Unit 1
Getting Started

Objectives for This Unit

• Getting into Access and shining a light into a few corners
• Using the database window to see what's in the database
• Taking a look at a table
• Using Access commands and toolbar buttons
• Getting out of Access

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This unit starts with the basics. After all, you wouldn't let a teenager drive your car unless he knew which pedal was the brake and what all those funny sticks on the steering wheel were for. So you should take some time to make sure that you know about some important tools you can use in Access. Don't get us wrong -- we don't think that ignoring that icon with the lightning bolt (or any of the other little buttons in the Access window) will become a life-threatening situation. But you can save yourself some time in the long run if you take Access around the school parking lot a few times before you head out on the interstate.

In this unit, you learn how to start up Access and how to look at data in a table. You'll poke around in a few corners and peek behind the scenes at the design for a table.

You may already know that Access is a database program, so what's a database? A database is a collection of data, but so is almost anything -- a to-do list, an address list, a checkbook, a budget, or a letter. What makes a database special is that the information is arranged according to a fixed structure that makes the information easy to select, sort, display, and print in a variety of formats. A database is made up of a series of records,which are like the index cards that make up an address list. Each record contains information in the same format. In an address list, each record contains information about one person: name, address, and other facts. Each individual piece of information -- such as the first name, the last name, or the street address -- is called a field (see Figure 1-1). A bunch of records together is called a table.

An Access database can contain one table or more. For example, a database used for a bookstore may contain a books table, with one record for each book; a publishers table, with one record for each publisher; and a customers table, with one record for each customer. With the information in these tables, a bookstore owner can easily find out which customers buy the most books, which books sell the best, which publishers are the most popular, which authors sell the least, and a host of other useful facts, depending on the types of information included in each table.

After you have created an Access database that contains at least one table, you can enter records in the table, make changes to (edit) the records in the table, delete records you don't want anymore, sort the records in various ways, and print your data out in a variety of formats, including columnar reports, forms, summaries, mailing labels, and form letters. Reports are what make a database program like Access worth using to keep track of your address list or other information. You'll learn how to create and print reports in Unit 7.

A database management program such as Access is a general-purpose program, designed for working with almost any type of information in many different ways. For example, you can set up an address database to replace your card file, a wine cellar database with information about each bottle in your cellar, or a bookstore inventory database with information about each title that your store sells. You may be familiar with your library's database of circulating items, which you use to identify, locate, and borrow books.

Many people use spreadsheet programs, such as Lotus 1-2-3 or Microsoft Excel, to store lists of records. Some spreadsheet programs have database capabilities, but they aren't designed to do as much as a database program. For example, you can use 1-2-3 to store an address list, and you can enter, edit, delete, and sort the records, but printing mailing labels or form letters is difficult and tedious. Spreadsheet programs do not think in terms of tables, records, and fields but rather in terms of cells(the basic unit of a spreadsheet), and they don't have built-in commands to work with a table record by record. You'll be glad you're using Access for your database!

To see databases, tables, records, and fields for yourself, run Access and take a look around a database that comes on theDummies 101 CD-ROM. In this unit, you will open a database that contains a list of the toys that the Lexington Toy Company, a toy manufacturer, plans to introduce. Stay tuned for specific instructions in Lesson 1-1!

Lesson 1-1: Running Access

You can start up Access in several different ways:

• Use the Windows 95 Start button (it's on the taskbar, the gray bar that's usually at the bottom of the screen). Later in this lesson, we give you step-by-step instructions for running Access by using the Start button.

• Click the Access icon on your desktop, if you see one. (It looks like a gold key.)

• If you are using Microsoft Office and its Shortcut bar appears along the right edge of your screen, click its gold-key Access icon.

No matter which way you start Access, you get the same program!

When you get Access running (as you will later in this lesson), you see the Access window, which is pictured in Figure 1-2. Table 1-1 lists the parts of the Access window and what they do.

Table 1-1 Parts of the Access Window
Gizmo	What You Can Do with It
Title bar	The title bar reveals the astounding news that you're running Microsoft Access. Whoopee.
Minimize button	Click it to minimize (iconize) the Access window.
Maximize button	Click it to expand the Access window to take up the entire screen.
Restore button	After you maximize the Access window, click the Restore button to return Access to its usual window.
Close button	Click it to exit Access.
Menu bar	Click the words on the menu bar to choose the commands that you use to control Access. You'll find out more about commands in Lesson 1-4.
Toolbar	Click these buttons for quick shortcuts to frequently used commands.
Database window	This window shows information about the database that's open -- see Lesson 1-2.
Status bar	Look at it for information about what you're doing. When nothing is happening, you see the message Ready.

Before you get Access up and running, make sure that you see the Windows 95 desktop on-screen (that's what you usually see when you first run Windows 95).

Getting Access up and running

Follow these steps to get Access going:

1. Fire up your computer, along with the screen, printer, and anything else that you usually turn on.

   The computer needs a few minutes to start up and (especially) for Windows 95 to come to life. Relax while you contemplate the clouds on the Windows 95 start-up screen.

2. Click the Start button on the Windows 95 taskbar.

   A menu appears above the Start button.

3. Choose Programs by clicking it.

   You see a list of programs that you have installed, as well as a list of additional menus that contain even more programs. Exactly what appears on your menus depends on what you've installed. (You may notice that if you just hold the mouse pointer over one of the menus on the Start menu, the menu pops up all by itself. So you don't have to press that mouse button if your finger is tired.)

4. Choose Microsoft Access, the little picture of a gold key.

   Access runs, and you see a dialog box asking whether you want to create a new database or open an existing database (see Figure 1-3). The Open an Existing Database option is already selected (a little black dot appears in its button). The box at the bottom of the window lists the databases you've used recently, if any.

   Don't worry -- you've got a database to open. You installed a bunch of sample databases when you installed the Dummies 101CD-ROM that came with this book.

5. Choose More Files from the list of databases and click the OK button.

   You see the Open dialog box shown in Figure 1-4. This dialog box looks just like the Open dialog box used by every other Windows 95 program, so if you've used other programs, it should look familiar. Access looks in the My Documents folder on your hard disk (unless you've told Access to look elsewhere).

   When you installed the files from the Dummies 101 CD-ROM, they were copied to the Dummies 101 Access folder, which is in the My Documents folder on your hard disk. If you chose to install the files in a different folder, skip Step 6 and switch to the directory that contains the files.

6. Double-click the Dummies 101Access folder.

   Access looks in the folder and lists the database files it sees.

7. Choose the Lexington Toys database and click OK.

   The Toys database opens, and you see its database window, as shown back in Figure 1-2.

Now Access is running, and a database is loaded, ready for you to use it. Wow! You are ready to take a look around.

While Access is running -- or any other program, for that matter -- don't turn off your computer. No, your computer won't collapse into a pile of shrapnel, but Windows 95 and your programs can get confused if you turn off the computer while they're running, and your programs can leave garbage lying around on your hard disk. Exiting Windows 95 before turning the computer off is important: See Lesson 1-5 for how to exit Access and Windows 95.

Yikes! What is Access doing? If someone has customized your version of Access, a database may automatically open and display a form when you start up Access. If your copy of Access opens a database without your telling it to, talk to someone in charge of the computers at your organization. Ask him or her to create an Access icon on your Windows 95 desktop that starts Access without doing anything else.

Recess

Is your mind buzzing? Are you seeing stars? If so, take a quick break. If you plan to be away from your computer for long, skip to Lesson 1-5 and follow the instructions to exit Access first.

When you are ready to continue with Lesson 1-2, follow the instructions in Lesson 1-1 to start Access and open the database again. If you are running Access with another database open, close that database and open the Lexington Toys database by choosing File-->Open from the menu bar.

Lesson1-2: Using the Database Window to See What's in the Database

The database window shows you what's in your database. Because you can open only one database at a time, you see just one database window, entitled Lexington Toys : Database. Along the top of the database window are six (count 'em) tabs, with the six kinds of things that live in an Access database:

• Tablesare where you put your data. Tables are lists of records, as described at the beginning of this unit. A database can contain lots of tables. For example, a database for a toy company might contain a table of products, a table of manufacturing plants, and a table of employees.

• Queriesare a means to slice and dice your data. You use queries to select which records you want to include in something like a report. For example, you can create a query that shows you all the toys that sell for less than $10 or those that are manufactured in the Boise plant.

• Formsare how you get the data into the tables. You use forms to enter records, edit them, and delete them.

• Reportsare arrangements of information intended for printing. You can make lots of different reports showing data from the same tables -- for example, you can make one report that lists all your toys by name, another that lists only toys for three-year-olds by retail price, and a third that lists all toys by manufacturing plant. Access can create reports in lots of nifty formats, including columnar reports, reports with totals, and mailing labels.

• Macrosare simple keystrokes that take the place of lengthy commands to automate some common tasks, such as printing a report. They use the Access macro programming language.

• Modules are programs written in the Access Basic programming language. By writing macros and modules, a programmer can make Access do everything but wash the dishes -- like create special commands and buttons just for use in a particular database.

Dummies 101: Access For Windows 95 doesn't teach you about creating macros and modules -- these features are used primarily by programmers. If you absolutely must learn about them, finish the lessons in this book and then run out and buy Access Programming For Dummies, by Rob Krumm (IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.).

Here's how to see what's in the Lexington Toys database (if the Lexington Toys database isn't open, start Access and open the database first):

1. Click the Tables tab in the database window, if it's not already selected.

   When the Tables tab is selected, the database window lists the tables in the Lexington Toys database. This database contains two tables: Manufacturing Plants (which contains one record for each plant that the Lexington Toy Company owns) and Toys (which contains one record for each product that the Lexington Toy Company plans to introduce).

2. Click the Queries tab in the database window.

   The database window lists the queries in this database, including an alphabetical listing of toys and a listing of toys for less than $25.

3. Click the Forms tab in the database window.

   You see a list of the forms in this database. The Toys database contains just one form, also named Toys, which is used for editing and viewing the records in the Toys table. (You'll use it in Lesson 1-3.)

4. Click the Reports tab in the database window.

   The database window lists the reports in this database.

Now you know how to look around a database to see what's inside. In the next lesson, you'll see what a table looks like and use a form to see its records.

If you need to stop, skip ahead to Lesson 1-5 to find out how to exit Access. But come back soon!

Lesson 1-3: Viewing a Table

All these tables, queries, forms, and reports are well and good, we hear you saying. But where's the data? It's about time to see what's inside a table.

Access has two ways to show you the records in a table: datasheets and forms. In a datasheet, each record appears in a row, and each field appears in its own column. In a form, the records and fields are arranged in whatever way the form designer set up the form. You'll learn how to use forms in Lesson 2-2.

When you look at a table as a datasheet, you're in Datasheet view. When you open a form to see the information in a table, you're using Forms view. (Logical enough!) Here's how to see the records in Datasheet view (if the Lexington Toys database isn't open, start Access and open the database first):

1. Click the Tables tab in the database window.

   You see the tables in this database: Manufacturing Plants and Toys.

2. Click the Toys table in the list of tables to select it, and then click the Open button.

   Alternatively, you can double-click the table name. Either way, Access displays the records in the Toys : Table window, as shown in Figure 1-5.

   You can tell which record you are working on because a right-pointing triangle appears in the leftmost column of the row. You start at record 1.

3. Close the Toys : Table window by clicking its Close button.

   That is, click the Close button (the one with an X) in the upper-right corner of the Toys window. Don't click the Close button in the upper right of the Access window -- clicking it would close the whole Access program! Clicking the Close button on the Toys window closes only the Toys window.

   You see the database window again. Actually, the window has been open all this time, waiting for you to come back.

4. Click the Forms tab in the database window; then click the Open button.

   Access opens the Toys form, which displays just one record of the Toys table, as shown in Figure 1-6.

   At the bottom of the Toys form are the controls that tell you what record you're looking at and that let you move from record to record. They look like the controls on a VCR, so just pretend that you're fast-forwarding through a tape of last night's reruns.

5. Click the Next Record button, the little right-pointing arrow button (with no bar or asterisk beside it) along the bottom edge of the Toys window.

   You move to the next record in the Toys table. If you feel like it, click the Next Record button over and over until you've seen all nine records in this table. You can tell which record you are on by the record number at the bottom of the Toys window. Also, when you get to the last record in the table, the Next Record button stops working (and turns gray, to tell you that it's no longer available).

6. Close the Toys window by clicking its Close button.

   To see the records in a table, choose the table and click the Open button in the database window. You see the records in the table in a datasheet -- that is, in columnar format. If that table has a form (which the Lexington Toys database does), you can use the Forms tab to open a form that displays the data in the table.

Lesson 1-4: Using Menu Commands and Toolbar Buttons

The Access window is a happening place. Menus and buttons are just waiting to be clicked. Table 1-2 lists the words on the menu bar and what each is good for. You'll use many commands from the menu bar in the lessons in this book, but what the heck, why not just run the mouse pointer over the menu bar and see what you have to look forward to? If you click a word on the menu bar, a drop-down menu of additional commands appears. Press Esc if you don't really want to use any of the commands.

Just below the menu bar is the toolbar. Each button is a shortcut to a command that the folks at Microsoft thought you'd be using frequently. If the picture (icon) on the button doesn't make any sense, position the mouse pointer on that button, and a small label, called a ToolTip, appears to help you out.

In many cases, Access provides three ways to do one task. For example, to print something, you can

• Click File on the menu bar and then click Print.
• Click the Print button on the toolbar.
• Press Ctrl+P on the keyboard.

Table 1-2 Browsing the Menus
Menu	What It Does
File	The File menu is where you open and close documents, import data from other places, print, send your masterpiece to someone who will appreciate it, and, most important, save it. Our favorite part is the list of recently opened Access databases at the bottom. You don't need to remember where you put the database you worked on yesterday because it's right at the bottom of the File menu, waiting to be clicked.
Edit	The Edit menu is where you come to cut, paste, copy, and delete stuff. What you see are some keyboard shortcuts you can use to call up that function instead of using the mouse. Rodney's favorite, because he uses it so much, is Ctrl+Z, which undoes the last thing you typed.
View	You control the appearance of your window from the View menu, including which parts of the database you want to look at.
Insert	The Insert menu lets you insert something new into the database.
Tools	The commands on the Tools menu don't fit nicely into one of the other categories. The commands include a spell-checker and a command that displays a diagram of the table in the database.
Window	Every time you begin work on a new piece of the database, a new window appears. Eventually, your Access window looks like an Oriental carpet warehouse on sale day. The Window menu can help you get around this mess by tidying up all the windows into some sort of order. You can also select a window that you want to go to but can't see because it's on the bottom of the pile.
Help	Microsoft has put together a gazillion pages of online documentation, so you may as well take advantage of it. After you finish this book, you'll know the right questions to ask and the right keywords to search for.

Click the buttons on the toolbar to use them. For most buttons, no further instructions are required. Some buttons have a downward-pointing-triangle button to their right. This little button is called a list button; when you click the list button, a tiny list appears from which you can choose a command.

Now that you know how to use menu bar commands and toolbar buttons, you can see the information in the Toys table in another format and print out a report. If the Lexington Toys database isn't open, start Access and open the database first.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Reports tab in the database window, if it's not already selected.

   You see the list of reports that have been defined in this database.

2. Click the Upcoming New Products from Lexington Toys report and then click the Preview button.

   Access opens the report in its own window. However, the report is too big to fit in the report window, so you see only the upper-left corner of the report.

3. To expand the Upcoming New Products from Lexington Toys window, click its Maximize button.

   That is, click the Maximize button in the title bar of the report window (not the one on the Access title bar). The report window expands to take up the entire inside of the Access window (see Figure 1-7).

4. Turn on your printer and make sure that paper is in it.

   If you don't have a printer or don't feel like waking up the person in the next cubicle, skip this step and the next one.

5. Print the report by clicking the Print button on the toolbar.

   The Print button is the leftmost button, featuring a little picture of a printer with paper sticking out the top. Access prints the report.

6. Close the report by choosing File-->Close from the menu bar. (That is, click the word File on the menu bar and then click Close from the menu that appears.)

   Yes, you could click the Close button, but we want you to see a menu or two. Another good way to close a window in Access is to press Ctrl+W.

   You return to the database window. It is maximized because Access thinks that you still want windows to expand to take up the whole Access window.

7. Click the Restore button at the right end of the menu bar.

   The Restore button pictures two overlapping squares. In the upper-right corner of the Access window, you now see sixbuttons. The top three (which are at the right end of the title bar) control how big the entire Access window is -- leave those three buttons alone. The bottom three (which are at the right end of the menu bar) control how big the report window is within the Access window. Click the two-squares button in the lower set of buttons, the ones on the same row as the menu bar.

   The database window shrinks back to its normal size.

   You can use toolbar buttons and menu commands to display items from the database, like a report, and to do things with them, like printing.

Opening a different database What if you are running Access and have one database open, and then you decide to open a different database? No problem! You don't have to exit Access to switch databases. Instead, make sure that you're looking at the database window, choose File-->Open Database from the menu bar, click the Open button on the toolbar (it's the second button from the left when you are looking at the database window), or press Ctrl+O. You see the Open dialog box shown in Figure 1-4. Choose the database you'd like to use. When Access opens the new database, it closes the database you were using before.

Exiting Access

As usual, you've got a choice of ways to get out of Access. The most important thing is to exit Access and Windows 95 before you turn off your computer. You can exit Access by using any of these methods:

• Click the Close button in the upper-right corner of the Access window.

• Choose File-->Exit from the menu bar.

• Double-click the little gold key in the upper-left corner of the Access window.

Here are steps for exiting Access and, if you're done working, Windows 95 so you can turn off your computer. If the Lexington Toys database isn't open, start Access and open the database first.

1. Exit Access by clicking the Close button.

   It's the rightmost button on the title bar, the very topmost and rightmost button in the Access window, the button with an X on it. Access goes away, and you return to the Windows 95 desktop or to whatever other programs are running.

2. If you want to do something else with your computer, skip the rest of these steps.

   Go right ahead! Just come back soon to take the quiz at the end of this unit.

3. If you want to turn off your computer, click the Start button at the left end of the Windows 95 taskbar and choose Shutdown from the menu.

   Windows 95 asks exactly what you want it to do when it shuts down. It suggests Shut down the computer, although you also have the option of restarting Windows 95, restarting in DOS, or restarting and logging in as a different user (if you're on a network).

4. Click Yes.

   Windows 95 tells you when you can power off the computer.

Congratulations! You've learned how to run Access, open a database, look around in it, see the records contained in a table, and print information from a table. While you were at it, you learned how to use Access's menu bar, toolbar, and the database window. Nice work! Now you're ready for -- yes, you guessed it -- the Unit 1 Quiz!

Unit 1 Quiz

For each of the following questions, circle the letter of the correct answer or answers. Remember, more than one answer may be correct for each question.

1. A table is . . .

   A. A piece of furniture on which you put your computer.

   B. A motion to stop talking about a particular topic, according to Robert's Rules of Order.

   C. A collection of information.

   D. A set of records, like a stack of index cards or other paper forms.

   E. Something that is stored in an Access database.

2. When you run Access, you open a . . .

   A. Word-processing document.

   B. Spreadsheet.

   C. Database.

   D. Graphics file.

   E. Bank account.

3. The database window contains tabs for the six types of items that you can store in an Access database:

   A. Tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and modules

   B. Tables, chairs, stools, couches, lamps, and beds

   C. Huey, Dewey, Louie, Donald, and Daisy (oops -- that's only five)

   D. Records, CDs, videotapes, audiocassettes, and diskettes

   E. Facts, figures, opinions, estimates, guesses, and lies

4. To see the records in a table:

   A. Click the Tables tab in the database window, click the table name, and click Open.

   B. Click the Tables tab in the database window and double-click the table name.

   C. Click the Forms tab in the database window, click the name of a form that displays data from the table, and click Open.

   D. Click the Forms tab in the database window and double-click the name of a form that displays data from the table.

   E. Click the Reports tab in the database window and double-click the name of a report that includes data from the table.

5. What does this button do:

   A. Prints the contents of the current window

   B. Prints a report, form, or datasheet, depending on what window you have selected

   C. Ejects a blank page from your printer

   D. Turns on your printer

   E. Prints the Gettysburg Address

6. In the Wizard of Oz, who is the first person in Oz to help Dorothy?

   A. The Mayor of Munchkinland

   B. The Cowardly Lion

   C. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North

   D. The Scarecrow

   E. The Tin Woodsman

Unit 1 Exercise

1. Run Microsoft Access.

2. Open the Lexington Toys database.

3. Open the Manufacturing Plants table.

4. Look around.

5. Close the table.

6. Exit Access.