Learn Access Now! Chapter 5 Previous Section in Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 6: Using Queries to Examine Your Data

(This is section 4 of 4 in this chapter)

Summary

Queries are powerful tools that you can use to select, change, and manipulate information in your database. From a data source (a table or another query), a query selects records according to criteria you specify. What Access does with those records depends on the type of query you design.

In this chapter, you have learned the fundamentals of queries, and a little bit more. When you combine the information in this chapter with what you have learned in previous chapters, you will find that queries are not as mysterious or difficult as you may have first suspected.

Before you move on to Chapter 7, make sure you understand the following key concepts:

A query is a way for you to pose questions to Access about the information in your tables.
Access lets you create five types of queries: Select, Action, Crosstab, Parameter, and SQL.
Queries are another part of your database, just like tables, reports, and macros. You can use the Queries button in the Database window to view which queries are in your database.
You can use Query Wizards to create four different types of queries. They are instructive (in what the queries accomplish) and a good starting place for your own custom queries.
You can use the query Design window to design your own queries from scratch. This window, along with the query Design toolbar, lets you specify and create any type of query you can imagine.
The QBE (query by example) grid appears at the bottom of the query Design window. Using the grid, you can specify which fields Access will use to determine if records should be displayed, as well as additional records which Access will display in the query results.
When you design a query, you can specify properties for the fields in the query result. These field properties are similar to those you set when you design a table.

In Chapter 7, you will learn how you can print either your table or your query results.

Learn Access Now! Chapter 5 Previous Section in Chapter 6 Chapter 7