Spotlight on Access
Database is one of the most frequently heard terms within any company. It is also one of the most misrepresented and misunderstood. If you have any amount of information about any subject organised into rows and columns it could be classed as a database and as such Excel spreadsheets are commonly referred to as databases. However, a pure database is one that is created in a specific database package such as Microsoft Access.
Access has for years been thought of as a “power-users” tools and to be honest to create a reliable and useful database you do need a certain amount of computer know-how and definitely some formal training. Databases are fantastic tools for both organising information and filtering this information to get the relevant records. They can be used to store your music collection details, order records for a retail outlet or staff information for a multinational company. The scope of databases is pretty much endless.
Why do you need a database?
- You have over one hundred records in your spreadsheet
- You need customer/product data to be entered in once and then used in many places
- You want to validate entered data
- You have a need to see your data in lots of different orders and combined with other information in your business
- You want a more user-friendly data entry system
- You need to pull reports from your data and make these look professional
When does your data grow too big for Excel?
- You find yourself repeating the same information more than once
- You have multiple linked worksheets/workbooks
- You continually perform the same sorts and filters on your data
- You have found the sorting and Autofilter features just don’t cut the mustard
Excel is great but when your data grows it can be hard to handle and errors can appear. The example below is a list of Products in an Excel spreadsheet and the second example is from Access complete with dropdowns, check boxes and buttons for navigating your data.
With this information entered you can then produce professional reports which can be saved and used time and again.
There are many parts to Access and to put them all together takes a good plan, some appreciation of the tools available and the willingness to spend some time getting it right.
You do not need to be an Access guru to utilise the tools the package has to offer. Even if you only have one worksheet in Excel but it consists of hundreds of rows you can use Access to save filters and sort orders, produce tables with your columns in a multitude of different orders, produce a form for others to use to enter data – along with check boxes and dropdown lists, and produce and save any number of formatted reports on your data.
The reasons for getting to grips with Access are endless. If you have a lot of data, and you wish to manipulate it in a consistent and easy manner – Access is the tool for you.
