Who Should Read This Book

Special Edition Using Microsoft Office Access 2003 takes an approach that's different from most books about database management applications. This book doesn't begin with the creation of a database for Widgets, Inc., nor does it require you to type a list of fictional customers for the company's new WidgetPlus product line to learn the basics of Access. Instead, this book makes the following basic assumptions about your interest in Microsoft's relational database management system:

• You aren't starting from "ground zero." You now have or will have access via your PC to much of the data that you want to process with a Windows database manager. You've acquired Access and want to learn to use it more quickly and effectively. Or, you might be considering using Access as the database manager for yourself, your department or division, or your entire organization.

• Your existing data is in the form of one or more database, spreadsheet, mailing list, or even plain-text files that you want to manipulate with a relational database management system. Access 2003 can process the most common varieties of these file types, as well as HTML tables, element-centric XML files, Outlook contact lists, Windows SharePoint Services lists, and other tabular data sources.

• If you're planning to use Access 2003 as a front end to a client/server RDBMS, you'll use MSDE or SQL Server 2000 as the back-end database. Access 2003 lets you replicate data between a local copy of MSDE and MSDE or SQL Server on the server.

• If your data is on a mainframe computer, you're connected to that computer by a local area network and a database gateway, or through terminal-emulation software and an adapter card. Alternatively, you download text files from the mainframe to create Jet or SQL Server tables.

If some or all of your data is in the form of ASCII/ANSI text files, or files from a spreadsheet application, you need to know how to create an Access database from the beginning and import the data into Access's own .mdb file structure. If your data is in the form of dBASE, FoxPro, or Paradox files, you can import them directly to Access tables. Access 2002 also lets you link Excel workbook and conventional text files, as well as Outlook and SharePoint lists to Access databases. The capability to link files in their native format lets you synchronize the contents of your database tables with the original source documents. All these subjects receive thorough coverage in this book.

Learning relational database design and management with Access 2003 as the training tool is the quickest and easiest way to upgrade your professional skills. If you're a Web designer, the expertise in client/server database techniques that you gain by working with Access data projects, SQL Server, and data access pages greatly enhances your future employment prospects. Despite the prolonged downturn in the dot-com sector, there's no slack in the demand for unlocking islands of data stored in client/server databases and making the data available as usable business information on corporate intranets.

Access 2003 is a great first step in gaining XML, XML schema (XSD), and XSL transform (XSLT) skills. Most XML-related books and other training materials use trivial examples to illustrate XML and XSL(T) methodology. Access 2003 lets you dynamically generate real-world XML data and schemas, and provides a standard transform to render data in HTML format. Working with the resulting .xsl files and their embedded VBScript is the fastest way to learn practical XSLT techniques for delivering XML data as fully formatted Web pages.