Creating a New Jet Database

If you have experience with relational database management systems, you might want to start building your own database as you progress through this book. In this case, you need to create a new database file at this point. If database management systems are new to you, however, you should instead explore the sample databases supplied with Access and on the accompanying CD-ROM as you progress through the chapters of this book. Before you design your first database, review the principles outlined in Chapter 4, "Exploring Relational Database Theory and Practice." Then return to this section and create your new database file.

To create a new Jet database in Access 2000 format, follow these steps:

1. If you aren't already running Access, launch it and skip to step 3.

2. If Access is running and the task pane isn't visible, press Ctrl+F1 or choose View, Task Pane to display the Getting Started page. Click the Create a New File link under the Open heading to display the New File page.

3. Click the Blank Database item under the task pane's New heading on the New File page to open the File New Database dialog (see Figure 5.1).

   Figure 5.1. Clicking the Blank Database link in the New File page of the task pane opens the File New Database dialog with db1.mdb as the default database name and My Documents as its location.

   

   Note

   Access supplies the default file name, db1.mdb, for new databases, and proposes to save the database in your My Documents folder. If you've previously saved a database file as db1.mdb in the current folder, Access supplies db2.mdb as the default.

4. In the File Name text box, type a file name for the new database. Use conventional file-naming rules; you can use spaces and punctuation in the name, but doing so isn't a recommended practice. You don't need to include an extension in the file name; Access automatically supplies the .mdb extension.

5. Click Create or press Enter to create the new Jet database file.

For more about file and object naming conventions, see "In the Real World Database Strategy and Table Tactics," p. 215.

If a database was open when you created the new database, Access closes open windows displaying database objects, the Database window, and the task pane. Then the Database window for the new database opens.

All Office 2003 applications use DocFiles to store their data and share similar FileName Properties dialogs, which open when you choose File, Database Properties (see Figure 5.2). Each new Jet 4.0 database occupies 96KB of disk space when you create it. Most of the 96KB is space consumed by hidden system tables for adding the information necessary to specify the names and locations of other database elements that the database file contains.

Figure 5.2. The FileName Properties dialog for .mdb files has five tabbed pages that contain properties similar to the DocFiles created by other Office 2003 applications.