CS102, Fall 2000, Day 9, Tuesday, November 14

Access Tutorial 2
Session 2.1: Creating a table

• First 6 pages: planning out a database.  When making your own project, go through this process, give me your final plans.  Primary key, foreign key are "key".  Not duplicating a field in two different tables seems weird at first, but you can make a report combining information from two tables, so it's not a limitation really.
• p. 2.6 Each tutorial assumes you've done the previous ones correctly.  If you've messed it up you'll have trouble.  Ask me for a clean version if you find you're in trouble.
  #7 Be sure you're in the Tables tab.
• p.2.9 Properties of a field:  The list box in fig. 2.9 is covering up the actual values for "Allow zero length" and "indexed".
  "Allow zero length"= NO and "indexed"=Yes(Duplicates OK)
• p.2.12 Primary key: Note giving a field a description of "primary key" DOESN"T make it a primary key.  You have to do this specially, with the "key" icon button on the toolbar up top.  You can only tell which field is the primary key in Design view; it has the key icon in the left gray box.
• p. 2.16 printing: you can just look, with Print Preview.
• Remember, the data gets saved automatically.  "Save" saves structures and formats only.

• pp.2.16-19 Messing with rows in the Design.  This is like/unlike Word Tables, Excel.  Access inserts a row BELOW the highlighted one; Excel, Word insert above.  Too many programmers. (Note, this is NOT for data, only design.)
• p. 2.23    You can only have one database file open at a time.  So you'll open the source database, Copy stuff to the Windows all-purpose Clipboard, close the source database, reopen the Restaurant database, and Paste.
• p.2.26 F2 Navigation (around the table)/Editing (within a field (cell)) for non-mouse speedier work.