deletes all the values for that
field from the table)
– Before you delete a
field, you should
make sure that you
want to do so and
that you choose the
correct field to delete
– Fields can be deleted
in either Datasheet
view or Design view
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Modifying the Imported Table (Cont.) XP

• Renaming Fields in Design View

– To match the design for the Patient table, you need to
rename the StateProvince and ZIPPostal fields
– Fields can be renamed in Datasheet view or Design view

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Modifying the Imported Table (Cont.) XP

• Changing the Data Type for a Field in Design View

– All of the fields in the Patient table, except BirthDate,
should be Short Text fields
– The table
structure you imported
specifies the Number
data type for the Phone
field -- it should be Short
Text
– The Data Type can be
changed in Datasheet
view or Design view

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Setting the Default Value Property for a Field XP

• The Default Value property for a field specifies what

value will appear, by default, for the field in each new
record you add to a table

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Adding Data to a Table by Importing a Text FileXP

• Many ways to import data into an Access database

– Importing an Excel spreadsheet
– Created a new table by importing the structure of an
existing table
– Import data
contained
in text files

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Defining Table Relationships XP

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Defining Table Relationships (Cont.) XP

• One-to-Many Relationships
– A one-to-many relationship exists between two tables
when one record in the first table matches zero, one, or
many records in the second table, and when one record in
the second table matches at most one record in the first
table
• Referential Integrity
– A set of rules that Access enforces to maintain consistency
between related tables when you update data in a
database

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Defining Table Relationships (Cont.) XP

• Referential Integrity
– When you add a record to a related table, a matching record must
already exist in the primary table, preventing the possibility of
orphaned records
– If you attempt to change the value of the primary key in the primary
table, Access prevents this change if matching records exist in a related
table
– With the Cascade Update Related Fields option, Access permits the
change in value to the primary key and changes the appropriate
foreign key values in the related table
– If you attempt to delete a record in the primary table, Access prevents
the deletion if matching records exist in a related table. However, if
you choose the Cascade Delete Related Records option, Access deletes
the record in the primary table and also deletes all records in related
tables that have matching foreign key values

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Defining Table Relationships (Cont.) XP

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