2 Creating Database Tables

Skills Exam Objective Objective Number

Creating a Database Create databases using templates. 1.1.2
Create new databases. 1.1.1
Create a database by using import 1.1.3
objects or data from other sources.
Creating a Table Create tables from templates and 2.1.5
application parts.
Create new tables. 2.1.1

SOFTWARE ORIENTATION
Getting Started with Microsoft Access
Th Access startup screen shown in Figure 2-1 provides options for opening an existing database,
and creating a new blank database or a new database from a template. This is the default view after
starting Access.

Search online Create a new blank Create a new custom Featured

for templates desktop database web app database template options

Figure 2-1
The Access startup
screen

Click to
access Open
dialog box

Microsoft
templates

Clip art courtesy of Microsoft

22
 Creating Database Tables 2323

CREATING A DATABASE
In Access 2016, the process of creating a new database is easier than ever. You can create a data-
base using one of the many available templates (ready-to-use databases that contain all of the
tables, queries, forms, and reports needed for performing specific tasks) or by creating a new blank
database.

Using a Template to Create a Database

Access offers a variety of templates to help get you started. Some templates are immediately avail-
able for your use because they are built into Access whereas others can be easily downloaded from
the Internet. There are built-in and online templates are available that you can use to track issues,
manage contacts, and keep a record of expenses. Some templates contain a few sample records to
help demonstrate their use. You can use templates as-is or you can customize them to better suit
your needs. In this exercise, you use one of the many available templates to create a database.

STEP BY STEP Use a Template to Create a Database

GET READY. Before you begin these steps, make sure that your computer is on. Sign on, if
necessary. LAUNCH Access to display the startup screen.
1. On the top of the startup screen window, in the Search for online templates search box,
type personal, and then press Enter.
2. In the list of Personal templates that appears in the middle of the startup screen results
pane, click Home inventory. A preview screen of the selected template appears in
the center of the startup screen, as shown in Figure 2-2. Close the Home inventory
template preview screen.

Information about selected template displayed

Figure 2-2
The Home inventory template
preview screen

3. In the search box, type assets and then press Enter.

4. In the Assets template results list, click the Updated: Asset tracking database. The
Updated: Asset tracking template preview screen appears.
5. In the Desktop asset tracking template preview screen, click in the File Name box and
then replace the default file by typing Assets, as shown in Figure 2-3.
24 Lesson 2

Key new file name Navigate to a location to save the database

Figure 2-3
The File Name box and folder
icon

Clip art courtesy of Microsoft

Move to next template in search results listing

Take Note If you do not add an extension to your database file name, Access does it for you—for example,
Access.accdb.

6. Click the folder icon to the right of the File Name box. The File New Database dialog
box appears.
7. Navigate to the location where you want to save the file and then click OK.
Take Note You should save your files in a separate directory from where your data files are stored. This will
ensure that you don’t overwrite the original data files with your updated files.

Take Note Unless you choose a different folder, Access uses the following default location in Windows Server
2008/2012, and Windows 7 and later to store your databases: c:\Users\<user name>\Documents

8. Click the Create button at the bottom of the preview pane. The preview pane indicates
that the template is being downloaded. When the download is complete, the preview
pane closes.
9. Access creates and then opens the Assets database, as shown in Figure 2-4. Because
this database was downloaded from Office.com (a trusted source), click Enable
Content on the Message Bar. Getting Started and Access Help windows may appear,
which contain helpful videos and links about using the Asset tracking database. CLOSE
these windows, if necessary, to return to the Assets database with the Asset List form
active.
 Creating Database Tables 2523

Figure 2-4
The Assets template database

10. Click to place the insertion point in the first cell of the Item field and then type Canon
EOS Rebel T3i. Press Enter.
11. Click the Shutter Bar Open/Close Button, if necessary, to display the Navigation Pane
to see all the objects in the database.
12. Click File and then click Close to close the database.

PAUSE. LEAVE Access open to use in the next exercise.

Creating a Blank Database

If you have existing data, you may decide that it is easier to create a blank database rather than
using a template because it would require a lot of work to adapt your existing data to the template’s
defined data structure. When you create a new blank database, Access opens a database that con-
tains a table where you can enter data, but it creates no other database objects. By default, Access
creates a primary key field named “ID” for all new datasheets and sets the data type for the field
to AutoNumber. In this exercise, you create a new blank database.

STEP BY STEP Create a Blank Database

GET READY. START Access if it’s not already running.

1. Click the File tab to open the New screen in Backstage view.
Take Note The New screen appears in the Backstage view after you click on the File tab when no database
is open. When a database is open, the File tab takes you to the Info screen in the Backstage view.

2. In the templates section of the New screen, click the Blank desktop database icon. A
Blank desktop database screen appears in the center of the screen, as shown in Figure
2-5.
26 Lesson 2

Figure 2-5
A Blank desktop database
screen

3. In the File Name box, type BlankDatabase.

4. If you want to save the file in a location other than the one shown beneath the File
Name box, click the folder icon to the right of the File Name box and browse to a
different location.
5. Click Create button create the blank database. Access creates the database and then
opens an empty table named Table1 in Datasheet view.
Take Note At this point, you could import data from other sources, such as an Excel spreadsheet or another
Access database, to populate this database. You simply create your new database as you just did,
and then use the import commands on the External Data tab as discussed in Lesson 14.

PAUSE. LEAVE the database open to use in the next exercise.

With the insertion point placed in the first empty cell of your new, blank database, you can begin
typing to add data. Entering data in Datasheet view is very similar to entering data into an Excel
worksheet, except that data must be entered in related rows and columns, starting at the upper-left
corner of the datasheet.

The table is structured through rows and columns, which become meaningful as you enter ap-
propriate data. Any time you add a new column to the table, Access defines a new field for that
column’s data. You do not need to format your data by including blank rows or columns, as you
might do in an Excel worksheet, because that just wastes space in your table. The table merely
contains your data. All visual presentation of that data will be done in the forms and reports that
you design later.

Take Note A database has to be saved first before any objects like tables, queries, forms or reports can be
added to it. For example, you cannot create a table first and then create the database to hold it.

CREATING A TABLE
It is easy to create a new table by using the Application Parts gallery and Quick Start.
Application Parts were introduced in Access 2010 and consist of predefined templates that
you can add to an existing database to help extend its functionality. Another way to create a table
is to copy the structure of an existing table and then paste it into the database. You can copy a
database object and paste it into the same database or into a different database that is open in
another instance of Access.

Using the Application Parts Gallery and Quick Start

Th Templates group on the Create tab contains the Application Parts gallery that you can use to
insert predefined templates. Application parts vary from a single table to a collection of database
objects like tables, forms, and reports. The Application Parts gallery consists of two categories:
 Creating Database Tables 2723

Blank Forms and Quick Start. The Blank Forms category contains a collection of form parts that
allows you to add predefined forms to a database. The Quick Start category of these templates
contains a collection of predefined objects arranged by parts for tracking things such as com-
ments, contacts, and issues. In this exercise, you will quickly create a table using the Application
Parts gallery and Quick Start.

STEP BY STEP Create a Table Using the Application Parts Gallery and Quick Start

GET READY. USE the BlankDatabase database that is still open from the previous exercise.
1. On the Create tab in the Templates group, click the Application Parts button to display
the gallery shown in Figure 2-6.

Figure 2-6
The Application Parts gallery

2. In the Quick Start section of the gallery, click Comments. If you are prompted to close
all open objects before instantiating this application part, click Yes in the dialog box
that appears. Notice the Comments table appears as a new object in the Navigation
Pane.
3. Click the Enable Content button on the Message Bar to trust the database if necessary.
4. In the Navigation Pane, double-click Comments to display the newly created table with
fields for comments. CLOSE the Comments table by clicking the Comments table Close
button.
5. OPEN the Application Parts menu and then click Contacts.
6. In the Create Relationship dialog box that appears, select the There is no relationship
option button and then click Create. A new table is created along with supporting
forms and report objects, as shown in Figure 2-7.
28 Lesson 2

Figure 2-7
New table, forms, and reports
for contacts

Newly created Tables,

Forms and Report
objects

PAUSE. LEAVE the database open to use in the next exercise.

Creating a Table from Another Table

Another way to create a table is to copy the structure of an existing table using the Copy and Paste
commands. In this exercise, you copy the structure of an existing table to create a new table.

STEP BY STEP Create a Table from Another Table

GET READY. USE the BlankDatabase database that is still open from the previous exercise.
1. On the Navigation Pane, right-click the Comments table database object and then
select Copy from the shortcut menu.
2. Right-click in a blank area of the Navigation Pane and select Paste from the shortcut
menu. The Paste Table As dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2-8. Notice the
default name, Copy Of Comments, in the Table Name box.
3. In the Paste Options section, select the Structure Only option button to paste only the
table’s structure.
4. Click OK. The new table appears at the end of the list of database table objects in the
Navigation Pane.
 Creating Database Tables 2923

Figure 2-8
Paste Table As dialog box

5. Double-click Copy Of Comments to open the new table. Notice that the structure of the
new table is the same as the table from which it was copied, as shown in Figure 2-9.

New copied table Duplicated structure

Figure 2-9
New table copied from
existing table

6. Click File and then click Close to close the database.

PAUSE. LEAVE Access open to use in the next exercise.

When you create a copy of a table by copying and pasting, you can re-create just the table’s struc-
ture or both its structure and data. Access also provides you with a third option that appends data
to an existing table. If this option is chosen, Access will attempt to append the table’s records to
another table you specify.

As you learned in Lesson 1, a relational database stores information in separate tables that are con-
nected or linked by a defined relationship that ties the data together. When you add a new table
to an existing database, that new table stands alone until you relate it to your existing tables. For
example, say you need to track orders placed by a distributor. To do that, you add a table named
Distributor Contacts to a sales database. To take advantage of the power that a relational database
can provide—to search for the orders placed by a given contact, for example— you must create a
relationship between the new table and any tables that contain the order data.
30 Lesson 2

SAVING A DATABASE OBJECT

Access automatically saves data that you have entered any time you add an Application Part like a
Quick Start template, move to a new record, close an object or database, or quit the application.
But you will need to save the design of a table, or any other database object, after it is created.
Additionally, you can use the Save Object As command in the Backstage view to create a duplicate
of a database object (like a table, query, or report) by specifying an alternate name. You can even
save objects in other formats such as the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) or XML Paper
Specification (XPS), which helps you share data with others who may not have Access installed.
Lastly, you can even save some objects as other compatible object types. For example, you can save
a table as a new report which will, by default, include all table fields.

Saving a Table
When you save a new table for the first time, give it a name that describes the information it
contains. You can use up to 64 characters (letters or numbers), including spaces. In this exercise,
you save a database table, and then use the Save Object As command to create a duplicate of the
same table.

STEP BY STEP Save a Table

GET READY. START Access if it’s not already running.

1. From the File tab, click the New command and then click the Blank desktop database
icon; a Blank desktop database screen appears in the center of the screen.
2. In the Blank desktop database screen’s File Name box, the default name should be
Database1. If not, replace the default name by typing Database1.
3. If you want to save the file in a location other than the one shown beneath the File
Name box, click the folder icon and browse to a different location.
4. Click the Create button. A new blank database appears with the default table labeled
Table1 displayed.
5. Click to place the insertion point in the cell under the Click to Add field and then type
Sample Data.
6. Right-click on the Table1 tab to display the shortcut menu and then click Save. The
Save As dialog box appears.
7. In the Table Name box, type Sample Table.
8. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the table, which now is labeled Sample
Table.
9. Click the File tab to display the Backstage view.
10. Click Save As to display the Save As screen.
11. Under the File Types heading, click the Save Object As command.
12. Click the Save As button.
13. In the Save As dialog box that appears, type Backup of Sample Table in the area under
“Save ‘Sample Table’ to:” as shown in Figure 2-10.
 Creating Database Tables 3123

Save Object As New table name

Save Object As command Save As button in Save As dialog box
Figure 2-10
Save As dialog box on Save
As screen

14. Click OK.

15. Notice the new table object named Backup of Sample Table in the Navigation Pane.
16. The Backup of Sample Table should now be open. Notice the table contains the same
row you created in the Sample Table table.
17. CLOSE the Backup of Sample Table.

STOP. CLOSE the database and then EXIT Access.