MS Access

[low_delta]

Anyone ever learn Access on your own? Someone told me that my spreadsheets would perform more like I'd want, if they were in Access. I thought I'd give it a shot, but I don't get Access at all.

Comments

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

I spent two very difficult days in class trying to learn Access, and I still can't begin to know where to start. I can't imagine learning it on your own! Maybe if you had a strong background in database programs and you're a genius, you might do it on your own.

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

i taught myself access in '97. i use it for some things at NU as well, so i have a later version now...not sure what it is. it works a lot like excel, as you probably already know.

you still have to enter all your info and then whip out reports, et al from that table. do you have a specific question?

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

See? I knew you had to be a genius.

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

i'd hardly call it genius! silly.
(i love that lisa with braces icon, though. always makes me giggle.)

you should see me when i have a migraine. i'll be all muddled and icky and have to do a report or something and i google templates and tutorials to give my brain a jump start!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

A lot like Excel? That's not what I've seen. It's like Excel in that it has columns and rows, but there the similarity ends. Does it even do formulas? How does it... nevermind. I'm going to have to find out... how it works.

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

you know, i always neglect the fact that your brain is engineery.
you DO think differently than i do and my impression of both programs is their similarities. you are correct; if you need to do formulas, you need excel. i use excel programs for number-oriented tasks and access for "people" tasks-- address databases, RSVPs, stats records, etc.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking that most of what I want to do is with the checkbox thing. Like, check off a bunch of items from a list, and have the items that you checked display on another list. But I definitely need to use formulas someplace. I wonder if I can use Access to reference data from a spreadsheet, and vice versa.

..

[whorlpool.livejournal.com]

I taught myself access a long time ago but never used it. It's absolutely something you can learn on your own. There are probably tutorials floating around.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Definitely need tutorials. I've never even seen examples of what it's supposed to do. I set up a few fields and tried to make a form out of them. I got the form but couldn't edit it. I'm not used to failing at something that I can see right in front of me.

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

in access, you make all edits in the table and the forms will then reflect those edits.

[banana.livejournal.com]

Ever used any other database? Whether it's better than a spreadsheet depends a lot on what you want to do.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I taught myself Excel, and I think I'm pretty good at it. But I learned it incrementally, over a period of years. Access is totally different, and I've never even seen how it's suposed to work.

[rdsc.livejournal.com]

I did a bit of Access when I worked in the library but I am *so* not a spreadsheet or DB person. Have you tried importing a spreadsheet you created - might make it easier if you know thoroughly understand the data you're working with. I would recommend trying to get your head around the theory of "relational" databases if you're serious about it - that seems to be part of the power of it, once you understand. (which I never really did).

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Have you tried importing a spreadsheet you created?

That's part of the problem in learning it. I don't have any data to import. I need to figure out how it works before I can build the database. And I'm having trouble figuring it out with no data. I want it to replace something existing, but what I've got is full of formulas, so I need to do it completely differently.

[(Anonymous)]

try a book called "Database for Mere Mortals"...then move onto a book called
"Master Access 2003 Visually"..

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Sounds a bit expensive, just for a hobby thing.

[(Anonymous)]

well, for less than $50, you can buy both books on amazon.com...so, do you really want to learn Access?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Not for fifty bucks.