An Access database is made up of objects, which are all saved in one file. In this project you will create a simple database that contains just a few objects: a table, a query, a form, and a report.
Any database must have at least one table. The power of relational databases like Microsoft Access comes with using several tables and queries to produce forms and reports that enable you to organize your data.
You will start by creating a simple database and get more complex later!
The same rules for names apply to an object like a table, query, form, or report, to a control in the Design view of a form or report, or to a field in a table.
Special Characters | |
Space | |
Apostrophe | ' |
Quotation mark | " |
At sign | @ |
Grave accent | ` |
Number sign | # |
Percent | % |
Greater than sign | > |
Less than sign | < |
Exclamation mark | ! |
Period | . |
Brackets | [ ] |
Asterisk | * |
Dollar sign | $ |
Semicolon | ; |
Colon | : |
Question mark | ? |
Caret | ^ |
Braces | { } |
Plus sign | + |
Hyphen | - |
Equal sign | = |
Tilde | ~ |
Backslash | \ |
A name can have up to 64 characters. It can contain letters, numbers, and symbols except for a period (.), an exclamation point (!), an accent grave (`), brackets ([ ]), and double quote mark ("). You cannot start a name with a space. You can use a space inside a name but it is not always wise.
Database programmers like to use names that include a clue as to what
kind of thing it is.
This helps them avoid certain kinds of problems in
their programs.
Examples:
These kinds of names may be programming-friendly, but they are not user-friendly!
There is a trend away from this kind of naming, but it is good know what such ugly names mean.
Programmers
avoid
spaces in names: Spaces can cause problems if you use a Visual Basic program to control how
the database behaves.
Access can remember up to 20 typing actions or design actions to undo and redo. That is better than just 1, but it is not a lot of actions when you start formatting forms and reports.