1. Microsoft Access Prepared by the Academic Faculty Members of IT

2. Look Up Fields Lock up fields are used when you want to enter the same test or data in many fields. Open the table in Design View. In the Field Name column, type a unique name for the field. In the Data Type column, click the arrow and select Lookup Wizard. In the first Lookup Wizard dialog box, click the option that indicates you will type in the values that you want.

3. Look Up Fields In the second Lookup Wizard dialog box enter the values you want to be included in the list. In the third Lookup Wizard dialog box you can choose the label of your lock up column >> Press finish button.

4. Look Up Fields Open the table in Datasheet view. Click in the column to the right of where you want to insert the field, and then on the Insert menu, click Lookup Column. In the first dialog box of the Lookup Wizard, select the option that indicates that you will type in the values that you want. Click Next and follow the directions in the remaining Lookup Wizard dialog boxes.

5. Text Field Properties You have ten properties for text fields, you do not need to specify all of them. Field Size: Can be any size between 1 and 255. Formatting Text Fields: forces the data entered to appear according to the characteristics you specify, e.g. to make all the letters of a text appear in upper case, regardless of how they were entered, enter > (greater than sign) in the space next to format.

6. Formatting Text Fields To show a text in uppercase letters Click on general tab at the bottom of the window >> Click on the space next to Format >> Enter > Sign

7. Number Field Size Property This property affects the precision and the appearance of numbers. There are 6 options to choose from: 1) notes 2) Byte: uses 1 byte to store numbers from 0 to 255. 3)Integer: uses 2 bytes to store numbers from - 32768 to 32767

8. Number Field Size Property 4)Long Integer: Stores the whole numbers. 5) Single: Stores numbers with 7 digits precision. 6) Double: The default stores numbers with 15 digits of precision.

9. Field Format Property for Number Fields Field Format property lets you specify how numbers will appear on the screen. There are 7 options: 1) General: shows numbers in the same way they are entered. 2) Currency: Shows the sign of the country according to the regional settings. Also, the number will appear with three decimal digits.

10. Field Format Property for Number Fields 3) Euro: Format currency and will show the currency sign, e.g. $, next to the number. 4) Fixed: shows at least on digit and two decimal digits. 5) Standard: e.g. 32, 526.89 6) Percent: e.g. 56% 7) Scientific: uses scientific symbols, e.g. 3.87E+03

11. Field Format Property for Number Fields To specify the format Click on general tab at the bottom of the window >> Click the arrow next to Format >> Choose the format you want.

12. Date/Time Field Format Date/Time gives you the ability to enter dates and times in a variety of formats. You can choose from various options to specify haw do you want the date and time to be displayed on the screen.

13. Date/Time Field Format To specify the format Click on general tab at the bottom of the window >> Click the arrow next to Format >> Choose the format you want

14. Caption Caption gives you the ability to specify a replacement text for the field name as it will appear on the screen. For example, if you have a field called (SName) and you want it to be displayed on the screen as (Student_Name). Type (Student_Name) in the space next to caption.

15. Yes/No Field Format Yes/No field is used when you want to give the user a field with two choices only, e.g. Yes/No, True/False, On/Off.

16. Yes/No Field Format To specify the format Click on general tab at the bottom of the window >> Click the arrow next to Format >> Choose the format you want

17. Default Value This property give you the ability to specify the value that will be entered automatically in a field whenever you create a new record.

18. Default Value To specify default value: Click on general tab at the bottom of the window >> In Default Value field enter the value you want e.g. =Date(), =Now() or you can type the number itself. Also you can enter text value i.e. not only numbers.

19. Validation Rules Gives you the ability to specify error check on data. For example if an entry must be Mr. Miss you can use a validation rule box to enter the data. To enter validation rules: Switch to Design View Go to Field Properties >> in the validation rule field enter the Text, e. g. “Mr” Or “Miss”

20. Required Field It is a Yes/No field where you can specify whether the field can be empty or it must be always filled with a value.

21. Input Mask Allows you to simplify data entry process for fields with the format such as Phone number. For example if the input mask was (000)000000 and you entered 700658967 access will display the number as (700)658967

22. Input Mask Input Mask Characters: 1) No character: Input mast is not required. 2) 0: a number between 0 and 9 must be entered, no plus or minus. 3) 9: optional number (0-9) or space. 4) #: optional number or space.

23. Input Mask 5) L: required letters (A-Z). 6) ?: optional letters (A-Z). 7) A: required letter or number. 8) a: Optional letters or numbers. 9) &: Required character and space.

24. Input Mask 10),.:;/() Decimal placeholder, number and date/time separators. 11) > Characters that get converted to uppercase. 12) < characters that get converted to lowercase.

25. Input Mask To enter an Input Mask to a Field: Click the field the Input Mask will belong to. Click Input Mask property >> you can enter the Input Mask you want or you can get help from the wizard for text and Date/Time Fields.

26. Input Mask If you want to get help from the wizard Click the button that will appear next to the Input Mask field >> Highlight the mask you want to use >> press Next button. In the next dialog box apply the changes you need >> pres Next. In the next step access will ask whether you want to store characters like dashes and slashes with the value stored in the field >> Press Finish.

27. Primary Key In your table, if you have a field with unique values such as ID numbers you can choose that field to be a primary key for your table. Once a field is chosen to be a primary key, access will prevent duplication and null values from being entered in that field.

28. Primary Key To set a primary key for a table: Switch to design view Select the field/fields you want by clicking the row selector for the desired field. Go to design Tab >> Click Primary Key button.