Databases are used to maintain and organize large amounts of related information in an efficient manner. Databases incorporate various components including tables, queries, reports, and forms. The core element however is the database table. In designing a database table, you create a set of interrelated fields of information, such as name, street address, city, and state. There are one or more key fields that uniquely identify each table entry and the other fields are related to the information in the particular key. The key and the set of values for non-key fields constitute a record. The database table is a collection of records.

Getting Started

To start, double-click on the Microsoft Office Access shortcut icon on your Desktop or alternatively click on Start > All Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office Access. On the right-hand task pane, you are given two options for staring a new database: open an existing database file or create a new file. If you want to work on an existing file you have previously saved click on the Open icon and browse the directories for your file. If you want to create a new file click on Create a new file.

Figure 1

If you have chosen to close the task pane or are using earlier versions of the software which do not display the pane, you can achieve the same by clicking on File from the menu bar and then either Open or New.

Creating a New Database File


Once you select to create a new database file, the task pane will change to allow for selecting the type of file to create. For our purposes, we will choose Blank database. A window will appear requesting a file name and a location to save the newly created database file. Give the file a name and select the folder to save it in from the Save in drop down menu at the top of the save window and click on the Create button. Once you have saved the file, you are to select what database objects you would like to create and what method to use. We will be creating four types of objects: tables, queries, forms, and reports. We will address the tables first.