Access Tables, Forms, Queries, Reports
Grade Sheet Criteria
Build a business database:
Link Multiple Tables into 1 Relational Database relevant to YOUR own business. .
Continue to follow your overall business design theme as much as possible.
Use PDF Tutorial:
http://faculty.scf.edu/winterf/0ClassFolders/1570Office/1GradingCriteria/Access_PictorialTutorial.pdf
Also see:
http://faculty.scf.edu/winterf/0ClassFolders/1570Office/1GradingCriteria/Access_Images/
http://faculty.scf.edu/winterf/0ClassFolders/1570Office/SamplesDataBases/
Relationships are set by linking tables though Key Fields. When tables are linked or related it means that you
only enter data like LastName, FirstName and Address one time, perhaps in the Employee table. If you link
the Employee table to another table by its key field, such as EmployeeID, you can obtain LastName,
FirstName and Address… without retyping this data – saving storage space, saving time, avoiding
redundancy, and reducing possible errors.
Note 1: Relationships: The Primary Key is usually the first field listed in a table.
Ex: EmployeeID should be the Primary field and the first field listed in the Employees table.
Ex: EmployeeID may be Foreign key in the Invoices table. As a rule, there should only be one Primary key
per table.
Normally, do not link a Primary Key to a Primary Key. Link a Primary Key to a Foreign Key (no key
symbol).
Other than the Key fields, you should not have any other field listed in multiple tables. Avoid Redundancy.
Ex: If Price is in the Products table, it should not be in the Invoices table. The Invoice table gets Price from its
relationship to the Products table through ProductID.
If your Relationship window shows a duplicate of the same table (Ex: there is an Employees and Employees_1):
Right click on the Relationship line of the duplicate table (Ex: Employees_1) and click Delete. Then select the
duplicate table (Ex: Employees_1) and Delete the Table. (You may have to close opened tables first.)
If the Primary key for ProductNumber is a Text data type in the Products table, then the foreign key for
ProductNumber must also be a Text data type in the linked Orders table. (Notice I wrote ProductNumber is Text
because it may be: IBM1234 which is really alphanumeric.) Also note that you can type "Relationships" into the
help box and get a lot of help on this topic including Troubleshooting.
Note2: In form Design View, to Disassociate Labels and their associated TextBoxes or a collection of Labels
and TextBoxes (the Form Wizard will associate a whole collection) – highlight the Label(s) and TextBox(es) >
Right-click > Layout > Remove. This will allow you to independently move and resize Labels and/or TextBoxes.
Note 3: Reduce File Size:
I. Office Button > [Access Options] button > Current Database, check Compact on close.
II. Make sure images are small in size. A typical photo from a digital camera can be 8” x 11” or even poster
size and possibly 3 MB. So for some images you must first load them in a Paint program and then reduce
their file size. (Most paint programs have a resize option, ex: Image > Resize). Sometimes it is better to delete
every picture and image in your database. (If you have to temporarily delete the entire picture field.) Then
check the file size. If you see it is much smaller, then you have confirmed the problem is your images. Now
you can add smaller images back in. If necessary, just add a few images for the first few records. Also note –
if you are using Office 2007 use the Attachment data type to add pictures, NOT OLE object. Microsoft had a
bug with its OLE pictures which tremendously increased the file size.
III. Make sure you have no spaces or characters in the file name.
If I.-III. do not work, try to send as a .zip file for a small penalty.
Also see: http://faculty.mccfl.edu/WinterF/0ClassFolders/Common/FileSizes-KeepSmall.htm
Quick Pictorial Tutorials: Create Table | Create Query | Create Form | Create Report | Set Relationships | Sample
Relation
Competency
Steps
Points
Build a Clients Table. Include the following
fields and any desired fields:
EmployeeIS: Primary Key
(When done, the primary key will have a key
icon next to its field name.)
LastName: Text
FirstName: Text
Address1: Text
Address2: Text
City: Text
State: Lookup Wizard. See the General tab to
set the Field Size to 2 and Format to >
(uppercase) and Default to “FL”
Zip: Text
Phone: Text
Email: Hyperlink
A Date field such as hire or birth date
A Currency or Number field to be used in a
calculation later, ex: MonthlyDues
A Yes/No field such as Graduate
A Memo field such as Notes
Create at least two additional tables linked to your
main Table: Suggestion – Invoices linked to Invoice
Details; Employees or Products or Customers linked to
Invoices
Set your Relationships (link your tables):
Primary Key linked (related) to Foreign Key.
Ex: Products.ProductID (table.field with Primary key)
linked to Invoices.ProductID (Foreign key)
The Primary key should be 1st field in table.
In Office 2007 create a Table in
Design View for your ongoing
business project
1. Start Access
2. Click Blank Database
3. Enter a File Name and click the
[Create] button - pay attention
to the Path! (You can click the
folder icon to browse to the
desired path). Give the file a
logical name like BestInventory
not Database1.
4. Click Create Tab
5. Click Table Design button
6. Enter Field Names in column 1
& Data Types in column 2 in the
table design window.
7. In the Field Properties Window
at the bottom of the screen, set the
appropriate field sizes, formats,
and default values.
8. Close the table design window
and Save when Prompted
9. Open the table that you just
created. (Home > View >
Datasheet view). The field names
make up the header on the top
row. You can now start entering
the actual data in the second,
third, fourth… rows.
Give the table a logical name like
Clients, Employees, and Products,
not Table1, Table2, and
Table3. (Give it a good name up
front or right-click an object to
rename it.)
Database Tools tab >
Relationships
Add tables (if necessary) and drag
Primary key (∞) to Foreign key,
and set “Referential Integrity”
Use the Form Wizard to create a simple but attractive
Form in Columnar layout. If you want to use
dropdowns linking to another table see:
LookupWizard.doc
Create tab > More Forms > Form
Wizard
A good form has one record on
one screen in Columnar layout
Format, move, and align all the Form controls so that
everything is lined up and attractive. Examples:
Headers like Invoice Date and ProductName should
have spaces in them instead of InvoiceDate and
ProductName. These spaces are added in Design View.
Also in Design View the column widths should be
adjusted to give the best presentation.
Use the Form Wizard to create a simple but attractive
Select a control > Use Format tab
Create tab > More Forms > Form
Table1 for
Employees: 10pts
2 Other related
Tables: 20pts
Relationships:
10pts
Good Form1 for
Employees with
employee pictures
and email addresses
10pts
Good Form2 for
Form in Columnar layout. If you want to use
dropdowns linking to another table see:
LookupWizard.doc
Wizard
A good form has one record on
one screen in Columnar layout

Use the Report Wizard to create a simple Sorted Report
based on the Table – no Totals. Suggestion: Employee
Addresses or Product Description.
Start the report name with a 1.
See: Sample Report and Terms
This report will show multiple records on one page in
Tabular layout.
To see a simple some sample databases with
relationships and a query see:
faculty.scf.edu/winterf/0ClassFolders/1570Office/SamplesDataBases/
Create a Query in Design View that uses multiple
tables - such as Invoices and Products,
that Calculates and Formats Totals such as.:
SubTotal: [Price]*[Qty] or something similar.
or/and
Tax: [Price]*[Qty] * .07
or/and
LineTotal: SubTotal + Tax
Or
LineTotal: [Price]*[Qty] + [Price]*[Qty] * .07
To Format a field for currency or decimals:
Right-click, choose Properties, choose Format
See: Sample Report with SubTotals
Create a second Report based on the Query above that
uses multiple tables and displays Line Totals, Group
Subtotals, and a Grand Total. Such as a Line Total for
one item, Group Totals showing sales for each
employee, and a Grand Total for all employee. Start the
report name with a 2. Use appropriate and consistent
Formats for all columns.
See:
Access_ReportWithTotals_Scott.pdf
All Reports should have
Title (ex: Company Name) and
Subtitle (ex: Pay Roll Report) and Date.
To get the Group Totals to work – you must have a
product that is sold multiple times or a sales person
that makes multiple sales… Then sort on that
product field or salesperson field. Finally, select
that product field or salesperson field to Group by
when you run the Report Wizard. If you do
everything OK, then you can click the [Summary]
button with the Report Wizard.
This report shows multiple
records on one page in
Tabular layout.

All Reports should have
Title (ex: Company Name)
Subtitle (ex: Pay Roll
Report), and Date.

All reports should be neatly
lined up and appropriately
justified

LastName in Detail header
should appear as Last Name.

Delete any practice or nonworking reports, forms,
queries
1. Click Create Tab
2. Click Query Design Button
3. In the Show Table dialog box:
Select 1st Table (such as
Invoices)
and click [Add.].
Select 2nd Table (such as
Products)
and click [Add.].
to produce a Query for a Report
like
Date Product Price Qty Subtotal
Tax Total
1. Click Create Tab
2. Click Report Wizard
3. In the Tables/Queries dialog
box:
Select your Query and select the
fields [>>], [Next].
4. If necessary, select the Field
you want to group on for
Subtotals [Next]
5. If your query is based on
related tables that have a
calculation, there will be a
[Summary] button that will allow
you to do group and Grand Totals.
(Or Format tab > Totals button >
Sum)
This report will show multiple
records on one page in Tabular
layout.
Invoices 10pts
Report 1: 10pts
Query with a
Calculation: 10pts
Report 2: 10pts
Group & Grand
Totals: 5
(Hint Sort first)
Appropriate and
consistent Formats
Make sure all Report columns are
properly sized and the headers are
appropriately aligned (Point to
column heading boundary and use
double-Headed arrow to size)
Do not have any forms queries, reports that do not work.
Delete any extra forms. Right-click and rename any
non-descriptive tables, forms queries, or reports
Note: in Microsoft Access, all the tables, forms and
reports are stored in one .accdb file. This is the same
file that you started with in your first Access
assignment.
Give the Report a logical name
like Employee Sales not
Report1. (Give it a good name up
front or right-click an object to
rename it.) Query1 is not a descriptive or
acceptable name. Do not have
extra vertical or extra horizontal
space in your forms and reports.
Go into design view and make
everything look attractive
When you open Invoices.accdb,
Access creates a temporary
Record Locking file called
Invoices.laccdb (L is for
Locked).
(Do not send me the laccdb file :
-)
Everything is
neatly aligned,
labeled: 10pts
Total 100