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25 Explore an Access 2010 Database
In this chapter, you will learn how to
✔ Work in Access 2010.
✔ Understand database concepts.
✔ Explore tables.
✔ Explore forms.
✔ Explore queries.
✔ Explore reports.
✔ Preview and print Access objects.Microsoft Access 2010 is part of Microsoft Office 2010, so the basic interface—such as
the Quick Access Toolbar, the ribbon, the Backstage view, and dialog boxes—should be
familiar if you have used other Office 2010 programs. However, Access has more dimen-
sions than many of those programs, so it might seem more complex until you become
familiar with it.
Tip If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Access, you should refer to the introduction
in Microsoft Access Step by Step, by Joyce Cox and Joan Lambert (Microsoft Press, 2010), to learn
about differences between earlier versions and Access 2010.
Throughout this book, you’ll be working with databases that contain information about
the employees, products, suppliers, and customers of a fictional company. As you com-
plete the exercises in this book, you will develop an assortment of tables, forms, queries,
and reports, which are called database objects. These objects can be used to enter, edit, and
manipulate the information in a database in many ways.
In this chapter, you’ll explore the Access program window and learn about the concepts and
structure of data storage in Access, including types of databases, types of database objects,
and relationships between objects. You’ll look at objects in a working database, learning
about interesting features of Access as well as functionality that you’ll explore in more depth
in later chapters.