845

28 Display Data

In this chapter, you will learn how to

✔ Sort information in tables.

✔ Filter information in tables.

✔ Filter information by using forms.

✔ Locate information that matches multiple criteria.

A database is a repository for information. It might contain only a few records or thousands

of records, stored in one table or multiple tables. No matter how much information a data-

base contains, it is useful only if you can locate the information you need when you need it.

In a small database, you can find information simply by scrolling through a table until you

find what you are looking for. But as a database grows in size and complexity, locating and

analyzing information becomes more difficult.

Microsoft Access 2010 provides a variety of tools you can use to organize the display of

information stored in a database. For example, you can organize all the records in a table

by quickly sorting it based on any field or combination of fields. You can also filter the

table so that information containing a combination of characters is displayed or excluded

from the display.

In this chapter, you’ll first sort information in a table based on one and two columns. Then

you’ll explore three ways to filter tables and forms to display only the records that meet

specific criteria.

Practice Files Before you can complete the exercises in this chapter, you need to copy

the book’s practice files to your computer. The practice file you’ll use to complete the

exercises in this chapter is in the Chapter28 practice file folder. A complete list of

practice files is provided in “Using the Practice Files” at the beginning of this book.

    Contents

28 Display Data 845

Sorting Information in Tables............................................. 846

How Access Sorts................................................... 850

Filtering Information in Tables............................................. 851

Filtering Information by Using Forms...................................... 855

Wildcards......................................................... 859

Locating Information That Matches Multiple Criteria......................... 859

Generating Reports................................................. 863

Key Points.............................................................. 864