Micro Soft Access - MS Access

MS Access

Introduction

Microsoft Office Access, previously  known as  Microsoft Access, is a relational database management system from Microsoft  that  combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with  a graphical  user interface and software development tools. It is a  member of the Microsoft Office suite of applications and is  included in the professional and higher versions for Windows and also sold separately. There is no version for MacOS or for Microsoft Office Mobile. Access stores data in its own format based on the Access Jet Database Engine. It can also import or link directly to data stored in other Access databases, Excel,  SharePoint  lists, text, XML, Outlook, HTML,  dBase, Paradox, Lotus 1-2-3, or any ODBC-compliant data container including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle,  MySQL  and  PostgreSQL. Software developers and data  architects can use it to develop application software and non-programmer “power users” can use it to build simple applications.

It supports some object-oriented techniques but falls short of being a fully object-oriented development tool. Microsoft Access is an RDBMS that enable to manage relational database in a windows environment. Access enables you to create tables to organise data into manageable related units enter, retrieve and modify data extract information based on specific criteria create forms to enter data create reports

Database Management System (DBMS)
A database is a collection of data of a particular type. It is an organised collection of data viewed as a whole, instead of a group of separate unrelated files. Data in a database is stored in the form of tables. A table is a row and column arrangement of information. A DBMS is a collection of interrelated data and a set of programs to retrieve data from a database.

Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)
A RDBMS is a multi-table database where the tables in the database have to be related for storing or retrieving data. A RDBMS is used to create and maintain relational databases.

Components of a Table
Each table in a database has a unique name that identifies the contents of that table. A table is also called a relation. The table contains data organised under specific categories. Each such category is arranged vertically in a table and is called a column. Every column in a table has a unique name. A column can also be referred to as a field. Data  organised  horizontally  is termed as a row.

Types of Database Objects

• TABLES :: They store data in a row and  column format similar to spreadsheets.
• QUERIES :: They enable you to view data from a table based on a specified criterion.
• FORMS ::  They enable you to enter, view and modify in a table.
• REPORTS ::  They enable you to generate reports based on tables  and query results.
• DATA ACCESS PAGES :: They are web pages that enables  you to view data from the Internet  where the data  is stored in an Access database.
• MACROS  :: They are a series of commands and  functions that can be executed whenever you  need to perform  a task.
• MODULES  :: They are a set  Visual Basic procedures  and declarations  stored as  one unit.

Data Type
A data type is used to store different types of values in a column in a table.

• TEXT :: It stores text or a combination of text and numbers.
• MEMO :: It stores large number of text and numeric characters.
• NUMBER :: It stores numeric data that is used for mathematical  calculations.
• DATE TIME:: It stores date  and time  values.
• CURRENCY ::  It stores currency values.
• AUTO NUMBER  ::  It enables the user to  automatically insert numbers in a sequential or a random number.
• YES/NO ::  It is used for fields that  can contain YES/NO, TRUE/ FALSE and ON/OFF values.
• OLE OBJECT :: It enables to store object, like word documents, Excel spreadsheets, pictures  or sounds.
• HYPERLINK ::  It enables to store a hyperlink, like an e-mail address or a web site address.
• LOOK UP WIZARD  :: It enables to select a field  from another table.