In this tutorial, we’ve discussed the benefits of using Microsoft Access and give a suggestion of 30 premium best online Microsoft Access courses as well from reputed online platforms like ed2go, Coursera, and Udemy. Hope that these courses help you a lot in your career.

● WHAT IS THE MICROSOFT ACCESS?

Microsoft Access is a Database Management System (DBMS) that provides numerous tools to help to create, maintain, and use a database. The advantage of the Database management system is to access and control data and display the information in a variety of formats.

Equivalently, you can say Access is a “relational database management system” (RDMS) software to manage data that is organized into lists, for instance, all information related to customers, products, vendors, employees, projects, or sales are organized into lists. Access data is stored in related tables, where data in one table (such as Customers) is related to data in another table (such as Sales). Access maintains the relationships between related tables and helps to easily extract the required data without losing any data.

Although Excel offers some list management features and is more frequently used than Access, whereas Microsoft Access provides many more tools and advantages for managing data. The advantages are primarily due to the “relational database management system” that Access manages.

You can export data to and import data from the word, excel, or database files directly.

Broadly you can follow the following 04 steps for using Microsoft Access:

➢ Database Creation – First Create your Microsoft Access database and you should mention what kind of data you will be storing.

➢ Data Input – After the creation of the database, the data can be entered into the Access database.

➢ Query – Query is the process of retrieving information from the database. However, you can define queries to select, update, insert, or delete data from the database.

➢ Report (optional) – A report contains professional-looking formatted information from underlying tables or queries.

● WHAT IS THE ACCESS DATABASE?

A database is a collection of data organized as significant information in a logical fashion that can be accessed, managed, stored, queried, sorted, and reported simultaneously.

Access is a valuable decision-making tool and uses a “database management system” (DBMS) that provides the tools needed to create, maintain, and use a database. With the help of Database management systems (DBMS), you can access and control data and display the information in a variety of formats.

Commonly, two terms Data and information are often used interchangeably. But, when it comes to databases, the two terms mean different things. Data is what is entered into a database (either text strings or values). Information is the finalized product that is produced from the database. Data is usually converted to information by calculations.

● WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING ACCESS?

➢ Minimization of Duplicate Data

In Access, you do not need to reenter information every time such as a customer’s name and address or Contact number after a sale is made, because lists can be linked, or “related,” in relational database software.

➢ Information is more accurate, reliable, and consistent due to the minimization of duplicate data

The relational nature of data stored in an Access database permits you to minimize duplicate data entry, which creates more accurate, reliable, and consistent information. For example, customer data in a Customers table is entered only once, not every time when a customer makes a purchase.

➢ Data entry is Quicker and Easier using Access Forms

Data entry forms (screen layouts) make data entry faster (quicker), easier, and more accurate than manually entering data in an Excel spreadsheet.

➢ Information can be Viewed and Sorted in different ways using Access queries, forms, and reports

In Access, you can save queries (questions about the data), data entry forms, and reports, permitting you to use them over and over without performing extra work to re-create a particular view of the data.

➢ Information is more secure using security features and Access passwords 

Access databases can be encrypted and password protected.

➢ Several users can edit Data and share information at the same time

In contrast to, Excel spreadsheets or word-processing documents, more than one person can enter, update, and analyze data in an Access database at the same time.

● COMPARING EXCEL WITH ACCESS

● IMPORTANT DATABASE TERMINOLOGY

● ACCESS DATABASE OBJECTS

Databases must be carefully managed to keep the information accurate. Data need to be changed, added, and deleted. Managing a database also requires that you need to be saved the data regularly and reuse it again.

In Access, each component created and used to make the database function is called an object. 

The Access database contains 06 types of top-level objects, which consist of the data and tools that you should use in operating the Access.

Objects are found in the Navigation Pane which appears on the left side of the screen and displays all objects. The Navigation Pane is an Access interface element that organizes and lists the objects in an Access database. You can open any object by double-clicking the object’s name in the list.

1) Tables

Most databases contain multiple tables.

A table is where all data is stored in the database, and it is the foundation of each database. Tables organize data into columns and rows.

Each column represents a field and each field stores a category of information in a table. For example, Customer Name, Customer ID, Company Name, and City.

Each row in a table contains a record which means each row contains a complete set of all the fields of a person, place, event, or concept. For example, each row contains a customer record including the Customer ID, the Company Name, Contact Name, Contact Title, Address, City, etc.

The customer numbers are unique which means there have no two customers with the same number. Such a field is a unique identifier. With the help of a unique identifier, as its name suggests, you can uniquely identify each record in the database. A unique identifier is also known as the primary key.

2) Query

Query (or queries, plural) is a way of searching for and compiling data from one or more tables in the database based on the conditions. So, according to define query data to be selected, updated, inserted, or deleted.

Queries extract information from a database. A defining query selects a group of records that fulfill a certain condition. Most forms and reports are based on queries that filtered or sorted out data from the database. Queries are often used by macros or VBA procedures to change, add, or delete database records.

3) Form

In Access, a form allows simplified entry and modification of data. A database form enables you to add, modify, and delete table data quickly, easily, and accurately.

Data-entry forms can be used for restricting access to certain fields (known as sensitive fields) within the table. We can apply the data validation rules or VBA codes with the data-entry forms to check the validity of entering data before added to the database table.

Read-only forms are often used for inquiry purposes. These forms display certain fields within a table. The limitation of displaying some fields to others indicates that you can limit a user’s access to sensitive data within the same table.

4) Report

A report contains professional-looking formatted information from the database based on the queries.

Access provides extraordinary flexibility when creating reports based on the queries that select only the records from the database. For instance, you can configure a report to list all records in a given table or you can have the report contains only the records meeting certain criteria. 

Reports often combine multiple tables among different sets of data that enable users to perform research and put the results into a readable format. However, the report can be viewed on-screen, saved to a file, or printed.

Note: When you design your database tables, keep in mind all types of information should be available there that you want to print or publish in the report. 

5) and 6) Macros and VBA

Two other object types, macros and modules are rarely used by Access beginner users.

A macro is often used to automate tasks.

A module is an advanced object written using the VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) programming language. Modules provide more functionality than macros but they are not generally required for intermediate users.

Macros and VBA also allow you to reduce the chance of human error and to ensure that analyses are performed the same way every time.

● HOW DATA FLOWS BETWEEN OBJECTS IN A DATABASE

The flow of information between objects is indicated by single-arrowhead arrows if the flow is in one direction only. Two-arrowhead arrows indicate that the flow goes in both directions. For example, you can use forms to view, add, delete, or modify data from tables.

● KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS FOR ENTERING DATA IN ACCESS

● BACK-UP A DATABASE

Back-Up Database is an essential utility that creates a duplicate copy of the entire database to protect from loss or damage.

Keep in mind that backing up a database on the same storage device where the original database stores may not provide any protection in the event of hardware failure. Backups are usually stored on a separate device, either in an external hard drive or on a network drive.

To back up a database, complete the following steps:

(i) Click the File tab.

(ii) Click Save As.

(iii) Click Back Up Database under the Advanced group.

(iv) Click Save As. Revise the location and file name if you want to change either and click Save.