by Larry Wiggins

Created on: January 10, 2009

Businesses regardless of size accumulate large amounts of data. Perhaps the data is contained in small increments such as multiple spreadsheets or other documents. Other times the data is one spreadsheet, but that spreadsheet grows. Eventually the spreadsheet becomes cumbersome due the time the massive file takes to load or the lag experienced navigating between cells or worksheets. In each of these cases the data exists within the business but it is difficult to use. An answer to these problems is an Access database.

Many businesses own the Microsoft Access program as a part of the Microsoft Office Suite. However, because the program is not as intuitive to use as more standard applications such as Word or Excel, this powerful application is often ignored. This article will identify elements of a database design for formulating an application within Access.

The Microsoft Access database is a relational database. A relational database connects data elements one to another. A good example for understanding this concept is to think about a simple example. It is possible to keep track of contacts within an Excel spreadsheet. In this spreadsheet, you would need data such as the contact's name, address and telephone number. In reality, this simple model would work well within Excel. There is not much data and it is possible to obtain different views by sorting by columns to meet your needs.

However, this is a very simple contact list. As you started to implement such an Excel application, I believe you would soon want to include additional data. Most people now have several telephone numbers. There could be an office number, a cell number, a fax number a pager number, an emergency number or a home number. These different telephone numbers could all be columns in the spreadsheet. They would not be difficult to add. Another important piece of information to add probably would be the contact's company. Again this is another column in the spreadsheet.

Using this model, a contact list in Excel would be feasible. Problems begin as the number of contacts grew. As you added contacts, you would notice that the file size grew. As you looked at the data, you would notice trends. All of the contacts at the same company location have the same address. All of this data is duplicated except for the typos where you entered the address incorrectly. You also notice that the columns with telephone numbers have varying amounts of data. Some contacts have all of the columns completed, but

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>