Introduction
Whoa! What happened to menu bars, toolbars, and all that other stuff I used to have? Well, in case you haven’t noticed yet, they’re all gone. Of course, if you never used Access before in your life, you’re starting fresh, so never mind. Whether you never used any version of Microsoft Access, and aren’t even sure what a “version” is, you’ve come to the right book.
The basic idea behind Microsoft Access is to allow individuals and small businesses to manage large amounts of information the way the big corporations do — with relational databases. The difference is that while the big boys spend millions on computer hardware, software, and staffs of nerdy database-administrator types, Access allows you to do it all yourself with a run-of-the-mill PC and a realistic software budget.
Microsoft Access 2010 is the latest-and-greatest version of a long line of Access versions, starting (not surprisingly) with version 1. Not that this is the 2,010th version. Somewhere along the way, Microsoft switched from using sequential numbers for versions to using years — an idea first pioneered by the automotive industry, which sells things like “2010 Ford Mustangs” as opposed to “Mustang Version 9.3s.”
Without going into boring detail about what’s new in Access 2010, you find the usual kind of stuff you find in new versions these days — more power, more flexibility, and more things you can do with it. And of course — along the lines of the Holy Grail of Everything Computerish these days — more taking advantage of everything the Internet has to offer. But the most noticeable change for the Access-experienced is the new look and feel (introduced in the 2007 version) — along with some new ways of doing things.
About Access 2010 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies
If you ever have the misfortune of trying to read anything written by one of the aforementioned database-administrator types, you know all about being faced with a decision among the lesser of three evils:
(Option 1) Try to figure it out by guessing-and-poking until you break something.
(Option 2) Part with your hard-earned money to hire someone to do the work for you, only to have someone with poor taste in clothing look at you like you’re an idiot every time you open your mouth.
(Option 3) Forget computers altogether and stick with index cards.
Option 1 is the one most people try first — until they get to the part where they start breaking things, and it starts costing money to get them fixed. Option 2 is too odious to warrant serious consideration. Option 3 just isn’t very realistic nowadays, unless you’re dealing with a tiny amount of personal information. Which leaves a new Option 4 — this book.
The nerds who wrote this book are aware of the fact that nobody on the planet was ever born knowing what any technical term means. In fact, if at all possible, we avoid technical terms like a root canal. But because you are probably faced with technical terms outside this book, we do explain what they mean along the way.
As a rule, big fat computer books aren’t such a great option. For that reason, this isn’t really a big fat computer book. It’s several smaller computer books combined into one. Each small book represents a single topic that you can pursue — or ignore — as your personal tastes and immediate needs dictate.
The idea here is definitely not to try to read the book cover to cover, unless you’re desperately seeking a cure for insomnia. Rather, use the Table of Contents up front, or the Index out back, to look up information when trying to figure it out by guessing just isn’t cutting it.
To prevent this book from topping 3,000 pages, we don’t explain every possible way to do every possible thing in Access. Instead, we chose what we think are the most important database-management tasks, and we show you the best way — at least in our opinions — to do each one.
Conventions
Speaking of insomnia, this book, like most books, follows certain conventions to alert you to different kinds of stuff, as follows:
Boldface: Stuff you actually do while sitting at your computer is shown in boldface, to distinguish it from boring information you probably don’t care about anyway.
Italics: When reality rears its ugly head and we’re forced to use a technical term, we always show that term in italics the first time it’s used. Then we define that term, right there on the spot. Of course, that doesn’t mean you won’t forget the definition two minutes later. But you can easily flip back a few pages and locate the definition amidst all the other words on the page.
Monospace: Monospace text (text in that typeface right back there) represents code, instructions that are written for computers, rather than people, to follow. Computers are so stupid, the term “stupid” is a compliment. Unconscious, non-thinking, non-beings (a.k.a. machines) is more like it. Anyway, when writing instructions for a computer, you really have to spell it out for them, right down to the blank spaces between words. Monospace text makes seeing where you have to put the blank spaces to avoid making Access say “Huh?” easier. (Actually, it can’t even say “Huh?” More likely, it says something really stupid like “Syntax error in something or other.”)
Foolish Assumptions
Despite the fact that the word “Dummies” is clearly emblazoned on this book’s cover and elsewhere, we don’t presume that you’re the junior partner in a ventriloquist act. (The machine you’re working with, yes. You, no.) We do assume that you already know how to do some things, such as turn on your computer and click and double-click things with your mouse. Maybe type with at least one finger.
We also assume you know what those key+key symbols, such as “Ctrl+Esc,” mean. But just in case you don’t, they always mean “Hold down the first key, tap the second key, and then release the first key.” Also, we always use the term “press” when referring to something you do with the keyboard. For example, the instruction “Press Ctrl+Esc” means “Hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard, tap the Esc key, and then release the Ctrl key.” Click, on the other hand, is something you do with the mouse pointer on your computer screen and the buttons on your mouse.
We also assume (perhaps foolishly) that you know how to work menus. Not that there are many menus in Access. But when there is a menu-like sequence, we use the word “Choose” followed by the commands to choose, separated by an ⇒ symbol. For example, when we say “Choose Start⇒All Programs⇒Microsoft Office⇒Microsoft Access Office 2010” that’s short for “Click the Start button, click All Programs on the Start menu that appears, click Microsoft Office on the All Programs menu that appears, and then click Microsoft Office 2010 on the last menu that appears.”
Click, of course, means “rest the mouse pointer on the item, and then tap the left mouse button.” When we tell you to drag something, we mean for you to move your mouse pointer to the item, click, and then hold down the left mouse button while moving the mouse. To drop the item, just release the mouse button after dragging it.
We also show things like Web site URLs (addresses) — those www.whatever.com things you see all over the place. We may even throw in an occasional e-mail address (the somebody@somewhere.com things) without explaining how to use them. Hopefully these assumptions on our part aren’t too foolish. But if we had to explain all that stuff here, there wouldn’t be much space left for talking about Microsoft Access 2010.
What You Don’t Have to Read
Because reading the instructions is something we all do only as a last resort — after guessing and trying to get help on the phone have failed — we try to point out things you really don’t have to read. For example, sidebars (which have a gray background) are little chunks of text with their own titles. If the title looks boring, skip the whole thing.
We also put little icons (pictures) in the left margin to point out text that you can maybe skip over. Or in some cases, really shouldn’t skip over. The icons are pretty self-explanatory. So if you want to skip the next section, that’s fine by us.
Icons
As far as those presumably self-explanatory icons go, here are the explanations you can probably skip over or, at best, glance at:
This is stuff you probably don’t want to ignore. Because if you do, you may regret it. Not that you’re gonna blow up your computer or the Internet or anything if you do. But the consequences may be inconvenient or unpleasant enough to justify spending a few seconds to read what these little notes say.
May be worth reading if you’re looking for a shortcut, or a better way to do things. Not as important as a warning. But probably worth a few seconds of your time.
This is either stuff we already told you and you probably forgot, or something that’s at least worth trying to keep in the back of your mind. Even if it’s way back there. Kinda like where you park your car when you go to the mall.
This is a reference book, and we certainly don’t expect anyone to read it cover to cover. But sometimes, you just have to know “Subject x” before “Subject y” even comes close to making any sense. So when we’re forced to talk about a “Subject y” kind of thing, we use this icon to point out where “Subject x” is covered.
Stuff that definitely falls into the “insomnia cure” category.
Organization
If you already looked up the Contents at a Glance up near the front of this book, or the Table of Contents right after it, you already know how stuff is organized here. In that case, you may now skip to the “Where to Go from Here” section. But because showing the contents a third time is customary (albeit kinda dumb), without the benefit of page numbers, we follow suit here. This book is actually eight little books, organized as follows:
Book I: Essential Concepts: If this is your first time using Microsoft Access and you really don’t know where else to go, starting here is a good idea. This is the stuff you really need to know to get anything done with Access.
Book II: Tables for Storing Your Data: Everything in Access centers around data (information) stored in tables (not the coffee kind, the columns-and-rows kind). You can’t do much of anything with Access until you have some information stored in tables. This book is a good second stop for you newbies (beginners).
Book III: Queries (or Getting Information from Your Data): Data stored in tables tends to be pretty random and, eventually, pretty plentiful. This book shows you how to pick and choose the information you want to see, and how to organize it in a way that’s more useful, such as alphabetically.
Book IV: Forms for Editing Data: You can definitely get away without making forms in your Access database. But if you get tired of looking at information stored in rows and columns, and you’re up for being creative, forms are definitely worth getting into.
Book V: Reporting in Words and Pictures: Whereas forms are a way to get creative with stuff on your screen, reports are a way to get creative with stuff you print on your computer’s printer. Here’s where you can do things, for example, printing form letters, mailing labels, numbers with totals and subtotals, and stuff like that.
Book VI: Automation with Macros: There’s a technical term for you — macros. Nothing to be intimidated by, though. They’re just a way of writing simple instructions that tell Access how to do something you’re sick of doing yourself. Optional, but more fun than the name implies.
Book VII: Database Administration: Sounds like a real yawn, we know. Sometimes you just gotta do things such as make backup copies of your information, or get other people to help you with boring stuff such as typing information into your tables. This is the place where we cover those kinds of things.
Book VIII: Programming in VBA: For the aspiring mega-nerd, we didn’t let this topic slide. This is where the über-technogeeks make their money by automating Access using a language, rather than macros. Though you can skip it if you have no such aspirations.
Book IX: Going Beyond Access: Kind of like going beyond the final frontier, but with less excitement. This is where you use Access to interact with and move data to and from other programs on your computer — or computers all over the world.
After that comes an appendix on how to install Microsoft Access 2010, in case you haven’t gotten that far. If Access is already on your computer, there’s nothing noteworthy here. If you do need to install Access, and don’t feel like looking there, here’s the condensed version of the appendix: Insert your Microsoft Office or Microsoft Access disc into your computer’s disc drive, wait a few seconds, and then follow the instructions that appear on-screen.
Where to Go from Here
If you patiently read the preceding “Organization” section, you probably know where you need to go next. If not, you beginners should head straight to Book I, Chapter 1 to get your bearings. For the rest of you who already know some of the basics of Access, just pick whatever book or chapter talks about what you’re struggling with right now.
And by the way, thanks for buying (begging, borrowing, or stealing — just kidding with that last one) this book. We hope it serves you well. For those of you who bought an extra, thanks for helping us pay down our credit cards a little.
