Information Technology Support Service

Level: II

Prepared by: Girma B.

Jimma TVET College

Department of ICT

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Unit of Competence 1

Operate Database
Application

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 Create Database Objects
Database is a collection of data related to particular
subject or purpose. Within a data base, information
about a particular entity (object), such as employee
or order (arrangement of items), is categorized in to
tables, records, and fields.
Microsoft Access It is a data base program that is
used to design Tables, Queries, Forms, and
Reports.

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 Cont’d
Relational Database: in relational databases such as
Access, data is stored in tables made up of one or
more fields (Access calls a column a field). The data
stored in each column must be of a single data type
such as Character, Number or Date. A collection of
values from each column of a table is called a
record or a row in the table.

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 Designing Database
Good data base design ensures that your data base is
easy to maintain. You store data in tables and each
table contains data about only one subject, such as
customer, Employee and other records. Therefore,
you update a particular piece of data, such as an
address, in just one place and that change
automatically appears throughout the data base.

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 Basic steps designing database
 Determine the purpose of the data base: for which
company are you going to design the data base, for school,
super markets, Hospitals…
 Determine the Field you need for the data base: Each field
is a fact about a particular subject. For example you might
need to store the following facts about your students: - ID
card, first name, middle name, last name, Age, Sex,
Address, City, and phone.
 Determine the tables you need for the data base. For
example, if you have a Hire Date field, its subject is an
employee, so it belongs in employees table.

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 Cont’d
 Identify the field or fields with unique value in
each record: In order to connect two or more
tables you need to have a field(s) that uniquely
identifies individual records in the table. Such a
field or set of fields is called a primary key.
 Determine the relationship b/n tables: In order to
use fields from different tables, you need to
connect two or more tables.

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 Database Objects
Tables Tables are where the actual data is defined, entered
and store a database’s data. Tables consist of records
(rows) and fields (columns).
Queries Queries ask a question of data stored in a table. A
query consists of specifications indicating which
fields, records, and summaries you want to see from
a database.
Forms Forms are custom screens that provide an easy way
to enter and view data in a table or query.
Reports Reports present data from a table or query in a
printed format.
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 Table
Tables are the main units of data storage in a database. A
table is a collection of data about a specific topic; it is made
up of one of more fields.
Field: a field is a column in a table and defines a data type for
a set of values in a table. For example, a mailing list table
might include fields for first name, last name, address, city,
state, zip code, and telephone number.
Record: a record in a row in a table and is a set of values
defined by fields. In a mailing list table, each record would
contain the data for one person as specified by the
intersecting fields.

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 Cont’d
Data type: data types are the properties of each
field. A field only has one data type, such as
Character, Number or Date.
Primary Key :a primary key is a value that can be
used to identify a unique record in a table.
Design View: it provides the tools for creating fields
in a table.
Datasheet View: it allows you to update, edit, and
delete information from a table.

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 Elements of table with design view

1. Field Name – The name by which the field is

identified.
2. Data Type – When you add a field MS-Access
automatically assigns in the text. If you want to
change this data type, you can select from data type
list.
3. Description – Is an optional descriptive text that
you can add for created fields.

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 Data Types
1. Text – Used to store text information (Alphanumeric
character) up to 255 bytes.
2. Memo – Used to store large block of text up to 64,000
characters (About 20 pages) in length.
3. Number – Used to store numeric data that can be used in
mathematical calculation.
4. Date/Time – Used to store date and time.
5. Currency – Used to store monetary values.
6. Attachment_ You can attach images, spreadsheet files,
documents, charts, and other types of supported files to the
records in your database
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 Cont’d
7. Auto number – To store numeric values
(sequential value) that MS-Access automatically
increment the value by 1 starting from 1.
8. Yes/No – Used to recording logical Yes/NO,
True/False, and On/Off values.
9. OLE object – Used to store Graphics, Drawing,
Photographs, Signature and other objects that were
created in other application.
10. Lookup Wizard – Used to create a field that
allow you to choose a value from a list of values
using combo box (List box).TVET College
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 Setting Field Properties
Field properties are a set of characteristics that
provide additional control over how a field works.
The available field properties in Ms-Access are;
1. Field Size – Sets the maximum allowable number
of characters stored in a field. The default field size
for Text data type is 50.
2. Format – Affect how a field data is displayed.
You can use predefined format or set your own.
Examples Date Format Predefined Format Sample
Format - Short date 19/6/1998 - D/M/YYYY -
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 Cont’d
3. Input Mask – Display formatting characters in a field.
You can use predefined masks or customize your own. Cause
character to the right to be converted to upper case. E.g.
>????? = ABEBE >?<???? = Abebe
4. Caption – Used to describe a field name on table datasheet
view.
E.g. Fname = First Name Lname = Last Name
5. Default Value – a value that is automatically entered in a
field when records are created.
6. Validation Rule – An expression used by MS-Access to
determine whether or not an item entered in a field should be
stored as value.
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E.g. F or M =To enter either F or M. >20 = To enter
a value grater than 20.
7. Validation Text – A text that appears when invalid
data is entered in a field. When you enter a data that
break the validation rule, a validation text will be
displayed as message.
8. Required – Setting the forces a user to make an
entry in a field. If this field property is set to Yes
MS-Access doesn’t allow a null value to be stored in
this field.
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 Setting The Primary Key

Setting The Primary Key

To set a primary key;
- Switch to table design view
- Select the field that you want to define as a primary key
- Click on Edit menu – Select Primary key command
For example, a Customer ID field in the Customers table
might also appear in the Orders table. In the Customers table,
it is the primary key. In the Orders table it is called a foreign
key. A foreign key, simply stated, is another table's primary
key.

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 Types of database Relationships

1. One-to-One Relationships

2. One-to-Many Relationships

3. Many-to-Many Relationships

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 One-to-One Relationships
In a one-to-one relationship, a row in table A can
have no more than one matching row in table B, and
vice versa. A one-to-one relationship is created if
both of the related columns are primary keys or have
unique constraints. The primary key and foreign key
side of a one-to-one relationship is denoted by a
symbol.
Example: Husband and Wife

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 One-to-Many Relationships
A one-to-many relationship is the most common type
of relationship. In this type of relationship, a row in
table A can have many matching rows in table B, but
a row in table B can have only one matching row in
table A. The primary key side of a one-to-many
relationship is denoted by a key symbol. The
foreign key side of a relationship is denoted by an
infinity symbol.
Example: Mother and Child

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 Many-to-Many Relationships
In a many-to-many relationship, a row in table A can
have many matching rows in table B, and vice versa.
You create such a relationship by defining a third
table, called a junction table, whose primary key
consists of the foreign keys from both table A and
table B.
Examples Trainee, Competency and Takes

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 Referential Integrity
Referential Integrity is a system of rules that
Microsoft Access uses to ensure that relationships
between records in related tables are valid and that
you don't accidentally delete or incorrectly change
related data.

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