MIS 303 – Introduction to Business Information Systems: Access Tutorial
Decision Making Using Access 2016 – I
Introduction
After the conceptual model (i.e., E-R diagram) of a database has been developed, the next step is to
convert the conceptual model into a physical model using a database software. In other words, you
are going to create a tangible database that will be used in practice. In this tutorial, you will learn
the basic skills of creating a database based on the developed conceptual model using Microsoft
Access 2016, including:
T1. Create a Blank Access Database
T2. Add Tables and Set up Attributes for Tables
T3. Establish Relationships between Tables
T4. Add Data into the Database
T5. Test Referential Integrity
T1. Create a Blank Access Database
1. Launch Microsoft Access 2016, choose Blank database to create a database from scratch.
2. In the pop-up window: (1) specify the name of the database; (2) click the folder icon to specify
where the database will be saved on your computer; (3) click Create to finish creating the blank
database.
Note:
.accdb is the file extension for Access
database file since Microsoft Access
2007, before which .mdb was used as
the file extension.
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T2. Add Tables and Set up Attributes for Tables
T2.1 Add and Set Up the First Table – Helicopter Table
1. You see that by default an empty table temporarily named as “Table 1” has been created. Click
the save icon to save the table and rename it.
2. In the pop-up Save As window, enter Helicopter as the name for the table as we are creating the Helicopter
table first. Then click OK.
3. For now, the Helicopter table is empty. Click View in the toolbar panel to get to the design view
of table where the attributes of a table are established.
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The attributes setup area consists of two panels. The top panel is used for specifiying all the
attributes (fields). The bottom panel is used for specifying the properties of each attribute (field)
By default, the first attribute is created, with ID as the Field Name, AutoNumber as the Data Type,
and an empty Description (Optional).
Note:



Attribute is also called Field or Column.
Data Type specifies what values a Field can take. Even though it is not considered in the
conceptual model design stage, it is required in this physical model design stage. This is one
difference between the conceptual model and the physical model.
Description (Optional) specifies explanations of what a field means. Though marked as
optional, it is recommended that each field has a clear description so that it is easier for any
reader/programmer to understand the meaning of a field in a database.
Following the sequence of attributes for Helicopter entity in the E-R diagram, let us add each of the
attributes into the Helicopter table.
T2.1.1 Add and Set up HelicopterID Attribute
1. Enter HelicopterID to replace the default ID in the first row of attributes. Choose AutoNumber
as the Data Type (the default). When a field’s data type is AutoNumber, it means that its value
will be a unique number automatically generated by the Access 2016 software. Since its value is
unique, an AutoNumber field is a suitable choice for the primary key of a table.
2. The default Field Size for AutoNumber is Long Integer, covering integers that range from
-2,147,483,648 to +2,147,483,647. So an AutoNumber field can take a very wide range of integer
values. The New Values property specifies whether the field takes the value of an incremental
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numeric counter from 1 to 2 to 3, etc. (Increment by default) or a random integer value (Random).
The usage of Random is rare unless you want to prevent a possible damaging situation where
others can guess the value of the next row from the value of the current row for an AutoNumber
field. In most cases, Increment is used.
In our case, HelicopterID takes the value of 1, 2, 3, 4, etc and it is the primary key of the Helicopter
table. Therefore, we set up HelicopterID as an Increment AutoNumber.
3. Enter a description for HelicopterID to explain its meaning. The finished setup for HelicopterID
is shown below:
Note:


You can't change the value of an AutoNumber field as it is automatically generated by the Access
software. Therefore, it is often used for a field that is guaranteed to have unique values but its
value has no meaning except for being unique --- the primary key.
Each table is only allowed to have a maximum of one AutoNumber field.
T2.1.2 Add and Set up HelicopterName Attribute
1. In the second row of fields, type in HelicopterName. Since the name of a helicopter is going to
be text (rather than a number or a date, etc.) and it is not too long based on the data provided, we
choose Short Text as the Data Type for HelicopterName.
Note:
Short Text: up to 255 characters
Long Text: up to about 1 gigabyte (GB), but only display the first 64,000 characters.
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2. The default Field Size for a Short Text is 255, which specifies that the the maximum field value
size is 255 characters. But we know the name of a helicopter is typically not too long and let us
assume that Joe’s SkyTour Inc. has a business rule that any helicopter name should be between 1
and 30 characters and that it is required for each helicpter. To capture this business rule, we need
to: (1) change the Field Size from the default 255 to 30; (2) Set Required to be Yes as its value is
required; (3) Set Allow Zero Length to be No.
3. Add a description to explain what HelicopterName means as an attribute. The finished setup for
HelicopterID is shown below:
T2.1.3 Add and Set up HelicopterModel Attribute
Similar to HelicopterName, the Data Type for HelicopterModel should be Short Text. Assume that
Joe’s SkyTour Inc. has a business rule that the length of any helicopter model should be between 1
and 20 characters and that it is required for each helicopter. The finished setup for
HelicopterModel is shown below:
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T2.1.4 Add and Set up SeatingCap Attribute
1. In the fourth row of fields, type in SeatingCap. Since the seating capacity of a helicopter is a
number and its value is not too big based on the data provided, we choose Number as the Data
Type for SeatingCap.
Note:
Number: take values from -2,147,473,648 to 2,147,473,647.
Large Number: take values from -9.22337204e+18 to 9.22337204e+18.
2. Since the seating capacity of a helicopter is going to be an integer and in our cases its value is less
than 255, we choose the Field Size to be Byte.
Note:
Byte: integers that range from 0 to 255.
Integer: integers that range from -32,768 to 32,767.
Long Integer: integers that range from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Single: floating point values that range from -3.4 x 1038 to 3.4 x 1038.
Double: floating point values that range from -1.797 x 10308 to 1.797 x 10308.
Decimal: floating point values that range from -9.999... x 1027 to 9.999... x 1027.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Replication ID: a globally unique identifier required for replication.
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3. The Default Value for a number is by default 0. Remove it so that there is no Default Value.
Note:
When a field has a Default Value, its value for every single record will be the Default Value unless the
user gives it another value or modifies it. Setting up Default Value can be very useful in terms of saving
data entry time and effort when the value of a field does not change much. Unless there is a specific
business rule regarding the by-default value of a field or you have domain knowledge about how often the
field value changes, you should remove Default Value.
4. Set Required to be Yes as its value is required. Set Allow Zero Length to be No. Also add a
description for SeatingCap. The finished setup for SeatingCap is shown below:
T2.1.5 Add and Set up HourlyCost Attribute
1. In the fifth row of fields, type in HourlyCost. Since the hourly cost of a helicopter is a currency,
we choose Currency as the Data Type. Add a meaning description.
2. In addition: (1) set up the Decimal Places to be 2 to be consistent with the data; (2) remove
Default Value; (3) set up Required to be Yes; (4) add a meaningful description.
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T2.1.6 Add and Set up DateLastMaint Attribute
1. In the next row of fields, type in DateLastMaint. Since this attribute is a date, we choose
Date/Time as the Data Type. There are different Formats for a Date/Time field, we choose the
correct one among all the listed formats. In our case, it should be Short Date based on the data
provided.
2. To make sure that data for this field is entered correctly, we can set up an input mask for
DateLastMaint such that the data for this field is always entered in the pre-specified short date
format. Click on the cell right to Input Mask, and then click the … button. In the pop-up Input
Mask Wizard window, click Yes.
3. Then the following Input Mask Wizard window will show up. Choose Short Date 9/27/1969
among all the listed input masks, and then click Finish.
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You will notice that the input mask cell has been replaced with a pattern of strings.
4. In addition, set up Required to be Yes assuming that its value is required, and add a meaningful
description. The finished setup is shown below:
T2.1.7 Set up the Primary Key
For each table, we need to specify a primary key. In Access, the primary key is denoted by the key
icon to the left of the Field Name column.
By default, the first field is assigned as the primary key. In our case, HelicopterID is automatically
assigned as the primary key and we do not need to change it.
No assume that we want to assign HelicopterName (which is unique for each helicopter) as the
primary key. Move the mouse over the row selector area (to the left of Field Name column). Once
the right arrow appears, click the mouse to select the HelicopterName row.
The helicopterName row is now selected:
Under Design menu, click the Primary Key button to set/unset primary key.
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Now HelicopterName is set as the primary key.
Note:
The Primary Key button under Design menu allows setting and unsetting primary keys.


If a field is already set as the primary key, clicking the Primary Key button will unset it.
If a a field is not set as the primary key, clicking the Primary Key button will set it as the
primary key AND override the old primary key by unsetting the field which was set as the
primary key. Why? Remember that each table has one and only one primary key.
To set up a composite primary key, you need to simultaneously select the rows of the multiple fields that
together serve as the primary key first by holding down the CTRL key. Then click the Primary Key
button to specify that the multiple fields are used together as a composite primary key.
Now change back so that HelicopterID is the primary key.
Remember to click the save icon to save what you have done.
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T2.2 Add and Set up the Second Table – TourType Table
1. Click Create menu, and then click Table to add a new table.
2. Click the save icon to save this new table. You will be prompted to enter a name for the new
table. In the pop-up Save As window, enter TourType and then click OK.
3. We have created an empty TourType table. Now we need to get to the design view of the table to
set up attributes for the table. In addition to clicking on the View button, there are two other ways
to get to the design view as shown below.
(1) Click the View button in the
toolbar panel.
(2) Right click on the table tab
(3) Right click on the table name
(i.e., TourType in this case), and
click Design View in the
drop-down menu list.
under Tables panel, and click
Design View in the drop-down
menu list.
T2.2.1 Add and Set up TourType Attribute
1. For TourType, the Data Type should be Short Text as it takes string values such as “S”, “M”,
and “L”.
2. In terms of properties of this Short Text, the Field Size should be 1. In addition, set up
Required to be Yes, and Allow Zero Length to be No.
3. Do not forget to add a meaningful description for the attribute.
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T2.2.2 Add and Set up TourTypeName Attribute
1. For TourTypeName, the Data Type should be Short Text as its text length will not be too long,
at least based on the data provided. Assume that Joe’s SkyTour Inc. has a business rule that any tour
type name should be between 1 and 30 characters and that it is required for each tour type.
2. In terms of properties of this Short Text, the Field Size should be 30. In addition, set up
Required to be Yes, and Allow Zero Length to be No.
3. Again, remember to add a meaningful description for the attribute.
T2.2.3 Add and Set up ExpectedHours Attribute
1. For ExpectedHours, the Data Type should be Number as it is a number.
2. Based on the data provided, it is a floating point number with 2 decimal places and its value is
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typically small. Therefore, the Field Size should be Single, and Decimal Places should be 2. In
addition, remove Default Value, and set up Required to be Yes.
3. Finally, add a meaningful description for this attribute.
T2.2.4 Add and Set up TicketPrice Attribute
1. For TicketPrice, Currency should be the Data Type and its Decimal Places should be 2 based
on the data provided.
2. In addition, remove Default Value, set up Required to be Yes, and add a meaningful description.
T2.2.5 Set up the Primary Key
By default, the first attribute TourTypeID is assigned as the primary key. And this is exactly what
we want. Do not change it and we can move to the next table. Remember to click the save icon to
save what you have done.
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T2.3 Add and Set up the Third Table – Pilot Table
1. For the Pilot table, we try a slightly different way. Let us add the Field Name, the Data Type,
and Description for all attributes first. Then we will set up the properties for each attribute’s Data
Type.
2. The Data Type for PilotID should be Short Text. It takes the value of letter P followed by three
digits. Therefore, we can set up the Field Size to be 4. It is the primary key. Set Required to be Yes
and Allow Zero Length to be No since it should take a value as the primary key.
Note:
Since we know that the value of PilotID will be P plus three digits, we can set up the input mask
so that its value will be entered in this pre-specified format.
Input mask includes one mandatory component followed by two optional components, with a
semicolon between two components.

The first mandatory component includes the mask characters, placeholders and literal
data such as parentheses, hyphens, and periods.

The second optional component is set to be either 0 or 1: 0 means that the mask
characters are stored with the data while 1 means that the mask characters will not be
stored though displayed.

The third optional component indicates the placeholder for data entry. You may set up
your own placeholder or use the default placeholder: the underscore (_).
The following table lists some commonly used mask characters for an input mask:
Mask Character
Explanation
0
A digit from 0 to 9 must be entered
9
A digit from 0 to 9 can be entered (optional)
L
A letter must be entered
?
A letter can be entered (optional)
A
A digit or letter must be entered
a
A digit or letter can be entered (optional)
\
The character immediately following it will be literally displayed.
(Optional) The Input Mask for PilotID (if specified) should be: \P000;0;_

The first component \P000 specifies that letter P will be displayed and users will need to
enter three digits.

The second component 0 specifies that the entered digits after P will be stored.

The third component _ specifies that underscore will be used as the placeholder.
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3. Obviously at first glance, the Data Type for all the attributes related to name and address,
including FirstName, LastName, Street, City, State should be Short Text. For these attributes,
without clearly specified business rules, we set up the appropriate Field Size by domain
knowledge. For example, we know that FirstName and LastName would typically not exceed 30
characters, so we set up its Field Size to be 30. We assign a slightly larger Field Size 50 for Street
and a slightly shorter Field Size 20 for City. For attribute State, from the data provided, we know
that it is using the abbreviated 2-letter format. Therefore, its Field Size should be 2. For all of them,
set Required to be Yes and Allow Zero Length to be No assuming that they should not be left
empty.
FirstName
LastName
Street
City
State
4. Even though SSN is composed of 9 digits, it is inappropriate to use Number for its Data Type
for two major reasons. First, as seen from the data provided, the value of SSN also includes two
hyphens. If these two hyphens are counted, the Data Type for SSN should be Short Text. Second,
a Number field indicates that the field has a mathematical connotation (e.g., you can compare one
value against another value; you do mathematical operations such as adding up two values or
subtract one value from another value, etc.), which does not apply to SSN. Therefore, the correct
Data Type for SSN should be Short Text rather than Number.
The Field Size should be 11, counting 9 digits and 2 hyphens. Set Required to be Yes and Allow
Zero Length to be No. We can also set up the embedded SSN input mask using the input mask
wizard.
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5. Similarly, the correct Data Type for ZipCode should be Short Text rather than Number given
that ZipCode has no mathematical connotations.
The Field Size should be 5. Set Required to be Yes and Allow Zero Length to be No.
Self-Exercise (Optional):
The value of ZipCode takes the form of 5 digits. Set up the input mask for ZipCode so that users can only
enter 5 digits as its value.
6. The Data Type for Phone should be Short Text rather than Number.
Self-Exercise:
Why should the Data Type for Phone be Short Text rather than Number?
The Field Size should be 14, counting all numbers, parentheses, hyphens and space. Set Required
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to be Yes and Allow Zero Length to be No. We can also set up the embedded Phone Number input
mask using the input mask wizard.
7. The Data Type for DateofBirth should be Date/Time.
Similar to DateLastMaint, set up the Format to be Short Date, and add a Short Date Input Mask
for it.
Set Required to be No as it is not required as seen in the data provided.
8. Remember to click the save icon to save what you have done.
T2.4 Add and Set up the Fourth Table – Trip Table
1. As seen from the data provided, the value of TripID is incremental integer taking values from 1
to 2 to 3, etc. It is also the primary key. Therefore, the Data Type for TripID should be
AutoNumber.
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2. HelicopterID, PilotID, and TourTypeID are foreign keys that map to the primary key
HelicopterID in the Helicopter table, the primary key PilotID in the PilotTable, and the primary key
TourTypeID in TourType table respectively. Therefore:

PilotID here should be the same as PilotID in the PiotTable: the Data Type should be Short
Text with a of Field Size 4. Implied from the E-R diagram and the data provided and, it is a
required attribute. Therefore, set Required to be Yes and Allow Zero Length to be No.

TourTypeID here should be the same as TourTypeID in the TourType table: the Data Type
should be Short Text with a of Field Size 1. Implied from the E-R diagram and the data
provided, it is a required attribute. Therefore, set Required to be Yes and Allow Zero
Length to be No.
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
HelicopterID here should be the same as HelicopterID in the Helicopter table. However,
because AutoNumber has already been used for TripID and each table can only have one
AutoNumber attribute, we could not set up HelicopterID to be an AutoNumber. Also, for
each trip, its associated HelicopterID value should not be automatically generated by the
software. Instead, it should be the ID of the helicopter actually used for the trip. Therefore,
do not use AutoNumber for HelicopterID. Because HelicopterID takes the value of an
integer, we set up its Data Type to be Number. In addition, as a foreign key, it maps to
HelicopterID in the Helicopter table where it is a Long Integer. Therefore, the Field Size
should be the same Long Integer. Remove Default Value and set Required to be Yes.
3. For TripDate, obviously the Data Type for should be Date/Time.
Similarly, set up the Format to be Short Date, and add a Short Date Input Mask using the Input
Mask Wizard for it. Set Required to be Yes as it is required as seen in the data provided.
4. For StartTime, obviously the Data Type for should be Date/Time.
The Format should be Medium Time.
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Add a Medium Time Input Mask using the Input Mask Wizard for it. Set Required to be Yes
as it is required as seen in the data provided.
5. For NumPeople, the Data Type for should be Number.
Because it takes small integer values, its Field Size should be the Byte. Remove Default Value and
set Required to be Yes.
6. Remember to click the save icon to save what you have done.
T3. Establish Relationships between Tables
Now after we have created all the tables, we need to establish the relationships between the tables.
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T3.1 First Make Sure Tables are Closed
It is important that no table is open or being used before establishing relationships. Close all tables
using either of the two ways:
(1) Right click on any table tap, choose Close All in the
(2) Click the X button for all table tabs.
drop-down menu list.
Your window should look like below with no tables being opened:
Note:
If any table (e.g., the Trip table) is open, later when establishing relationships, you will get the following
error message:
T3.2 Add Tables to the Relationships Layout View
1. Click Database Tools menu, and then click Relationships to start adding tables for creating
relationships.
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2. A Select Table window will pop-up. Select each table listed, and click the Add button to add the
table to the relationships layout view. Once all tables have been added, click Close button.
Note:
A quicker way to add a table is to Double Click each table.
After all tables have been added, you should see:
You can arrange the position of a table by keep pressing on the table name and dragging it around.
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T3.3 Add Relationships and Enforce Referential Integrity
Let us create the first relationship between Helicopter and Trip. Remember that a relationship is
created by linking a foreign key in one table to its corresponding primary key in another table. In
this case, we should link HelicopterID in the Trip table (i.e., foreign key) to its corresponding
primary key – HelicopterID in the Helicopter table to create the relationship.
Note:
The foreign key and the primary key to establish a relationship are not necessarily named the same. For
example, even if the foreign key is named TripHelicopterID instead of HelicopterID in the Trip table, you
should still link it with HelicopterID in the Helicopter table because they are both about the ID of the
helicopter and their values should match.
1. Click HelicopterID in the Helicopter
table, keep your mouse pressed, and drag it
until it reaches the HelicopterID in the Trip
table. Then release your mouse.
Note:
The sequence does not matter: you may link from a
foreign key to a primary key or link from a primary
key to a foreign key.
2. In the pop-up Edit Relationships
window, check Enforce Referential
Integrity. Then click Create. Remember
that referential integrity helps ensure and
consistency and integrity of data among
tables. Later when entering or editing data,
you will notice that some error messages
will be thrown if data inconsistency is
discovered by Access.
3. The relationship between Helicopter and Trip has been establish as shown below:
Note:
The cardinality numbers (1, and ∞ which means
many) will only be shown if Enforce
Referential Integrity has been checked. If they
are not shown, it is an indication that Enforce
Referential Integrity is not checked.
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Note:
In advanced database courses, you will learn that a many-to-many relationship needs to be transformed into
two one-to-many relationships before creating the physical design of the database using Access or other
database software.
4. Create the rest of the relationships and your finished Relationships layout view should look like
below. Remember to click the save icon to save what you have done.
Note:
The Data Type of a foreign key should match the Data Type of its corresponding primary key as much
as possible to be able to establish a relationship. If the following error messages shows up, it means that
the Data Types of the foreign key and the primary key do not match and you need to go to the design
view of the table to fix it.
The above error message could be caused by:



HelicopterID in Helicopter table is Long Integer while HelicopterID in Trip table is Integer.
PilotID in Pilot table is Short Text while PilotID in Trip table is Number or AutoNumber.
…
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T3.4 Fix Wrong Relationships If Necessary
If you created a wrong relationship and want to fix it, you can delete the wrong relationship first
and then add the correct relationship.
To delete a relationship, click on the line representing the relationship to select it first. A selected
relationship will be highlighted in bold. Then right click, and choose Delete from the pop-up menu
list. Then click Yes in the pop-up prompt window to confirm the delete operation.
T4. Add Data into the Database
After we have converted the E-R diagram into a full-fledged physical model, we now focus on
adding sample data into the database.
Note:
In the case of multiple tables (e.g., four tables in this exercise), the order of tables for data entry is very
important due to enforced referential integrity which requires that a foreign key value (if required) must
match the value of its corresponding primary key value in another table or equals NULL (if not required).
Therefore, before we enter data for a table with foreign keys, we need to make sure that we have entered
the data for the table(s) where the foreign keys’ corresponding primary keys exist.
In this exercise, the Trip table has foreign keys such as HelicopterID, PilotID and TourTypeID and their
values must match the possible values in other three tables. Therefore, we need to enter the data for
tables Helicopter, Pilot, and TourType first before entering the data for Trip table.
There are multiple ways to enter the data for a table. We will cover each of them with examples.
T4.1 Use the DataSheet View to Enter Data
1. The DataSheet view is similar to an Excel Worksheet where you directly enter the data for each
row and column. Double click on each table in the Tables panel to enter the DataSheet view of the
table.
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Note:
The cell for HelicopterID is marked with (New). This is because it is set up as an AutoNumber and its
value will be automatically generated by the software. Therefore, we do not have control over it and we do
not enter data for it. We directly enter the data for other fields.
During the data entry process, the Input Mask will be shown. For example, the Short Date Input
Mask for DateLastMaint will be effective and you only need to enter the digits for month, day, and
year.
The values for HelicopterID are automatically filled in as 1, 2, 3, etc. If you forget to enter the
value for a field whose value is required, you will get an error message when clicking the save icon
to save what you have done.
The finished Helicopter table with data will look like below. Remember to click the save icon to
save what you have done.
Again, during the data entry for the Pilot table using the DataSheet view, the following Input Masks
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that were set up earlier will be shown.
(if it was set up)
(if it was set up)
2. The finished Pilot table with data will look like below. Remember to click the save icon to save
what you have done.
Note:
Because the Required property for DateofBirth is set to No, it is allowed to not take a value.
T4.1.1 Solve the Non-Continuous Problem for AutoNumber
When a field’s Data Type is an Increment AutoNumber, its value is automatically generated by
the software and you do not have control over it. If you accidentally remove one row, the
automatically generated number that has been deleted would not come back. As a result, when the
values of an AutoNumber field are supposed to be continuous integers like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., the
actuals values shown on your table might be non-continuous like 1,2 3, 5 (if you have deleted 4) or
1, 3, 4, 5 (if you have deleted 2). This section is dedicated to solving this problem and making
AutoNumber continuous again.
Suppose you have accidently removed Helicopter 4: right click on the row selection area, choose
Delete Record from the pop-up menu list, and click Yes in the pop-up prompt window.
Now as you try to add Helicopter 4, you will notice that HelicopterID 4 is not coming back. The
newly created HelicopterID is 5.
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To solve the problem and make HelicopterID continuous again, you need to remove the old
HelicopterID and create a new HelicopterID that is an AutoNumber. In this way, Access will start
creating AutoNumbers from square one and the values of HelicopterID will be continuous again.
1. Because HelicopterID is used in one relationship, we have remove the relationship first before
we can remove HelicopterID from the Helicopter table.
Before we make changes to the relationships, remember that we have to close all tables first so that
they are not being used.
Then go the Relationships layout view and remove the relationship involving HelicopterID: right
click on the line and click Delete.
Note:
If multiples tables with AutoNumber attributes have the non-continuous problem that needs to be fixed, you
should remove all the relationships involving the multiple tables.
The new Relationships layout view should look like this:
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Then click the save icon to save what you have done, and exit the Relationships layout view by
clicking the Close buttoin in the toolbar panel.
2. Go the design view of the table you want to fix (in this case Helicopter table).
Because each table is required to have a primary key, we need to unset HelicopterID to make it not
a primary key and rename it (e.g, to HelicopterID1) so that we could add a new primary key named
HelicopterID before we remove the old HelicopterID.
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3. Now we need to add a new attribute named HelicopterID to be used as the new primary key.
Right click on the row selector area for HelicopterID1, click Insert Rows.
4. Add the new attribute HelicopterID in the newly added row at the top. Make it AutoNumber and
add the same description as HelicopterID1. Then make HelicopterID as the Primary Key by
clicking the Primary Key button to make it selected.
5. Now remove the old HelicopterID which is renamed as HelicopterID1. Right click on the row
selector area and click Delete Rows. In the pop-up prompt window(s), click Yes.
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6. Click the save icon to save what you have done. Then double click on Helicopter table in the
Tables Panel to open its DataSheet view. Now the values of HelicoperID are continuous.
7. Now you need to add the removed relationship(s) back. This is very important and you should
not forget about it. Afterwards, click the save icon to save what you have done.
T4.2 Use Form to Enter Data
1. Now we will create a form for data entry into the TourType table. Under Create menu, click
Form Wizard button.
2. In the pop-up Form Wizard window, follow the step-by-step instructions to create the form.
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(1) Select the table for which the form will be created – the TourType table.
Then select what attributes of the selected table will be shown in the form. The > button allows
you to add one selected attribute and the >> button will add all attributes at once. Click the >>
button so that all attributes will be shown in the form for data entry. Then click Next.
(2) Choose a layout for the form. We can go with the by-default columnar layout. Click Next.
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(3) Enter a meaningful title for the form. Then click Finish.
(4) The form has been created and can be used to enter data.
For example, we can add the first tour type and then click the next arrow to save it.
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(5) We can add our own navigation buttons that are bigger and more intuitive for navigation. Right
click on TourType Data Entry Form in the Forms panel, choose Design View.
3. We will add three buttons – one button for moving to the next record, one button for moving to
the previous record and one button for saving the current record – to the right of the textboxes.
(1) First, widen the form a little bit to allow spaces for the three to-be-added buttons. Move the
mouse over the right border of the form, when an arrowed cross appears, keep the mouse pressed
and drag it to widen the form.
Before Widened:
After Widened:
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(2) Now add the first button for moving to the previous record. Under Design menu, click the
Button icon in the toolbar.
(3) Then click on the form at where you want to add the button.
(4) In the pop-up Command Button Wizard window for setting up the button, Select Record
Navigation under Categories and Go To Previous Record under Actions. Then click Next.
(5) We can choose Text (by default “Previous Record”) style for the button. Then click Next.
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(6) We then give the button a meaning name and click Finish.
The button for nagivating to the previous record has been added.
(7) Similarly, we can add the button for navigating to the next record and for saving a record.
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Next Record Button: you can
adjust the size and position of the
button.
Save Record Button: you can
adjust the size and position of the
button.
3. Now double click on TourType Data Entry Form in the Forms panel to use it.
4. After you have added all the records, double click the TourType table on the Tables panel to
open its DataSheet view. You will notice that the added records are there.
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Note:
Sometimes, the data is not shown in the DataSheet view after you have added them through
the form. This is ONLY because the DataSheet view has not been refreshed. Close the
DataSheet view first and then re-open it to refresh. You may need to do it a couple of times
before the data is shown in the DataSheet view.
T4.3 Import Data to a Table
1. You can also important data from external sources to a table. Suppose we want to import data
from an Excel spreadsheet to the Trip table. Right click on Trip table in the Tables panel, click
Import and then choose Excel in the pop-up menu list. A Get External Data window will pop-up.
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2. In the pop-up Get External Data window, first click the Browse… button to select the Excel
file (Trip.xlsx) with the data to be imported. Then select Appends a copy of the records to the
table, and select Trip table from all the listed tables. Then click OK.
3. The next Import Spreadsheet Wizard window provides a view of the data from the external
Excel file. Click Next.
Note:
If the Excel file contains multiple worksheets, you will be prompted to select which worksheet
will be imported.
4. In the next window, confirm that the data will be imported to the Trip table. Then click Finish.
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5. In the next window, click Close. Then double click the Trip table on the Tables panel to open its
DataSheet view. You will notice that the imported records are shown.
6. Always remember to click the save icon to save what you have done.
T5. Test Referential Integrity
For the opened Trip table, if we revise the HelicopterID for Trip 10 to be 5. When you click the
save icon to save what you did, you will get an error message. This is because of referential
integrity: there is no Helicopter with HelicopterID 5 in the Helicopter table to match the
HelicopterID 5 here. No problem will occur if changing the value back to 1 and saving it.
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Now open the DataSheet view of the Pilot table and try to remove the pilot record with PilotID
P002.
An error message will pop up due to referential integrity: if this pilot were removed, all the records
in the trip table with PilotID P002 would not be able to find a match in the Pilot table.
A Final Note:
Whenever an Access file is opened, a temporary lock file with the file name extension .laccdb
(not .accdb) will be created. This lock file is used to prevent different users from makings changes to
the database at the same time.
The temporary lock file is different in two ways:


The file icon is different with a lock
The file extension is different: .laccdb if you allow file extensions to be shown.
After you have closed the database file and exited Microsoft Access program, the temporary lock file
will be automatically deleted and disappear. The temporary lock file is NOT the actual database file
and could be not opened. To avoid making the mistake of transferring the wrong lock file when you
plan to transfer the actual database file, it is highly recommended that you close all Access files and
program first so that you will only see the actual database files.
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