Access offers many databases that you can create either from templates or by means of the Database Wizard. The preformatted, ready-made databases are fine for doing common database tasks such as tracking expenses or keeping tabs on the members of an organization. After you create a database with the wizard or a template, you get a handful of queries, forms, and reports, all ready to go. And if the queries, forms, and reports aren't quite right, you can always refine them.
NOTE: When you create a database with the wizard, Access
creates what it calls the “Switchboard,” another way (in addition to the
Database window) to open database tables, forms, queries, and whatall. The
Switchboard is a menu system that allows you to quickly perform common tasks,
like entering data. It’s particularly handy if you have people with little
database experience accessing your database. See "Using the Switchboard to
Work with a Database," later in this chapter, for more information.
Access offers the following ready-made databases:
Asset Tracking
Contract Management
Event Management
Expenses
Inventory Control
Ledger
Order Entry
Resource Scheduling
Service Call Management
Time and Billing
Follow these steps to create a ready-made database with the help of the Database Wizard:
1. If you just started Access, click the Access Database Wizards, Pages, And Projects option button in the Microsoft Access dialog box and then click OK. If the program is running already, choose File | New and click the Databases tab in the New dialog box.
2. In the New dialog box, click the type of database you want to create and then click OK. You see the File New Database dialog box.
3. Find and double-click on the folder that the database file is to be stored in, enter a name for the file in the File Name box, and click the Create button.
4. A dialog box tells you what kind of information that database is designed to store. Click the Next button.
5. As shown in Figure 26-7, the next dialog box allows you to control which fields to include in the database table or tables. Fields you may or may not want are shown in italics in the right side of the dialog box. Click a table name in the left side of the dialog box and then click the check box next to any optional fields you want in your database.
6. Click the Next button after you have told Access which fields to include in the database table or tables. The next screen asks what screen displays should look like in your database.
7. Try clicking on a few display names. When you do so, the sample display changes. When you have found a display that suits you, click the Next button.
8. Choose a style for the reports you will generate and print from your new database. Click a few style names until you find the one you want, and then click the Next button.
9. In the next dialog box, enter a title for your database in the text box if you don't like the title that Access suggests. Titles appear on reports. Click Next when you have finished.
NOTE: To include a picture, perhaps a corporate logo, on
reports, click the Yes, I'd Like To Include A Picture check box and then click
the Picture button. In the Insert Picture dialog box, find and click on the
clip art file whose picture you want to appear on reports, and then click OK.
The picture appears in the upper-left corner of reports.
10. The last dialog box simply asks if you want to start working with the database immediately. Click Finish in this dialog box.
Depending on how large a database you created, it can take a while for Access to create the sundry parts of your database. Twiddle your thumbs awhile. When the database has been constructed, you see a Switchboard like the one shown in Figure 26-8. A Switchboard is an alternative means of working with a database.
The wizards in Access can create a variety of databases--enough to fulfill the needs of many people. However, if the database is extremely simple, or you have very specific needs, you may want to create a database from scratch. It’s easy in the short term; instead of relying on the wizard to build your database objects, you do it yourself. Follow these steps to create a database from scratch:
1. If you just opened Access, click the Blank Database option button in the Microsoft Access dialog box and then click OK. If you have already opened Access, either press Ctrl-N or click the New button. Click on the General tab of the New dialog box.
2. Click the Blank Database icon and then click OK. You see the File New Database dialog box.
3. Find the folder in which you want to save the file and double-click it, and then enter a name for the database in the File Name text box. Click Create when you have finished.
Access opens the Database window with its seven buttons: Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Pages, Macros, and Modules. This is the starting point for creating the different parts of the database. It also opens a blank table, since tables are the fundamental building blocks of a database.