Access 2010 Handout 1:
Microsoft Access 2010 Environment and Things You Should Know and Follow

Table of Contents:

Section
Topic
Page
1.1
You cannot unzip a zipped file directly on the Blackboard
2
1.2 mdb files vs. accdb files
2
1.3
Naming Database and Database Objects
2
1.4
Security Alert screen in Access 2007 or 2010: Important
2 & 3
1.5
Compacting and Repairing the database: Important
4
1.6
Access 2010/2007 Environment
5
1.6.1 The Access Main Menu Bar:
6
1.6.2 The Navigation Panel’s Dropdown list and the Shutter Bar
6, 7 1.6.3 Database Objects and The User Views:
7
1.6.4 The Create tab
10
1.6.5 The Access 2010/2007 Options Feature: Important 11 1.6.6 Saving a Database
13
1.6.7 Other Sources
13

Some of the concepts described in this handout are also available in Chapter 1 through Chapter 3 of the Tutorial DVD.1.1: You cannot unzip a zipped file directly on the Blackboard: You need to download a zip file onto your disk first before you can unzip it.

1.2: mdb files vs. accdb files:
Older versions of Access database files are usually saved with mdb extension such as Northwind.mdb). Access 2007 and 2010 database files are automatically saved with an accdb extensions (such as Northwind.accdb).

You can open an older version of Access database file (an mdb file) using Access 2007 or 2010. You can convert an mdb file to the newer version’s accdb file using Access 2007 (using the Save as). But, you cannot convert an mdb file to an accdb file using Access 2010. You cannot also save an accdb file as an mdb file using Access 2010.

1.3: Naming Database and Database Objects:

Mandatory: In our class, you must name all disk folders/sub-folders, database names, table names, query names (i.e. the name of almost all database objects and disk folders with a single word (without any space). You must follow these naming conventions even if the textbooks and tutorials and some sample demonstrations show otherwise. For example, a disk folder name should be mua3770Asn1 and not M U A Asn 1. A database name should be SampleBusiness.accdb and not Sample Business.accdb. A table can be OurFavoriteCustomer and not Our Favorite Customers. A column name should be FirstName and not First Name, etc. See the section 7.1 in the syllabus for further details.

1.4: Security Alert screen in Access 2010/2007: Important

When you open an accdb database file, you may observe a Security warning followed by a link captioned Enable Contents (in 2010) or Options (in 2007) (See Figure 1A and 1B). Always be sure to click on the Enable Contents as shown in Figure 1A for 2010.

If you are using Access 2007, click on the “Options…” button to open the Microsoft Office Security Options screen, select the Enable This Content and click on the OK button (See Figure 1B and 1C). If you forget this step, you may not get correct results from your queries, forms or reports.
Figure 1A: The Security Options Feature in Access 2010

Figure 1B: The Security Options Feature in Access 2007

Figure 1C: Enabling the Contents of the Access 2007 Database

1.5: Compacting and repairing the database: Important

Access 2010: When you work on a database (or when you receive or transmit a database file via Internet), often the database gets larger and somewhat corrupted. Thus it is a good practice to compact and repair the database file before you start working on a database. To do this chore in Access 2010, use the File > Compact & Repair.

Access 2007: To do this chore in Access 2007 use the Office Button icon (at the top left corner) > Manage > Compact and Repair Database (as shown below):

1.6: Access 2010 Environment

Microsoft Access is an excellent database management system (DBMS) software for an executive. The most important component of a DBMS is the Database Engine that performs the behind-the-screen (background)