Page 174 - UNI 101 Computer Science Handout.

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tables (known as populating a database) that it starts to serve a purpose. As you add

forms, queries, and reports, it becomes a useful tool. If you customize it by adding a

startup page and organizing the various objects into categories and groups, it moves into
the realm of being a database application.

Not every database has to be refined to the point that it can be classified as an application.

Databases that only you or a few experienced database users will work with can remain

fairly simple. But if you expect someone without database knowledge to enter data or
generate their own reports, spending a little extra time in the beginning to create a solid

foundation will save a lot of work later. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself continually

repairing damaged files or walking people through seemingly easy tasks.

Microsoft Access 2010 takes a lot of the difficult and mundane work out of creating and
customizing a database by providing database applications in the form of templates that

you modify and populate with your own information. Access 2010 also provides

templates for common elements that you might want to plug into a database. These
application parts consist of sets of objects—a table and related forms, queries, or

reports—that together provide a complete, functioning part of a database. All you have

to do is fill in your data. If none of the templates meet your needs, you can create tables

manually.

In this chapter, you’ll create a database from a template and create a table manually.

Then you’ll adjust the display of a data table to fit your needs. By the end of this chapter,

you’ll have a database containing a few tables and you’ll understand a bit about how the

tables in the databases you will use for the exercises in the remaining chapters of the

book were created.
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