At this point, I need to caution you that, for the purpose of these tutorials, we will be using Microsoft Access 2003. The changes in interface between Access 2000, Access XP and 2003 are only slight, so if you are using any of these (which the majority of you are), you shouldn’t have any hassles with what is being taught here. For those of you that have upgraded to 2007, these tutorials may be a little harder to follow, as the interface in Access 2007 has changed quite a lot. That said, the theory that I will be training here is still pertinent in Access 2007, and if you are willing to experiment with the fancy new toolbar, you should be able to work through these tutorials using Access 2007.

While we’re talking about Access 2007, and the striking change in the user interface, I should let you know about a product I have come across that will ease your woes. Classic Menu for Access 2007 is a downloadable add-in for Microsoft Access 2007 that will bring back all the toolbars that you have grown used to in previous versions of Access. Not only that, but all the features that are new in Access 2007 have been added to the old toolbars, so you get the best of both versions. It’s simple to install, and extremely quick to download (it’s only a 1.8mb file).

The other thing I haven’t told you yet is that we will be basing these tutorials around real life functionality. We will be desigining, from scratch, a database for a made up company called Bobbles ‘R’ Us. The database we design will track products, customers, suppliers, sales and communication. There are other Microsft Access tutorials out there that use the standard “Northwind” template that comes with Microsoft Office. The issue with this is that a lot of the knowledge needed comes from the creation of a database. By building a system from the ground up, you will have a deeper knowledge of the way everything is linked together, and you will then be able to use this understanding to build your own databases. For this same reason, we will be trying to keep the use of wizards to a minimum. Wizards are OK if you want something done quickly, but they are restricted in their customisability, and using them will not expand your understanding of how a database works.

The first thing to do is open up Microsoft Access from the Start Menu. Once it is open, choose “New…” from the File menu, and select “Blank Database” from the options that come up. Save the database to a place easy to access (on the desktop is fine), and call it Bobbles.mdb.

Congratulations! You have created your first database! How easy was that? Actually, don’t get too eager, you have just created your first database file; creating the database itself is going to take quite a few more steps.

You should then see the Database Window. Down the left hand side of this window is a section called the “Objects Bar”, which has a list of object types that the database uses (Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Pages, Macros & Modules). In the next Microsoft Access Tutorial, we are going to explain each of these objects, and what their functions are within your database.

Please keep in mind that if you have any questions, or suggestions on what should be covered in these posts, you are welcome to leave a comment or send me an email at microsoftaccesstutorials@gmail.com. Talk to you again soon.