Access Basics:
Using Help

Step-by-Step: Using Help

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What you will learn:

to use the Type a question for help box to use Help's table of contents to open a Help topic to manage the Office Assistant to use the Office Assistant

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Start with:  Access open but no database open.

Access comes with many Help topics. Access 2003 allows you to choose where you search for help information - offline only or including online materials from Microsoft Online. Microsoft Online has updated versions of the offline topics, plus more articles, including interactive tutorials .

Sometimes your Help question brings up a list from the general Microsoft Office Help instead of Access Help. You may have to close Access and reopen it to get to the correct Help files.

Help: Type a question for help

While you can write a full question in the Type a question for help box, you may not need to do so. Typing only the main words may work just fine. 2 to 7 words should work best. If you do not see a topic that seems to fit, then try a more complete sentence.

1. Type keyboard shortcuts in the Type a question for help box at the top right of your Access window.
    
2. Press the ENTER key. There is no button to click.
   A drop list of Help topics appears.
       The Search Results task pane shows a list of Help topics.
    

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Open a Help Topic

1. Click on Keyboard Shortcuts in the list.
   The topic opens in a new window.  The items with a right pointing arrow are collapsed lists themselves. When a list is open, the arrow points down .The lists are somewhat different in different versions.
   A Help window in two panes.
       A Help window with one pane.

   Note: Access 2003 results include a link for Office keyboard shortcuts. This leads to a web page where you can choose which program you want shortcuts for.

    

2. Click on Global Access shortcut keys
   The list expands and the arrow at the left of the link now points down . This indicates an expanded list.
    
3. From the new list, click on Opening databases.
   There are three shortcut key combinations listed, which work from inside Access.  Oddly, one is for quitting Access instead of for opening a database. Would you think to look here for that key combo?? 
    
4. Click on Opening databases again. The list collapses and the arrow points to the right.
    
5. Click on Global Access shortcut keys to collapse that list.
    
6. Experiment with collapsing and expanding the various lists. Look for shortcuts similar to ones you already know from other Office programs.
   As you work with Access, you will find it helpful to learn the shortcut key combos for actions that you perform often. There are far too many key combos to expect to learn them all!
    

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Help: Browse the Table of Contents

When you want to learn about a general topic, browsing through the Table of Contents can be educational. Access 2002 and 2003 have slightly different lists of topics.

1. To find a the table of contents list:

   With the Help dialog open, if necessary, click on the Contents tab to show the Table of Contents of Help topics
   A set of collapsed lists of topics shows.
   
   Click on the arrow at the right at the top of the Search Results pane that is still open.  Select  Help . Then click on the Table of Contents link. The list of topics opens in the same pane.

    

2. Click on a topic and then on a subtopic to expand the list until you get to an article.

   Access 2002 Icons:   Collapsed list   Expanded list        Article

   Access 2003 Icons:   Collapsed list   Expanded list       Offline article       or Online article       Training

    
3. Click on an article and read it.
   Access 2002: The article open in the right-hand pane.
      Access 2003: The article opens in a new window.

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Access 2003 Help: Search Online

In Access 2003, at the bottom of the Search Results pane is a Search section. You can select customize your search by selecting where to search and what kind of item to look for, as well as entering the words to search for.
 

1. Click on the arrow to open the drop list in the Search section at the bottom of the Search Results task pane. A list of locations and types of items appears.
    
2. If necessary, select the location Microsoft Office Online.
   
    
3. Change the search words to table fields and click the green button to search again.
    
   At the top of the pane you see the number of articles in the results and what location was searched. Scroll the list.  Notice what articles are listed and their icons.
   Cannot access Microsoft Office Online: You must be connected to the Internet to search online. (!)
    
4. Click on the link About tables. A new window opens with 2 links.
    
5. Click on the link About tables (MDB). MDB stands for Microsoft Database.
   The window changes to show a definition of a table and some links that open collapsed sections of the page.
    
6. Click on the links and read the articles.
    
   Collapsing the links keeps the page tidy, but it is a bit confusing when some links open a new page and some open a hidden part of the same page.
    
   Blue words inside the text are a link that opens a definition in green right on the page. Everything else moves out of the way. Surprising the first time it happens! You can click the blue words again to hide the definition.

   
    

7. Expand and collapse the different sections of this page. Notice that the last link, Table Datasheet view,  opens yet another set of links, bordered in red in the illustration, but NOT in real life.

   Have you seen it all?
   When you are expanding and collapsing the parts of the page, it is easy to lose track of which sections you have read and which you have not.

   The down arrow shows which lists are currently expanded.

   Clicking the Show All link at the top of the page will expand all sections of the page, including the definitions. The link changes to Hide All. Clicking on Hide All collapses all sections of the page.
    

8. Close the window and return to the Access window, which still shows the Search Results pane.
    
9. Click on the gray link Help > Similarities between Access Databases and Projects below About tables
   The Table of Contents opens to a section that contains the link  About tables. This particular section would probably not jump out at you as the place to look for basic information on tables! But now that you have found it, there are many useful topics in view.
    
   Happily, the table of contents is not like that of a book. A link can appear in many different places in the list. You can use logic to find most information and Search to find the rest.
    
10. Compare: Change your search words to and do a search of Offline Help and then, with the same search words, search Microsoft Office Online. Did you get different results? Did the online search take more time? A noticeable amount? Were the extra results worth the wait?
     

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Help: Manage the Office Assistant

1. From the menu choose  Help .
    
2. Click on Show the Office Assistant , the second item in the menu. The animated Office Assistant appears on your screen.

   If the second item is  Hide the Office Assistant , then the Assistant is already showing on your screen somewhere. It may not be the default paper clip.

   If the second item is grayed out, open the Help dialog or task pane by clicking on the first item in the menu, close it, and then look at the menu again.
    

3. Click on the Office Assistant actor. A dialog bubble appears.
    
4. Click on Options at the bottom left of the bubble. A dialog for managing the Office Assistant appears.
    
5. If necessary, click on the Gallery tab. If the Next button is in black text, you have other actors to choose from. If you click on the OK button, the Office Assistant will change to use the actor currently showing.
    
6. Click on the Options tab.
    
   On this tab you can change how the Office Assistant behaves and what kind of tips you want it to show you.
    
   To turn off the Office Assistant completely, you would uncheck the box for Use the Office Assistant. Leave it on for right now.
   
   As long as the box is checked, even when you choose Hide the Office Assistant from the Help menu, the Office Assistant will reappear when you try to access Help again. You must turn it off in this dialog when you do not want to see it at all.
    
7. Click on OK to close the dialog.

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Help: Use the Office Assistant

Sometimes you need to find how exactly how many characters Access will allow for an object's name, or exactly how many fields a table can have or some other limitation about Access. The keyword to use for your search is specifications.

1. In the Office Assistant text box, type specifications.
   A list of topics appears.
   Access 2002: List is in the bubble. At the bottom there is a link to more topics than can be displayed in the bubble.
      Access 2003: List is in the Search Results task pane.
    
2. Click on the topic Access specifications at the top of the list.

   Access 2002: The Help dialog appears with page of collapsed sections in the right-hand pane.
      Access 2003: A Help window opens with a page of collapsed sections.
    

   

   Help Dialog and Search Results task pane

3. Find the answers to the following from the specifications in this Help article:
   1. How many characters in a table name?  64 
   2. How many characters in a field name?   64 
   3. How many fields in a table?  255 

   Show answers Hide answers

If you wish, you can turn off the Office Assistant now. (Display the Office Assistant, Options, uncheck Use the Office Assistant)