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Hands-On Microsoft Access: A Practical Guide to Improving Your Access Skills

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Hands-On Microsoft Access: A Practical Guide to Improving Your Access Skills

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About

Features

The perfect book for the many Access users who feel that they still don't "get" how the program works.

° Helps readers build better Access databases by teaching just enough database design principles

° Explains commonly used Access features that can be difficult to grasp

° Fills a missing niche in the Access book market, between introductions and soup to nuts references

° Written in relaxed, conversational style with lots of hands-on examples and just enough humor

Description

  • Copyright 2006
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-321-24545-8
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-321-24545-8

Praise for Hands-On Microsoft Access

“Bob has distilled the essence of database design and Access development into a highly valuable and easily understandable resource that I wish was available when I first started out.”

—Graham R. Seach, Microsoft Access MVP

“If you’ve been using Access with that typical uncertainty, asking yourself 'Just how could I do that?' or 'Why isn’t this working?', if you’d like to know what you’re doing before you hit the wall, this book is probably perfect for you.”

—Olaf Rabbachin, CEO, IntuiDev IT-solutions

“Life at the cutting edge of Access development is exciting and very challenging. The knowledge and experience gained over many years of research and trial-and-error has been hard won. But Bob's new book encapsulates the knowledge we now take for granted, and for the first time the beginner is afforded the opportunity to bypass all that hard work. In this his latest work, Bob has distilled the essence of database design and Access development into a highly valuable and easily understandable resource that I wish was available when I first started out.”

—Graham R Seach, MCP, MCAD, MCSD, Microsoft Access MVP, author

“This is an excellent book for beginners, with an easy reading style. It is now on my recommended list of books that I hand out in every Access class that I teach.”

—M.L. “Sco” Scofield, Microsoft Access MVP, MCSD, Senior Instructor, Scofield Business Services

“If you've been using Access with that typical uncertainty, asking yourself 'Just how could I do that?' or 'Why isn't this working?', or if you'd like to know what you're doing before you hit the wall, this book is perfect for you. Access is a tremendous product and a database is created using a few clicks; but without at least some theoretical background you're bound to encounter problems soon. I wish a book like this one would've been available when I started getting deeper into working with Access some ten years ago.”

—Olaf Rabbachin, CEO, IntuiDev IT-solutions

“This book is for any level DB developer/user. It is packed full of real-world examples and solutions that are not the normal Northwind database that most Access books use. The examples and the technical content surrounding them are the real strength of the book. Schneider uses real-world scenarios that make for excellent reading. It made me want to go and redo a lot of my older Access DBs that were not written as well as they could have been. This book taught me different approaches to doing some routine tasks.”

—Ron Crumbaker, Microsoft MVP – SMS

“While a very powerful application (or perhaps because of its power), Microsoft Access does have a steep learning curve and can be intimidating to new users. Bob Schneider has managed to write a book that's both understandable and enjoyable to read. His examples should be understandable to all readers, and he extends them in a logical manner. This book should leave the reader well equipped to make use of what many consider to be the best desktop database product available.”

—Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP

“The author takes what is potentially a very dry subject and adds fantastic color through entertaining analogies and metaphors. For instance, his examples using the NBA, the Beatles, and Donald Rumsfeld help us 'get it' without realizing we have just traversed what could be very stale database theory. Brilliant!”

—Kel Good, MCT, MCSD for Microsoft.NET, Custom Software Development Inc. (www.customsoftware.ca)
Go from Access “beginner” to Access “master”!

Millions of people use Microsoft Access, but only a small fraction of them are really comfortable with it. If you're ready to go “beyond the wizards”—and become a confident, highly effective Access user—Hands-On Microsoft Access was written for you.

In plain English, Bob Schneider helps you master crucial principles for building flexible, powerful databases. Discover how to enter data more easily, retrieve it more freely, manipulate it more successfully, analyze it with greater sophistication, and share it more effectively. Schneider's dozens of hands-on examples thoroughly demystify Access, and his friendly, conversational style makes it more approachable than ever before.

Hands-On Microsoft Access presents solutions for the challenges you're most likely to encounter, including

  • How do Access objects and interfaces fit together, and when should I use each one?

  • What's the best way for me to organize my fields into tables?

  • How can I modify the tables, forms, and reports an Access wizard created for me?

  • How can I design forms and reports for people to use more effectively?

  • How do primary keys and relationships work, and why are they so important?

  • How do I make sure my data stays consistent and accurate?

  • How do I build queries that give me the right information—quickly, efficiently, and reliably?

  • How do I use data from other sources, or deliver Access data to other people or programs?

  • What are PivotTables and PivotCharts, what can I do with them, and how do I use them?
  • Written for Access 2003, this book also contains special instructions for Access 2002 users and extensive coverage of issues relevant to Access 95, 97, and 2000.

    Downloads

    Example(s)

    Untitled Document

    Download the Example Files from Hands-On Microsoft Access

    Chapter 4

    Chapter 5

    Chapter 6

    Chapter 7

    Chapter 8

    Chapter 9

    Chapter 10

    Chapter 11

    Chapter 12

    Chapter 13

    Chapter 14

    Sample Content

    Online Sample Chapter

    Creating (Non-Lame) Reports in Microsoft Access

    Downloadable Sample Chapter

    Download the Sample Chapter related to this title.

    Table of Contents

    Preface.

    Acknowledgments.

    About the Author.

    1. Getting Started.

        Key Terms

        Data Types

        Primary Keys

        It's About Nothing: Null Values and Zero-Length Strings

        Conclusion

    2. Database Design.

        Learning About Database Design

        Getting Started

        Midchapter Review

        Relational Database Principles

        Organizing Fields into Tables

        Refine the Fields

        Keys

        Multivalue Fields

        Conclusion

    3. Understanding Relationships.

        The Primacy of Primary Keys

        One-to-Many Relationships

        Many-to-Many Relationships

        Final List of Fields and Relationships

        Exclusive Identification

        Refining Field Names

        Table Types

        What Is Normalization?

        Conclusion

    4. Establishing Relationships.

        Viewing and Creating Relationships

        Referential Integrity

        Overriding Referential Integrity

        The Mechanics of the Relationship Window

        Test Data and Conclusion

    5. Building Tables.

        Understanding Lookup Fields

        Creating Access Tables

        Creating Fields

        Assigning Field Properties

        Making Changes to Tables and Fields

        Table Properties

        Conclusion

    6. Entering, Editing, and Displaying Data.

        Tables Are the Center of the Access Universe

        Data Entry in Table, Form, and Query Datasheets

        How Form Controls Inherit Field Characteristics

        Data Entry Methods

        Data Entry: Form Versus Substance

        Conclusion

    7. Find and Filter.

        Find and Replace

        Filters

        Filters in Reports

        Expressions

        Conclusion

    8. Queries.

        The Nature of Queries

        Building Queries

        Adding Calculated Fields

        Top Values Property

        Multitable Queries

        Relationships Versus Joins

        Inner Versus Outer Joins

        SQL

        Updating Records in a Query

        Find Duplicates Query Wizard

        Conclusion

    9. Queries, Part II.

        Parameter Queries

        Totals Queries

        Crosstab Queries

        Action Queries

        Conclusion

    10. Reports.

        Learning How to Create Reports

        The Asia Database

        Begin the Report by Creating a Query

        Beginning a Report in Design View

        Detail Section

        Page Header and Footer

        Using Concatenation

        Report Header and Footer

        Creating a Report Using the Report Wizard

        Comparing the From-Scratch and From-Wizard Reports

        Conclusion

    11. Forms/Subforms.

        Form Overview

        Exploring Form Tools

        Using the Form Wizard

        Refining Your Form

        Conclusion

    12. Form/Report Design Elements.

        Adding Pictures and Other Objects

        Visual Elements and Tools

        Manipulating Controls

        Macros

        Multipage Forms

        Switchboard Manager

        Other Report Types

        Conclusion

    13. Importing and Exporting.

        Import/Export Overview

        Move Access Data to a Word Processor or Text Editor

        Move Access Data to Excel

        E-mail an Access Object

        Import Access Data into Outlook

        Importing Data into Access

        Importing Access Data

        Linking Versus Importing

        Conclusion

    14. Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts.

        Getting Started with Pivot Tables

        Pivot Tables Using Queries

        Pivot Table Properties

        Creating Pivot Charts

        Conclusion

    Glossary.

    Index.

    Index

    Download the Index file related to this title.

    Updates

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