This month’s lunch bite sessions include two events for Microsoft Access and are being held on Wednesday, May 23, 2012.  Simply click the register link and regiser online. Both events are completly free!

Access- Establishing a primary key and indexing fields

Description: Understanding relational databases is crucial before we dive into creating any new database. The foundation of relationships is understanding and establishing a primary key. In addition, indexing fields on some criteria makes sorts and queries faster down the road. This tutorial provides a quick look at how to establish a field as a primary key in a table and how to create single and multiple indexes on non-primary key fields.

Date: May 23, 2012
Start Time: 12:00 PM EDT
Duration: 15 Minutes

Register Online by Clicking Here

Access- Creating tables and building relationships

Description: Once you have your primary and foreign keys established, it’s time to build relationships between fields in multiple tables. These relationships become the connections that link data from disparate tables. In this session we start at the beginning of the table creation process and go right up through building relationships between separate tables.

Date: May 23, 2012
Start Time: 1:00 PM EDT
Duration: 15 Minutes

Register Online by Clicking Here

Date ranges are a very common filter that database users  want to implement in their queries. For example, let’s say your company sells office supplies and your databases tracks customer orders. You want to run a monthly query that summarizes total orders.

 

 

 

 

You can save your database users time and frustration by creating a friendly, interactive form that allows them to enter a beginning order date and an ending order date. Then, with a click of a button, they can run a query that displays the order information for their specified date range.

Follow these steps (in Access 2007 or Access 2010):  Or click the PDF Icon to Download these steps in PDF format.

 

 

 

1. On the Create tab, click Form Design in the Forms group.

 

 

 

2. In the Form Design window, the Form Design Tools Group is now active.

3. In the Controls group, click the Text Box to add a text box to the form.

 

 

4.  Add a second text box to the form.

5. Change the caption in the label to be more descriptive (for example, Begin Order Date). Modify the second label (for example, End Order Date).

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Click the “Unbound” portion of the first text box.

7. Make sure the Property Sheet pane is displayed on the right side of screen. Click Property Sheet, if the Property Sheet pane is not displayed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. On the Property Sheet, click the All tab.

9. Change the Name property to be descriptive (for example, txtBeginOrderDate).

10. Change the Format property to Short Date.

11. Click on the second “unbound” text box and change its Name and Format properties.

12. Save the parameter form. You can keep the parameter form open, since we’ll add a command button to it as our last step.

Modify the Query to Receive the Date Range Values from the Parameter Form

1. Open your query in Design View, or create the query, then switch to Design View.

2. In the Criteria row of the appropriate date field, right-click and select Build…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Expression Builder is now displayed. In the upper area, we’ll build an expression that selects the orders between a begin date and end date that’s entered in the parameter form.

4. Type the word between (followed by a space).

5. In the lower half of the Expression Builder, click on the (+) sign to the left of the Database name to expand the list.

6. Click on the (+) sign to the left of Forms.

7. If your interactive form is still open, you can expand the Loaded Forms list. If you closed the interactive form, expand All Forms. Click on the parameter form name.

8. In the middle area (under Expression Categories), you’ll see both text box names that you created on the interactive form

9. Double-click on the Begin Date text box. In the top-half of the Expression Builder, your expression may look something like:

between Forms![ParameterForm]![txtBeginOrderDate]

10. After the Begin Date text box name, type the word and, then double-click on the End Date text box name.

11. Your final formula will look something like this:

between Forms![ParameterForm]![txtBeginOrderDate] and Forms![ParameterForm]![txtEndOrderDate]

12. Click OK to save and close the Expression Builder.

13. The expression you just created will now display in the Criteria row of your query.

14. Save your query and close it.

Final Step: Create a Command Button to Run the Query

1. Open your parameter form and switch to Design View, if needed.

2. On the Form Design Tools group, click the Design tab.

3. Click Button.

 

 

 

4. Click on the form to start the Command Button Wizard.

5. In the Categories list, click on Miscellaneous.

6. In the Actions list, click on Run Query.

7. Click Next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Select your query and click Next.

9. Choose whether you want text or a picture for your button. Click Next.

10. Type a descriptive name (without spaces). For example, cmdRunOrdersDateQuery.

11. Click Finish.

12. Save your parameter form and test it out.

 

Click the PDF Icon to Download these steps in PDF format.

 

 

 

 

KnowledgeWave provides Access and SQL consulting services both on site and remotely. We’ve helped hundreds of clients turn their assortment of spreadsheets, external mailing lists and other documents into a streamlined, organized database. The result is more time to work on the things their businesses need from them and less time creating reports. Let us know how we can help you! Call us at 1-800-831-8449.