Microsoft Office is an editor that allows you to create and edit office documents. It also has an embedded application that allows users to work with databases. Databases are primarily handy tool for storing, organizing and retrieving necessary information. In this material, the editor will be analyzed in detail. Microsoft Access and published step-by-step instruction for working with the application.

What is Microsoft Access

Microsoft Office Access is a powerful editor, which is a database management system based on the relational model. It should also be noted that it uses a dynamic exchange model between network resources and applications. Wherein editor uses advanced tools for processing any type of information and presenting them in a clear coherent structure.

Access also introduces support for dynamic ActiveX libraries. This technology, which helps not only to present information in the form of text, but also in the form of multimedia objects. relational model allows you to establish links between databases and control any change, making timely adjustments.

Some users believe that one of Microsoft editors Office Excel similar to an Access program, but this is a misconception. Excel is a tool for working with spreadsheets, and the latter, in turn, is used to create a database in the form of tables.

Principle Excel work Based on the organization of data within a single table, Access allows you to perform more complex tasks, working with a large array of information. And in conclusion, it is necessary to note an important feature, Excel is designed for a single user, since the change of information is local in nature, and Access implies multi-user work with databases.

Why is it used

The editor is used to fully automate the work with the database in various fields of activity, business, personnel management, etc. It is worth noting that due to the fact that software has a universal structure, it helps to get rid of an overabundance of data when you need to change the desired parameter, not by entering a new one, but by adjusting the old one. Moreover, the changes will be reflected not only in the main database, but also in those associated with it.

Application structure

The convenience of working with the program is achieved due to the presence of elements that allow automate the process creating a base. The following is a list of the main components of the software.

Components:

• table. The application component is designed to write and store data;
• inquiry. The element is designed to receive information from one or more tables. It is a means for accessing related databases and third-party software;
• form. The object is used to present the entered information in a more user-friendly way;
• report. Allows you to get the final result in the form of a finished document;
• macro. It is an element that contains a sequential description for performing an action. With it, you can set a command that will perform a specific task, for example, checking for data changes in one of the tables;
• module. A component that contains software written in a language Visual programming basic. With its help, the editor significantly expands the functionality. This is achieved through the use of functions and procedures designed to respond to certain changes;
• access page. It allows you to access remote bases stored on other personal computers.

Relationship with other DBMS

Access allows you not only to use your own entered information, but also to establish a relationship with another DBMS. There is also the ability to import from other applications, such as dBase, MySQL, Paradox, FoxPro, Excel. For the convenience of the user, the possibility is implemented not only to use import, but also bind data with other programs and network resources.

User interface overview

Important! Interface review will be conducted on Microsoft example Access 2013. However, Microsoft Access 2007 and 2010 are almost identical

The interface in this version of the software is designed to improve the convenience of working with numerous elements, it is based on the ribbon, which provides quick access to the main functions and commands.

User interface:

• « Backstage" (create). The interface element appears after the program starts and allows the user to select a template for creating a database. In the process of work, to go to this tab, you must follow the path "File" and "Create".
• « File". Allows you to save, open, print the finished document, as well as set the Access options and set the appropriate design theme.
  
  
• « ribbon". It is the main element when working with the editor. It contains modules with tools for creating and editing a database. It also includes a panel quick access, which contains the most frequently used components.
• « Navigation area". Allows you to see the result of the actions performed and reflects the structure of the database.
• « Dialog window". An interface element with which the user can specify the parameters of an object.
  
• ". To display the component, you will need to right-click on the object element. It includes commands that depend on the task being performed.
  
• ". Used to switch the document view mode, and to display the status of the current operation.

The interface was reviewed using Microsoft Access 2013 as an example. It may differ in lower editions.

Working with databases in Access

Base creation

There are several ways to create a database: from scratch or using a ready-made template. In the first case, the user needs to create database elements and objects on his own; in the second case, everything is much simpler. We launch ready template and enter your information. Next, we will consider in detail both options for working with databases.

net base

Let's start creating new base followed by filling it with information:

Create from template

Working with a template looks like this:

Filling the base

Filling the database involves creating a table and entering the necessary information into it.

To begin with, it should be noted that using MS Access, you can to import. To do this, select the "External" tab, click on the "Import" icon. Next, a new window will open where you need to specify the path to the file and click "OK". Then the import window will appear again, click " Further» and set information about each object. We set the key that will help to quickly process the information, and click " Further". After that, the object will appear in the main window and you can start creating it.

Process of creation:

It should be noted that the "Price" field has a numeric parameter. This is due to the fact that information in monetary terms has a dimension expressed in rubles (if the official localized version of the office suite is used). If we are talking about the price of computer peripherals, then, as a rule, conventional units are used to express its comparative cost. For such a case, a numerical parameter is used, this will avoid reconfiguring the entire database.

Project No. 1 "Products":

Project No. 2 "Supply":

Data schemas

The relationship between tables is established using the structure used in the project. In this case, the structure is displayed graphically, which makes it possible to significantly facilitate data processing.

Establishing a relationship between projects:

Now we need establish a connection between two objects, we do it like this:

Creating requests

Classic selection

The selection request allows you to select data in the database according to pre-created conditions. In our project, a selection will be created that allows you to find a product by its name. The work will be done in the database "Products".

Creating an Entity

A Create Entity query in Microsoft Access fetches related tables and other previously created queries. Unlike the first option, the result will be saved in a new permanent table.

The process looks like this:

To add, delete, edit

This type of query implies the creation and execution of some action, as a result of which the parameters in the table will change.

We create a request like this:

Inquiry to add:

For editing:

Creation and design of forms

Forms are one of the elements that are designed to properly organize data storage.

What forms are for:

• The purpose of forms is data output on the screen in a user-friendly way;
• launch control. In this case, the main purpose of forms is to run macros;
• showing dialog boxes. With the help of forms, you can display a warning about possible errors.

We use "" to create an object:

After that, the user will see new inset, where the table will be presented as a form. As you can see, the perception of information has become much more convenient.

Consider the option of creating forms through the Constructor:

Create a form from scratch with "". With this option, you can customize the appearance, change the fill of the field, add media files, and more.

You can also set the required parameters for the picture: "Background Color", "Background Type", "Borders", etc.

We generate reports

To work with reports, we will use "":

Report using the Designer:

application program Microsoft Access 2007 designed to create Database. Access 2007 uses logically related tables. DBMS Microsoft Access 2007 provides convenient and reliable control data stored in tables.

The essence of creating a database in Microsoft Access 2007 is that you first need to create a database structure (create a table structure and establish relationships between them), and then you need to fill in the tables of the new database.

In addition, it is desirable to create forms to enter data into tables, requests to search for information in the database and reports to display the necessary information from the database in a convenient form on the screen, print or file.

The database can be created either manually (a new empty database) or based on templates. Templates do not always correspond to the required database, but with their help you can quickly create a database close to what is required, and then you can modify it and fill it with your data.

At startup application program Access 2007 will display a new start page"Getting Started with Microsoft Access 2007", shown in Fig. one.

Rice. 1. New start page

When creating a database based on templates, you can select the required template on the Getting Started with Microsoft Access 2007 page from the Template Categories or the From Microsoft Office Online templates. When you select, for example, the Faculty template in the Local templates category, a description of the database will appear on the right side of the application window. Below, in the text field, the file name is indicated: Faculty.accdb and a folder icon with which you can save the file to the desired directory (the default folder is My Documents).

The file name and directory for storing the file can be changed. Then you need to click on the Create button. As a result, the database window Faculty: database (Access 2007) - Microsoft Access will appear. The Editing Area will display the Faculty List to be completed. If the Navigation Pane is closed, it must be opened by pressing the F11 key or by clicking on the "Open/Close Navigation Pane Border" button.

Access 2010 is a database creation and management program. To understand Access, you must first understand databases.

In this article, you will learn about databases and how they are used. You will learn the differences between managing data in Access and Microsoft Excel.

What is a database?

A database is a set of data that is stored in computer system. Databases allow their users to quickly and easily enter, access, and analyze their data. They are such useful tool that you see them all the time. Have you ever waited for a doctor's receptionist to enter your personal information into a computer, or watched a store employee use a computer to see if an item was in stock? Then you saw the database in action.

The easiest way to understand what a database is is to think of it as a collection of lists. Think of one of the databases mentioned above: a database of patients in a doctor's office. What lists are contained in such a database? Well, for starters, there's a list of patient names. Then there is a list of past appointments, a list with medical history for each patient, a list of contact information, and so on.

This applies to all databases, from the simplest to the most complex. For example, if you want to bake cookies, then you can save a database containing the recipes you know how to make and the friends you give those recipes to. This is one of the simplest databases. It contains two lists: a list of your friends and a list of cookie recipes.

However, if you were a professional baker, you would have many more lists to keep track of: a list of customers, a list of products sold, a list of prices, a list of orders... you could go on and on. The more lists added, the more complex the database will be.

In Access, lists are a bit more complex than the ones you write on paper. Access stores its lists of data in tables, allowing you to store even more detailed information. In the table below, the list of people in the amateur baker database has been expanded to include other relevant friend information.

If you're familiar with other programs in the Microsoft Office suite, this might remind you of Excel, allowing you to organize your data in a similar way. In fact, you can create a similar table in Excel.

Why use a database?

If a database is essentially a collection of lists stored in tables and you can create tables in Excel, why do you need a real database? While Excel is great at storing and organizing numbers, Access is much more efficient at handling non-numeric data like names and descriptions. Non-numeric data plays a significant role in almost any database and it is important to be able to sort and analyze it.

However, what databases really do, apart from any other way of storing data, is connection. We call the database, like the ones you will work with, in Access a relational database. A relational database can understand how lists and the objects within them are related to each other. To explore this idea, let's go back to a simple database with two lists: the names of your friends and the cookie recipes you know how to make. You've decided to create a third list to keep track of the batches of cookies you make and who they're for. Because you only make them, you know the recipe, and you will only pass them on to your friends, this new list will get all of its information from the lists you made earlier.

See how the third list uses the words that appeared in the first two lists? The database is able to understand that Ivan Ivanovich and Cookies on sour cream in the list are the same things as Ivan Ivanovich and Cookies on sour cream in the first two lists. These relationships seem obvious, and a person will immediately understand this. However, an Excel workbook will not be able to.

The difference between Access and Excel

Excel would treat all of these things as separate and unrelated pieces of information. In Excel, you will need to enter every single information about a person or type of cookie every time you mention it, because this database will not be relative like an Access database. Simply put, relational databases can recognize what a person can do: if the same words appear in multiple lists, they refer to the same thing.

The fact that relational databases can process information in this way allows you to enter, search, and analyze data in more than one table at a time. All of these things would be difficult to do in Excel, but in Access even complex tasks can be simplified and made reasonably user-friendly.

To make sound and effective decisions in production activities, in economic management and in politics, a modern specialist must be able to receive, accumulate, store and process data using computers and communications, presenting the result in the form of visual documents. V modern society Information Technology are developing very rapidly, they penetrate into all spheres of human activity.

In different areas of the economy, it is often necessary to work with data from different sources, each of which is associated with a specific type of activity. To coordinate all this data, certain knowledge and organizational skills are required.

Microsoft's product - Access combines information from different sources in one relational database. It creates forms, queries, and reports that allow you to quickly and efficiently update data, get answers to questions, search for relevant data, analyze data, print reports, charts, and mailing labels.

This term paper is a consideration of designing in theory and creating in practice a database in Microsoft's product for managing databases "Microsoft Access".

The Access system is a set of end user tools for managing databases. It includes designers of tables, forms, queries and reports. This system can also be considered as an application development environment. By using macros or modules to automate tasks, you can create user-centric applications as powerful as applications written directly in programming languages. However, they will include buttons, menus and dialog boxes. Programming on VBA language, you can create powerful programs like the Access system itself.

Create applications without programming using Access macros. Users spreadsheets and databases should be familiar with many of the key concepts used in Access. Before starting any work software product, it is important to understand its capabilities and the types of tasks for which it is intended. Microsoft Access (hereinafter referred to as simply Access) is a multifaceted product, the use of which is limited only by the user's imagination.

Access is fully managed relational databases data. The system maintains primary and foreign keys and enforces data integrity at the kernel level (which prevents incompatible data updates or deletions). In addition, tables in Access are equipped with data validation tools that prevent incorrect input, regardless of how it is carried out, and each table field has its own format and standard descriptions, which greatly facilitates data entry. Access supports all the required field types, including text, numeric, counter, currency, date/time, memo, boolean, hyperlink, and OLE object fields. If no values ​​appear in the fields during special processing, the system provides full support empty values.

Basic concepts of MS Access databases

1.1 a brief description of MSAccess

Microsoft Access is a desktop DBMS (database management system) of the relational type. The advantage of Access is that it has a very simple GUI, which allows you not only to create your own database, but also to develop applications using built-in tools.

Unlike other desktop DBMS, Access stores all the data in one file, although it distributes it into different tables, as it should be. relational DBMS. This data includes not only information in tables, but also other database objects, which will be described below.

To perform almost all basic operations, Access offers a large number of Wizards (Wizards), which do the main work for the user when working with data and developing applications, help to avoid routine actions and facilitate the work of an inexperienced user in programming.

Features of MS Access that differ from the idea of ​​an "ideal" relational DBMS.

Creating a multi-user Access database and obtaining simultaneous access of several users to a common database is possible in a local peer-to-peer network or in a network with a file server. The network provides hardware and software support data exchange between computers. Access monitors the differentiation of access of different users to the database and provides data protection. When working at the same time. Since Access is not a server-side DBMS client, its multi-user capabilities are somewhat limited. Usually, to access data over a network from several workstations, the Access database file (with *.mdb extension) is uploaded to a file server. At the same time, data processing is carried out mainly on the client - where the application is running, due to the principles of organizing file DBMS. This factor limits the use of Access to ensure the work of many users (more than 15-20) and with a large amount of data in tables, since the load on the network increases many times over.

In terms of maintaining data integrity, Access responds only to database models of small and medium complexity. It lacks such tools as triggers and stored procedures, which forces developers to assign the maintenance of the database business logic to the client program.

With regard to information security and access control, Access does not have reliable standard means. V standard ways protection includes database password protection and user password protection. Removing such protection is not difficult for a specialist.

However, with known shortcomings, MSAccess has large quantity advantages over systems of this class.

First of all, we can note the prevalence, which is due to the fact that Access is a product of Microsoft, the software and operating systems of which are used by most users. personal computers. MSAccess is fully compatible with operating system Windows, constantly updated by the manufacturer, supports many languages.

Overall, MSAccess provides a large number of features at a relatively low cost. It is also necessary to note the focus on the user with different professional backgrounds, which is expressed in the presence a large number aids (Masters, as already noted), a developed help system and clear interface. These tools make it easier to design, create a database, and retrieve data from it.

MSAccess provides the non-programming user with a variety of conversational tools that allow them to create applications without having to write queries in SQL or program macros or modules in VBA.

Access has a wide range of data import/export capabilities in various formats, from Excel tables and text files, to almost any server DBMS through the ODBC mechanism.

Another important advantage of MSAccess is the advanced built-in application development tools. Most applications distributed to users contain some amount of VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) code. Since VBA is the only way to perform many standard tasks in Access (working with variables, building SQL commands at runtime, error handling, Windows usage API, etc.), to create more or less complex applications, you need its knowledge and knowledge object model MSAccess.

One of the programming tools in Access is the macro language. Programs created in this language are called macros and make it easy to link individual actions implemented using forms, queries, reports. Macros are event-driven, which are triggered by user actions while interacting with data through forms or system events.

It turns out that Access, having all the features of a DBMS, provides and additional features. It is not only a flexible and easy-to-use DBMS, but also a system for developing applications that work with databases.

1.2 Databases and database management systems

A database is an organized structure for storing information. Modern databases store not only data, but also information.

This statement is easy to explain if, for example, we consider the database of the library. It contains all the necessary information about authors, books, readers, etc. This database can be accessed by both library staff and readers who need to find a publication. But among them there is hardly a person who has full access to the entire database and at the same time is able to single-handedly make arbitrary changes to it. In addition to data, the database contains methods and tools that allow each of the employees to operate only with the data that is within his competence. As a result of the interaction of the data contained in the database with the methods available to specific employees, information is formed that they consume and on the basis of which they enter and edit data within their own competence.

Hello everyone! I am often asked how and where to download Microsoft Access for free. To be honest, I'm tired of explaining the same thing for the hundredth time, so I decided to write a short article on how and where to download Microsoft Access for free. Be sure to read this text to the end, you will find a lot for yourself useful information and also a small bonus.

Method 1: Official Microsoft Developer Site

To begin with, the Microsoft Access program is part of the Microsoft Office package, in which you can also find Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, etc. Separately from the entire Office Microsoft Access package, you will not be able to buy or download. If you are interested in a licensed product, then the first thing you should do is go to the official Microsoft website in the "buy Office" section and select the appropriate version. At the time of mid-October 2017 in official store Microsoft available versions: Office 365 and office 2016.

As you can see, Microsoft Access is included in the Office 365 for Home package, which will cost 3399 rubles per year (or 339 rubles per month), and in the Office 365 Personal package, which costs less than 2699 rubles per year (269 rubles per month). month). You can see the advantages of both versions in the screenshot. Also note that Microsoft Access in Office package 2016 is not included.
Expensive or not, everyone decides for himself.

Method 2: Microsoft Access Runtime

The second equally popular question: I downloaded Microsoft Access from the official site, but my database does not open. Most likely, we are not talking about full-fledged Microsoft Access, but about the Microsoft Access runtime. This software can indeed be downloaded for free from the official website of the developer, but at the output you will receive a "cropped" Access, which will allow you to distribute Access applications among users who do not have full Access installed. In other words, you will only be able to view databases, but you will not be able to edit or create new databases.

Method 3: search on the Internet

If you are not satisfied with the first two options, then you can try to find and download Microsoft Access for free on the Internet through search engines. I immediately warn you that this option is not legal, and you take all the risks of downloading unlicensed software. There are millions of sites on the Internet for such requests as “download Microsoft Access” or “Microsoft Access for free”, which I highly do not recommend using. There can be both frank "left" sites that distribute all kinds of virus software, and simply dummy sites, on which you will get nothing but spent nerves.

Method 4: Torrents

The fourth way how and where to download Microsoft Access for free is torrent trackers. It's over safe way than downloading from regular sites, but in any case, the torrent tracker must be verified and not arouse suspicion. From practice, I will say that you can trust such giants as rutracker and nnm-club. But again, you must understand that downloading Microsoft Access even from trackers is not legal. Although it seems that using torrents should not cause difficulties, many questions still arise, how and where to download Microsoft Access for free on a torrent.
Let's return to the beginning of the article, I will remind you that the Microsoft Access program is part of the Microsoft Office software package. Many on the torrent are looking not for Microsoft Office, but for Microsoft Access and, accordingly, find little.

Conclusion

In this article, I told 4 ways how and where to download Microsoft Access for free. Which option suits you is up to you, of course. Thank you for reading the article to the end, so the promised bonus is below. In any case, it is highly recommended to use only licensed Microsoft Access. But, if you need, download free Microsoft Access for informational purposes only, i.e. a couple of verified links below. Once again, the links are provided for informational purposes, so after getting acquainted with Microsoft program Access is recommended to remove it from your PC and purchase the full version from the official Microsoft store.