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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
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.
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.
Features of MS-Excell
1. Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that comes with Microsoft's Office software package. Excel is a commonly used program in finance due to its ability to provide digital data organization. Excel has a variety of basic features that make it useful, even for new users who do not know how to use its more advanced functions.
Storing Data
2. Perhaps the most useful basic feature of Excel is the ability to store and organize data. Organizing data in Excel is as simple as selecting a cell in a spreadsheet and typing in the value that you want to store. A single Excel spreadsheet can contain thousands of rows and columns, allowing you to store huge amounts of data in one place. A single Excel workbook can contain many worksheets; each worksheet is a separate spreadsheet. This allows you to store many different data tables within the same Excel file.
You can create simple data tables quickly, and you can move to different cells using the "Enter" and tab keys or the arrow keys on your keyboard, rather than using the mouse pointer. You can erase data by dragging a box around the desired cells and pressing on the "Delete" key, while you can copy data to different parts of a spreadsheet simply by selecting cells and using the copy and paste functions.
Charts and Graphs
3. Another basic feature of MS Excel is the ability to create customizable charts and graphs of data. Creating a basic chart or graph is relatively simple; you must select a range of cells in the table, choose to create a graph, and specify the graph type. Excel can produce many types of graphs, such as pie charts, bar charts and line charts. Graphs are especially useful for presentations, and you can copy your graphs into MS PowerPoint slides. Formatting
4. MS Excel allows for a wide range of formatting options similar to MS Word. You can alter font size, style and color, and you can highlight cells with different colors to differentiate data values. You can also increase or decrease the size and spacing of cells to fit the data.
Formulas
5. Excel offers you the ability to enter mathematical formulas into cells to carry out calculations on other cells. Formulas can be simple or complex, and one formula may even refer to a cell that contains a value calculated using a different formula, allowing for multiple levels of calculation. Excel also has several quick calculation tools, such as column averaging and totaling.
Storing Data
2. Perhaps the most useful basic feature of Excel is the ability to store and organize data. Organizing data in Excel is as simple as selecting a cell in a spreadsheet and typing in the value that you want to store. A single Excel spreadsheet can contain thousands of rows and columns, allowing you to store huge amounts of data in one place. A single Excel workbook can contain many worksheets; each worksheet is a separate spreadsheet. This allows you to store many different data tables within the same Excel file.
You can create simple data tables quickly, and you can move to different cells using the "Enter" and tab keys or the arrow keys on your keyboard, rather than using the mouse pointer. You can erase data by dragging a box around the desired cells and pressing on the "Delete" key, while you can copy data to different parts of a spreadsheet simply by selecting cells and using the copy and paste functions.
Charts and Graphs
3. Another basic feature of MS Excel is the ability to create customizable charts and graphs of data. Creating a basic chart or graph is relatively simple; you must select a range of cells in the table, choose to create a graph, and specify the graph type. Excel can produce many types of graphs, such as pie charts, bar charts and line charts. Graphs are especially useful for presentations, and you can copy your graphs into MS PowerPoint slides. Formatting
4. MS Excel allows for a wide range of formatting options similar to MS Word. You can alter font size, style and color, and you can highlight cells with different colors to differentiate data values. You can also increase or decrease the size and spacing of cells to fit the data.
Formulas
5. Excel offers you the ability to enter mathematical formulas into cells to carry out calculations on other cells. Formulas can be simple or complex, and one formula may even refer to a cell that contains a value calculated using a different formula, allowing for multiple levels of calculation. Excel also has several quick calculation tools, such as column averaging and totaling.
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