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A database is a collection of database objects. When you are working with Word and you are working with Excel, you are typically using one file bit Access is a sum of the parts of all the database objects contained within it. Right now I am going to do an Alt+Tab and I am going to switch to the contact sample database in Access. I just want to explain to you briefly what database objects are? In a layer list and I will show you how to open up a Microsoft sample database just like you see on your screen at the moment.

In Access we have tables, queries, forms, reports, Macros and modules. Modules are more of an advanced Access topic and we will not be covered in this series but I encourage you to continue studying Access and learn about the more advanced features available in Access 2007. Right now I am going to up a table and on screen you see a generic table with no records in it. If it helps think of database objects as such Tables store data, queries fetch or retrieve data. Forms help you enter and edit data, reports help print data on paper or in various formats and macros and modules help automate your application. In some ways that's a simple way of looking at things but that should help you understand the differences. Right now you still should see the contacts table open in Data sheet view.

I am going to close this one now and you can see in here I am opening up a query looks very similar to a table of data sheet. I am going to open up a form and you can see a form looks a little bit different than a table and reports there is away to print data or just view it on screen, I am going to close that one and we have macros down here. All of these database objects comprise this one database called contacts. All this information is stored within one particular file but each database objects serves a specific purpose.

In part two of this series, you will learn how to create and edit these various database objects to build a complete working database. If these terms seem foreign to you right now, don't panic, I will help guide you through the process. In a relational database system remember that all data is stored within tables. This sample database only has one table, so it's a very simple database, but it does provide a good list of all the contacts. I am going to open that table in Data sheet View.

This table has no records in it right now because its a blank one. In a later lesson we will study some databases with a lot of information store in many tables and will have relationships defined between those tables. So you will really begin to understand how a relational database system works. For this particular sample I just wanted to illustrate the various database objects that you will see and through each lesson as we go through this series you will begin to understand how all these objects relate to one another.

A database is a collection of database objects. When you are working with Word and you are working with Excel, you are typically using one file bit Access is a sum of the parts of all the database objects contained within it. Right now I am going to do an... click to read more