Microsoft Access Course And Certification

What is Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access mostly shortened to MS Acess is a DBMS (database management system) from Microsoft that joins together the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with software development tools and an easy to understand graphical user interface.

MS Access is a member of the Microsoft Office suite of enterprise applications, it is either included in the Professional and higher editions or sold separately. Microsoft Access stores user's data in its own format which is based on the Microsoft Access Jet Database Engine. It can also import or link directly to various data that is stored in other applications and databases.

Software developers, power users, and data architects can make use of Microsoft Access to design and develop application software like in other Microsoft Office applications, Microsoft Access is supported by Visual Basic Applications (VBA) which is an object-oriented software development language that can generally reference a variety of objects including the legacy Data Access Objects (DAO), ActiveX Data Objects, and many other components of ActiveX. Visual objects in MS Access are used in display forms and reports expose their various properties and methods in the Visual Basic Application programming environment, and VBA code modules can declare and call various Windows operating system operations.

In addition to MS Access having its own database storage file, Microsoft Access also may also be used as the 'front-end of a program while other products would act as the 'back-end' tables, such as the Microsoft SQL Server and in non-Microsoft products such as Sybase and Oracle. Multiple backend sources can be used by the Microsoft Access Jet Database (ACCDB and MDB formats). In the way, some applications such as Visual Basic, Visual Studio .Net or ASP.NET will use the Microsoft Access database format for its data tables and queries. Microsoft Access may also be part of a more large and complex solution, where it may be combined together with other technologies such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and ActiveX controls.

Microsoft Access tables offer support for a variety of standard field types, indices, and referential integrity which includes lots of cascading updates and deletes. MS Access also comes with a query interface, display forms and enter data, and reports for printing.

Components of Microsoft Access

Below are the major components of MS Access:

1. Tables: Tables are responsible for storing information within the database. Tables in access look similar to tables in Excel. They contain columns and rows. Each column has a name at the top, and each row has a number.

2. Relationships: Relationship gives meaning to tables, It is essentially the “connections” or “bonds” that are formed between tables. Tables can be related in one of three ways: one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many.

3. Forms: In Access, a form is a database object that can be used to create a user interface for a database application.

4. Reports: Once data is entered into the database, you can run reports to view, summarize or format various information. Reports cannot be edited as forms can, but you can pick and choose the information you want to compare before creating the report.

5. Queries: Queries are requests for information from the database. When querying you can sort, calculate, filter, update data and more based on the results you are looking for.

6. Macros: This enables certain tasks to be automated, Macros perform a series of actions based on how you enter them. You can create macros that will open forms, change values, run queries and even run other macros.

Features of Microsoft Access

Some of the features include:

1. Queries: The Query Wizard is another feature for fetching data. When a user clicks the button for this feature, Access creates SQL statements in response to user input in the Wizard's screens. Access users rely on this tool and the query grid for retrieving their stored data. The SQL window is a feature of Access that offers an alternative to the query grid. Users familiar with SQL syntax can enter their statements in this window, then run the statements by clicking the "Run" button on the toolbar.

2. Reports: The Report Wizard is a feature that creates a report from a selected table or other data source with a single click. Users click a table in the navigation pane, then click the Report Wizard's icon in the toolbar to execute the wizard, which prompts users for parameters for defining the report.

4. Import And Export: This feature is for importing existing data, it is the set of tools under the "External Data" menu heading. One of these tools is labeled "Excel." By clicking it, Access users display a wizard that guides them through the process of moving data from an Excel spreadsheet to their Access database.

5. Data Entry: An intuitive way of entering data into an Access database is manual entry. An essential feature of Access that users choose for this operation is the tool for creating tables. Users click a toolbar button to create a new table, then define column labels for the fields in the table.

Benefits of Microsoft Access

1. It is ideal for individual users and smaller teams.

2. MS Access is easier to use than regular client-server databases.

3. Ii allows you to import and export to other Microsoft Office and other databases.

4. It presents you with ready to use templates for regular users to create and publish data.

5. It offers you a user-friendly feature for assistance.

6. MS Access allows software developers to create custom solutions using codes written in VBA.

7. MS Access allows output Reports to be presented in PDF format.

8. It allows for the building and publishing of Web databases effortlessly.

9. MS Access offers a quick and easy way to create database systems.

10. Microsoft Access presents users with a user-friendly application through its comprehensive programming language VBA

11. MS Access produces a flexible and easily scalable database system.

12. MS Access is well-known so you can get help and support easily.

Why Study Microsoft Access

1. MS Access is easier to use than regular client-server databases.

2. MS Access offers a quick and easy way to create database systems.

3. MS Access is very useful for business of every size so knowledge of it is a very big benefit.

4. Job opportunities and career advancement. 

Microsoft Access Course Outline

MS Access - Introduction

MS Access - Overview

MS Access - RDBMS

MS Access - Objects

MS Access - Create Database

MS Access - Data Types

MS Access - Create Tables

MS Access - Adding Data

MS Access - Query Data

MS Access - Query Criteria

MS Access - Action Queries

MS Access - Create Queries

MS Access - Parameter Queries

MS Access - Alternate Criteria

MS Access - Relating Data

MS Access - Create Relationships

MS Access - Wildcards

MS Access - Calculated Expression

MS Access - Indexing

MS Access - Grouping Data

MS Access - Summarizing Data

MS Access - Joins

MS Access - Duplicate Query Wizard

MS Access - Create A Form

MS Access - Modify A Form

MS Access - Navigation Form

MS Access - Combo Box

MS Access - SQL View

MS Access - Formatting

MS Access - Controls & Properties

MS Access - Reports Basics

MS Access - Formatting Reports

MS Access - Built-In Functions

MS Access - Macros

MS Access - Data Import

MS Access - Data Export

MS Access - Video Lectures 

MS Access - Exams And Certification