Tutorial 1: Creating a Database

Compacting

A process that rearranges the data and objects in a database to decrease its file size, thereby making more space available on your disk and letting you open and close the database more quickly.

Query

A question you ask about the data stored in a database. In response, Access displays the specific records and fields that answer your question.

Navigation buttons

A set of buttons found at the bottom of a table datasheet or form that you use to move through the records in the table.

Field

A single characteristic or attribute of a person, place, object, event, or idea.

Relational database management system

A software program in which data is organized as a collection of tables, and relationships between tables are formed through a common field.

Database management system (DBMS)

A software program that lets you create databases and then manipulate data in them.

Fields tab

A tab on the Ribbon that provides options for adding, removing, and formatting the fields in a table.

Create tab

A tab on the Ribbon that provides options for creating various database objects, including tables, forms, and reports.

Datasheet selector

A box in the upper-left corner of a datasheet that lets you select the entire datasheet.

Record

A complete set of field values for a specific person, place, object, event, or idea.

Click to Add column

In Datasheet view for a table, the datasheet column you can use to create a new field in the table.

Field selector

In a datasheet, the column heading (also called the column selector)that you click to select the entire column.

Column selector

In a datasheet, the column heading (also called the field selector) that you click to select the entire column.

Row selector

In a datasheet, the small square at the beginning of a row (also called the record selector) that you click to select the entire row.

Record selector

In a datasheet, the small square at the beginning of a row (also called the row selector) that you click to select the entire row.

Layout view

The Access view in which you can make design changes to a form or report while it is displaying data so that you can immediately see the effects of changing the design.

Datasheet view (for a table)

The Access view that shows a table's contents as a datasheet in rows and columns.

Shutter Bar Open/Close Button

The button on the Navigation Pane that you click to open and close the pane.

Datasheet

The display of a table's contents in rows and columns, similar to a table or spreadsheet; each row is a separate record in the table, and each column contains the field values for one field in the table.

Data type

The field property that determines what field values you can enter for the field and what other properties the field will have.

Pencil symbol

The symbol that appears in a row selector to indicate that the record is being edited.

Star symbol

The symbol that appears in a row selector to indicate that the row is the next one available for a new record.

Field value

The specific value, or content, of a field in a record.

Print Preview

The view of a report, form, or datasheet that shows you what the object will look like when printed.

Text

An Access data type that allows field values containing letters, digits, and other characters.

AutoNumber

An Access data type that automatically assigns a unique number to a record.

Form Wizard

An Access tool that asks you a series of questions, and then creates a form based on your answers.

Query Wizard

An Access tool that asks you a series of questions, and then creates a query based on your answers.

Report Wizard

An Access tool that asks you a series of questions, and then creates a report based on your answers.

Form tool

An Access tool that creates a form containing all the fields in the table or query on which the form is based.

Report tool

An Access tool that places all the fields from a table or query on a report.

Simple Query Wizard

An Access wizard that lets you quickly select the records and fields to display in a query datasheet.

Common field

A field that appears in more than one table, allowing you to connect the records in the separate tables.

Primary key

A field, or a collection of fields, whose values uniquely identify each record in a database table.

Report

A formatted printout (or screen display) of the contents of one or more tables or queries in a database.

Add & Delete group

A group on the Fields tab in Table Datasheet view that contains options for adding different types of fields to a table.

Current Record box

The box that appears at the bottom of a datasheet or form and that indicates the current record and total number of records displayed.

All Access Objects

The default category in the Navigation Pane; it lists all the objects in the database grouped by type (tables, queries, forms, reports, and so on).

ID column

The default field Access creates to serve as the primary key field for all new tables.

Access window

The program window that appears when you start the Access program to create a new database or open an existing database.

Table

A collection of fields that describe a person, place, object, event, or idea.

Database

A collection of related tables stored in the same file.

Relational database

A collection of related tables stored in the same file.

Form

A database object you can create and customize to maintain, view, and print records in a database in different and useful ways.

Access

A database program you use to enter, organize, display, and retrieve related information.

Microsoft Access 2010

A database program you use to enter, organize, display, and retrieve related information.

Template

A predefined database that includes professionally designed tables, forms, reports, and other objects.

Foreign key

A primary key field from one table that you include as a field in a second table to form a relationship between the two tables.

Backing up

Making a copy of a database file to protect your database against loss or damage.

Navigation Pane

The area on the left of the Access program window that lists all the objects in the database and is the main control center for opening and working with database objects.