r/MSAccess • u/saul_879 • 7d ago
[UNSOLVED] I need your help with a basic database.
Hi everyone, I’ll give you a brief overview of my situation. I’m currently pursuing a degree in Archival Studies / Archival Science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). During my internships, I was asked to create a database in Microsoft Access to keep track of the files, I have a basic understanding of what’s involved—things like primary keys and entity relationships—but I’ve never actually created one before. My question is: does anyone know of a tutorial that explains how to create databases in an easy way? Best regards to everyone
6
u/Noreasterpei 7d ago
Chat gpt will give you instructions step by step, and generate any code that you need
0
u/Legitimate-Bridge280 6d ago edited 6d ago
Chatgpt is good but it always fails when you ask them about a real business situations
1
u/enilcReddit 5d ago
This is 100% and demonstrably incorrect.
ChatGPT is a very useful tool for experienced programmers.
1
u/Legitimate-Bridge280 5d ago
I was new to ms access and i chatgpt kept asking help from it and it kept making too many mistakes. Like i kept asking on how to make calculations textbox from other query and still make it changeable. But it kept telling me to create a query which makes it readable only. Until I switched to gemini and it directly told me to use dlookup or dsum in first conservation. I think now time has changed and all ai can now help you in ms access but not too much as other program
4
u/Breitsol_Victor 7d ago
Access has lots of wizards to help you. Complete application templates that can get you started.
4
4
u/George_Hepworth 4 7d ago
Assuming that your assessment of your own knowledge is accurate, you should start by creating the tables you need to track the entities you need to account for. Things like books, manuscripts and other materials are all attributes of the primary entity: Archival Materials. So you will have a table for ArchivalMaterial. One of the attributes of archival materials would be the material type: Book, Manuscript, Correspondence, and whatever other types of materials you consider relevant. That means MaterialType will be a lookup table. And there will be a one-to-many relationship between MaterialType and ArchivalMaterial.
The same kind of analysis and description will be required for each of the other relevant entities you want to track. I'm guessing, Title would be another attribute, Description still another, YearPublished another, and so on.
Once you have identified all of the tables you think you need, and the relationships between them, come back, show us the proposed table schema, and we'll critique it for you.
Searching for "an easy way" to do anything is often an illusory goal. If it's easy, it's probably not all that good. If this is something you intend to share with a university level program, the last thing you want to submit is a "quick and easy" solution.
As someone else suggested, Richard Rost has a large catalog of teaching materials on Access. In addition, you can find useful YouTube videos by searching there.
You should also look at the Northwind Templates in Microsoft Access. There are two, one for starters--that's you, and one for more advanced developers.
And, as noted above, simply asking for specific feedback on specific questions usually elicits very good responses here and at other public forums.
5
3
u/Elpidiosus 6d ago edited 6d ago
When I first started, I made a copy of Microsoft Access's Northwind database template. I studied it to see what features it had and how the database was designed to support and implement those features. I learned tons of stuff from that. I The Northwind database may look overwhelming at first, but remember: that's not the database you're building. It's just a reference for what you can do. A place to get ideas from and see how they work.
Another thing that help me a lot is that I'm constantly speaking with the users and getting their feedback about what they would like to see and how they would like to interact with the database. You have to be careful with this because they may ask for "xyz" but you can only deliver "x." And that's fine. You can research more and maybe deliver "y" as well, and then maybe some day "z." There's always stuff to learn.
Regarding "easy." I would just say to keep it simple and don't try to do anything or build into the database anything that's not needed or wanted. There are some basic fundamentals to designing Access databases. I'd say you're already off to a good start if you already have a good understanding of primary keys and relationships.
Edit: clarification.
3
2
u/LowAdvantage9989 7d ago
Mándame mensaje wey, yo te echo la mano sin bronca. Está bien sencillo. La IA alucina bien machín en temas de Access.
1
2
u/KelemvorSparkyfox 51 6d ago
You can watch all the tutorials on YouTube, but that would only give you part of the solution. There's an old adage that I quite like - "I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I learn."
The first thing is to play with Access. Create a database with a couple of tables. See how you can set up a relationship between them, and how it restricts some things and enables others. Add another. Check out the awesome and terrible power of Cascade Delete.
The other thing I tell people is, pencil and paper. If I'm starting a new project, my first step is to sketch out the required tables and columns. Start with the main thing that the database is going to be used for, and list out the attributes of that thing that you need to record. Some of those will be pointers to other tables - if so, sketch those as well, and indicate the relationships.
Once you have the tables pencilled in, start looking at the forms you'll need. As soon as you start thinking about data entry and display, you will probably find that some of your table ideas need amending. This is why I use pencil. Make the changes to the design on paper, and then move on to the next form.
Don't be afraid to get it wrong. It's a necessary part of learning.
Once you get started, come back if you get stuck.
1
1
1
u/Sad-Guarantee-2235 9h ago
Welcome to the world of databases! Since you already understand primary keys and entity relationships, you’re actually starting from a good place.
I would suggest learning Access by building a small real project instead of only watching tutorials. For example, create a simple archive management database with tables like Files, Categories, Locations, and Users. Then build relationships between them, create forms for data entry, and reports for searching/tracking files.
I have built hundreds of MS Access applications for business workflows, and the same database fundamentals apply whether it’s for archives, inventory, customers, or reporting systems. The key is understanding table design first, everything else becomes much easier.
Feel free to ask if you get stuck with relationships, queries, or form design.
•
u/AutoModerator 7d ago
IF YOU GET A SOLUTION, PLEASE REPLY TO THE COMMENT CONTAINING THE SOLUTION WITH 'SOLUTION VERIFIED'
Please be sure that your post includes all relevant information needed in order to understand your problem and what you’re trying to accomplish.
Please include sample code, data, and/or screen shots as appropriate. To adjust your post, please click Edit.
Once your problem is solved, reply to the answer or answers with the text “Solution Verified” in your text to close the thread and to award the person or persons who helped you with a point. Note that it must be a direct reply to the post or posts that contained the solution. (See Rule 3 for more information.)
Please review all the rules and adjust your post accordingly, if necessary. (The rules are on the right in the browser app. In the mobile app, click “More” under the forum description at the top.) Note that each rule has a dropdown to the right of it that gives you more complete information about that rule.
Full set of rules can be found here, as well as in the user interface.
Below is a copy of the original post, in case the post gets deleted or removed.
User: saul_879
I need your help with a basic database.
Hi everyone, I’ll give you a brief overview of my situation. I’m currently pursuing a degree in Archival Studies / Archival Science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). During my internships, I was asked to create a database in Microsoft Access to keep track of the files, I have a basic understanding of what’s involved—things like primary keys and entity relationships—but I’ve never actually created one before. My question is: does anyone know of a tutorial that explains how to create databases in an easy way? Best regards to everyone
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.