Amal Nagm

Get to know the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page

Create a database by using a template

1. If you have a database open, click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Close Database to display the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page.
2. Several featured templates are displayed in the middle of the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page, and more become available when you click the links in the Template Categories pane. You can download additional templates from the Office Online Web site. See the next section in this article for details.
3. Click the template that you want to use.
4. Access suggests a file name for your database in the File Name box — you can change the file name, if you want. To save the database in a different folder from the one displayed below the file name box, click , browse to the folder in which you want to save it, and then click OK. Optionally, you can create and link your database to a Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site.
5. Click Create (or Download, for an Office Online template). Access creates or downloads the database and then opens it. A form is displayed in which you can begin entering data. If your template contains sample data, you can delete each record by clicking the record selector (the shaded box or bar just to the left of the record), and then doing the following:
   On the Home tab, in the Records group, click Delete.
   
6. To begin entering data, click in the first empty cell on the form and begin typing. Use the Navigation Pane to browse for other forms or reports that you might want to use.

Download a template from Office Online

1. On the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page, under More on Office Online, click Templates. The Templates home page on Office Online is displayed in your browser window.
   
2. Use the Office Online navigation and search tools to find the Access template that you would like to use, and follow the instructions to download it. When you download a template, a database file is downloaded to your computer and opened in a new instance of Access. In most cases, the template is designed to open a data entry form so that you can begin entering data immediately.

Create a database without using a template

• Entering, pasting, or importing data into the table that is created when you create a new database, and then repeating the process with new tables that you create by using the Table command on the Create tab.
• Importing data from other sources and creating new tables in the process.

Create a blank database

1. On the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page, under New Blank Database, click Blank Database.
   
2. In the Blank Database pane, type a file name in the File Name box. If you do not supply a file name extension, Access adds it for you. To change the location of the file from the default, click Browse for a location to put your database (next to the File Name box), browse to the new location, and then click OK.
3. Click Create. Access creates the database with an empty table named Table1, and then opens Table1 in Datasheet view. The cursor is placed in the first empty cell in the Add New Field column.
   
4. Begin typing to add data, or you can paste data from another source

Add a table

1. On the Create tab, in the Tables group, click Table. Access creates the table and selects the first empty cell in the Add New Field column.
   Note If you don't see an Add New Field column, you might be in Design view instead of Datasheet view. To switch to Datasheet view, double-click the table in the Navigation Pane. Access prompts you to save the new table, and then switches to Datasheet view.
   
2. On the Datasheet tab, in the Fields & Columns group, click New Field. Access displays the Field Templates pane, which contains a list of commonly used field types. If you double-click or drag one of these fields into your datasheet, Access adds a field by that name and sets its properties to appropriate values for that type of field. You can change the properties later, if you want. If you drag the field, you must drag it onto an area of the datasheet that contains data. A vertical insertion bar appears, showing you where the field will be placed.
   
3. To add data, begin typing in the first empty cell, or paste data from another source
4. To rename a column (field), double-click the column heading, and then type the new name. It is a good practice to give a meaningful name to each field, so that you can tell what it contains when you see it in the Field List pane.
   
5. To move a column, click its heading to select the column, and then drag the column to the location you want. You can also select multiple contiguous columns and then drag them to a new location all at once. To select multiple contiguous columns, click the column header of the first column, and then, while holding down SHIFT, click the column header of the last column.
   

1. On the Create tab, in the Tables group, click Table Design.
2. For each field in your table, type a name in the Field Name column, and then select a data type from the Data Type list. Note If you don't see the Field Name and Data Type columns, you might be in Datasheet view instead of Design view. To switch to Design view, right-click the table in the Navigation Pane, and then click Design View . Access prompts you for a name for the new table, and then switches to Design view.
   
3. If you want, you can type a description for each field in the Description column. The description is then displayed on the status bar when the cursor is located in that field in Datasheet view. The description is also used as the status bar text for any controls in a form or report that you create by dragging the field from the Field List pane, and for any controls that are created for that field when you use the Form Wizard or Report Wizard.
4. After you have added all of your fields, save the table:
   • Click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Save, or press CTRL+S.
5. You can begin typing data in the table at any time by switching to Datasheet view and clicking in the first empty cell. You can also paste data from another source

1. On the Create tab, in the Tables group, click Table Templates and then select one of the available templates from the list.
2. To add data, begin typing in the first empty cell or paste data from another source
   • To delete a column Right-click the column heading, and then click Delete Column .
     
   • To add a new column On the Datasheet tab, in the Fields & Columns group, click New Field.
     Access displays the Field Templates pane, which contains a list of commonly used field types. If you double-click or drag one of these fields into your datasheet, Access adds a field by that name and sets its properties to appropriate values for that type of field. You can change the properties later, if you want. If you drag the field, you must drag it onto an area of the datasheet that contains data. A vertical insertion bar appears, showing you where the field will be placed.
     
3. Save the table:
   • Click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Save, or press CTRL+S.

Property	Description
Field Size	For Text fields, this property sets the maximum number of characters that can be stored in the field. The maximum is 255. For Number fields, this property sets the type of number that will be stored (Long Integer, Double, and so on). For the most efficient data storage, it is recommended that you allocate the least amount of space that you think you will need for the data. You can adjust the value upwards later, if your needs change.
Format	This property sets how the data is displayed. It does not affect the actual data as it is stored in the field. You can select a predefined format or enter a custom format.
Input Mask	Use this property to specify a pattern for all data that will be entered in this field. This helps ensure that all data is entered correctly, and that it contains the required number of characters. For help about building an input mask, click at the right side of the property box.
Default Value	Use this property to specify the default value that will appear in this field each time that a new record is added. For example, if you have a Date/Time field in which you always want to record the date that the record was added, you can enter "Date()" (without the quotation marks) as the default value.
Required	This property sets whether a value is required in this field. If you set this property to Yes, Access does not allow you to add a new record unless a value is entered for this field.

Copy data from another source into an Access table

1. Save the table.
   • Click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Save, or press CTRL+S.
2. In Datasheet view, double-click each column heading, and then type a valid field name for each column. It might look as though you are typing over data, but the column heading row contains field names, not data.
3. Save the table again.

Import, append, or link to data from another source

1. In Access, on the External Data tab, in the Import group, click the command for the type of file that you are importing.
   For example, if you are importing data from an Excel worksheet, click Excel. If you don't see the program type that you need, click More.
   Note If you can't find the correct format type in the Import group, you might need to start the program in which you originally created the data and then use that program to save the data in a common file format (such as a delimited text file (delimited text file: A file containing data where individual field values are separated by a character, such as a comma or a tab.)) before you can import that data into Access.
   
2. In the Get External Data dialog box, click Browse to find the source data file, or type the full path of the source data file in the File name box.
3. Click the option that you want (all programs allow you to import, and some allow you to append or link) under Specify how and where you want to store the data in the current database. You can create a new table that uses the imported data or (with some programs) you can append the data to an existing table or create a linked table that maintains a link to the data in the source program.
4. If a wizard starts, follow the instructions on the next few pages of the wizard. On the last page of the wizard, click Finish. If you import objects or link tables from an Access database, either the Import Objects or Link Tables dialog box appears. Choose the items you want and click OK.
   The exact process depends on whether you choose to import, append, or link data.
   
5. Access prompts you about whether you want to save the details of the import operation that you just completed. If you think that you will be performing this same import operation again in the future, click Save import steps, and then enter the details. You can then easily repeat the operation at a later time by clicking Saved Imports in the Import group on the External Data tab. If you don't want to save the details of the operation, click Close.

Open an existing Access database

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Open.
2. In the Open dialog box, browse to the database that you want to open.
3. Do one of the following:
   • Double-click the database to open it in the default mode specified in the Access Options dialog box or the mode that was set by an administrative policy.
   • Click Open to open the database for shared access in a multi-user environment so that you and other users can read and write to the database.
   • Click the arrow next to the Open button and then click Open Read-Only to open the database for read-only access so that you can view but not edit it. Other users can still read and write to the database.
   • Click the arrow next to the Open button and then click Open Exclusive to open the database with exclusive access. When you have a database open with exclusive access, anyone else who tries to open the database receives a "file already in use" message.
   • Click the arrow next to the Open button and then click Open Exclusive Read-Only to open the database for read-only access. Other users can still open the database, but they are limited to read-only mode.

1. In the Open dialog box, click My Computer or, click My Computer in the Look in drop-down list.
2. In the list of drives, right-click the drive that you think might contain the database, and then click Search.
3. Type your search criteria in the Search Results dialog box, and then click Search to search for the database.
4. If the database is found, double-click it to open it.
5. You must click Cancel in the Open dialog box for the database to open. Then, close the Search Results dialog box.

Tips

• To open one of the most recently opened databases, click the file name for that database in the Open Recent Database list on the Getting Started with Microsoft Office Access page. Access opens the database with the same option settings that it had the last time you opened it. If the list of recently used files is not displayed, click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Access Options. In the Access Options dialog box, click Advanced. Under Display, enter the number of documents to display in the Recent Documents list, up to a maximum of nine.
• If you are opening a database by clicking the Microsoft Office Button and then using the Open command, you can view a list of shortcuts to databases that you have previously opened by clicking My Recent Documents in the Open dialog box.
  

Create a custom blank template

• If the default file format is set to Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003, Access uses Blank.mdb as the blank template file name. The new database is created in the same file format as Blank.mdb. For example, even if your default file format is Access 2000, if the template named Blank.mdb is in Access 2002-2003 file format, any new databases you create will be in Access 2002-2003 format.
• If your default file format is set to Access 2007, Access uses Blank.accdb as the file name for the blank template.

How do I change the default file format?

• Create a new database (you can name it Blank or give it a temporary name), and then import or create the objects you want to include in the template.
• Make a copy of an existing database that already contains the objects you want in the template, and then delete any objects you don't want.

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then point to Save As.
2. Under Save the database in another format, click the file format you want for the template.
3. In the Save As dialog box, browse to one of these two template folders:
   • System template folder For example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates\1033\Access
   • User template folder For example:
     • In Windows Vista c:\Users\user name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates
     • In Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates
   Note A blank template in the System template folder overrides blank templates in any user template folders.
   
4. In the File name box, type Blank.accdb (or Blank.mdb, if you are creating an earlier-version template), and then click Save.