Introducing Access 2007


Microsoft Office Access 2007 is a powerful relational database application providing hundreds of tools that allow you to quickly start tracking, sharing, and reporting information, even if you are new to database development. Users have access to a large library of professionally designed application templates; wizards that simplify the process of creating tables, forms, queries, and reports; and extensive local and online help resources.

Access supports sharing data with other sources, including other programs in the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SharePoint Services, and documents in XML, HTML, XPS, and PDF formats. Advanced features allow you to create sophisticated executable database applications for use by employees and customers to gather and view data without their needing to know anything at all about database design or development.

This book gives you straightforward instructions for using Access to create databases. It takes you from knowing little or nothing about Accessor, for that matter, about databasesto a level of expertise that will enable you to create complex databases for use by one person or by many people.

New Features

There's no question that Microsoft Office Access has been extensively reworked and improved with this version. The new user interface, designed to make the features you need easily available when you need them, is an obvious indicator. But beyond the appearance and navigation, Access 2007 also has a lot of new and improved features that really do make this a superior program to its predecessors. Because there are so many changes in this version, we don't identify new features with a special margin icon (as we did in previous versions of this book). We do, however, list them here. Throughout this book, we include complete coverage of features that are new in Access 2007, including the benefits of the feature, how to use it, and any potential problems you might encounter.

Tip

Included in the back of this book is a four-color poster provided for your reference. This convenient guide points out some of the best new features of the redesigned Office user interface and includes tips to get you started. You will learn about these features and many more while working through this book.


If you're upgrading to Access 2007 from a previous version, you're probably more interested in the differences between the old and new versions and how they will affect you than you are in the basic functionality of Access. To help you identify the entire scope of change from the version of Access you're familiar with, we've listed here the new features introduced in Access 2002 and Access 2003, as well as in Access 2007.

If You Are Upgrading from Access 2003

Access 2007 has a long list of new and improved features that make it easier than ever to create databases to track, share, manage, and audit information. To locate information about a specific feature, see the index at the back of this book:

  • The Ribbon. The new user interface organizes the most common commands for any database object by task so that the appropriate commands are immediately accessible for the current object.

  • Quick Access Toolbar. Customize a portion of this convenient toolbar to make commands available either globally or within a specific database, regardless of which tab or object is currently active in the database window.

  • Navigation Pane. The customizable Navigation Pane replaces the Database window from Access 2003. You can display or hide all tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and modules, or create a custom group that displays only the objects you want to work with at the moment. You can even hide the Navigation Pane to make more room on the screen for your database object.

  • View toolbar. This context-sensitive toolbar provides single-click switching among the supported views of the current database object. Quickly switch between Datasheet view, Design view, PivotTable view, PivotChart view, Form view, Layout view, Report view, and other views appropriate to the current object.

  • Tabbed documents. Open multiple database objects and switch between them quickly by clicking tabs at the top of the database window.

  • Template library. Quickly locate and download professionally designed templates for common database projects.

  • Improved sorting and filtering. Easily sort all records in a table based on one or more fields, or filter a table or form to display or not display records matching multiple criteria.

  • Layout view. Redesign a form or report while viewing it.

  • Stacked and Tabular layouts. Group controls in a form or report layout so you can easily manipulate the entire group as one unit.

  • Automatic calendar. The date/time data type includes an optional calendar control. Click the calendar, and select the date you want.

  • Rich Text. Memo fields now support most common formatting options, including fonts, color, and character formatting. The formatting is stored with the database.

  • Create tab. Quickly create a new table, form, query, report, macro, SharePoint list, or other Access object.

  • Totals function. Add a totals row to a query, and select from a list of formulas to automatically calculate aggregate values for forms and reports.

  • Field List pane. Drag and drop fields from one or more related or unrelated tables onto your active table.

  • Attachment data type. Attach photos and other files to a database record.

  • Embedded macros. Macros embedded in a form or report offer a higher level of security in database applications.

  • Microsoft Access Help. Easily search end-user and developer help content from within Access.

  • Share information. Easily import and export data between Access and other Microsoft Office applications, or XML, HTML, PDF, and dBase files; collect information through e-mail surveys in Microsoft Office Outlook and automatically update your database with the responses; create or link a database with a SharePoint list; publish your database to a SharePoint library and allow users to update and extract information.

  • Improved report design. Quickly create a professional-looking report, complete with logo, header, and footer; use Report view, combined with filters, to browse only selected records in the report.

  • Group, Sort, and Total pane. This feature makes it much easier to group and sort data in reports, and to add totals from a drop-down list.

  • Enhanced security. Adding password protection to a database now causes Access to automatically encrypt the database when it closes, and decrypt it when it opens.

If You Are Upgrading from Access 2002

In addition to the features listed in the previous section, if you're upgrading from Access 2002 (part of the Microsoft Office XP program suite), you'll find the following:

  • Smart Tags. Track types of data, such as dates, names, and addresses, which can be used in multiple ways.

  • Transform. Transform script to data when you import or export it.

  • Support for Windows Theming. Change your display theme.

  • Property Update Options. Quickly update input mask options.

  • Automatic Error Checking. Identify and correct errors in forms and reports.

  • Back Up Database. Quickly back up your database with the click of a button.

If You Are Upgrading from Access 2000

In addition to the features listed in the previous sections, if you're upgrading from Access 2000, you'll find the following:

  • Speech recognition. Give commands and dictate text.

  • Data Access Page Designer. Efficiently design data access pages.

  • Save as data access pages. Save existing forms and reports as pages that can be viewed over the Web.

  • Conversion error logging. Log errors when converting Access 95, Access 97, and Access 2000 databases to Access 2002 file format.

  • Multiple undo and redo. Undo or redo several actions instead of just the last one.

  • PivotTables and PivotCharts. Analyze data by creating dynamic views of data.

  • XML input and output. Import XML data and publish Access data to the Web by exporting it in XML format.

  • Stored Procedure Designer. Create simple SQL Server stored procedures.

  • Batch updating. Save updates to records on a local computer, and send them to the server all at once.

  • Script language support. Set preferences for complex script languages, including the reading direction.

Let's Get Started!

There are so many new and improved features to this already feature-rich program that there are bound to be some exciting discoveries for even the most advanced users. If you are new to Access, you will find many automated features that let you painlessly create databases and add queries, forms, and professional-looking reports to track and share your data. We look forward to showing you around Microsoft Office Access 2007.



MicrosoftR Office AccessT 2007 Step by Step
MicrosoftR Office AccessT 2007 Step by Step
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 127

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