Learn Access Now! Chapter 20 Previous Section in Chapter 21 Next Section in Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Putting It All Together

(This is section 6 of 7 in this chapter)

Improvements You Could Make

There are numerous improvements you can make to the CDs database. The purpose of this section is to describe some of those changes, perhaps piquing your interest and inspiring you to try your hand at developing a CD database in Microsoft Access. Some improvements could include:

Add a music type table. This table would categorize the records in the Individual Tracks table. For instance, music types could include Rock, Pop, New Age, Country, Jazz, Classical, etc.
Add a sorting button to the Music Input form. This button would let you step through CD records in a different order. For instance, you could sort by group or by purchase date.
Add a search feature to the Music Input form. This feature would let you find a particular CD in your collection. You could search by title, group, or any other specification you desire.
Add more CDs. The database, as provided with this book, has 20 CDs cataloged. You will want to modify these so they reflect your collection, and you will want to add more CDs (assuming you have more). Remember that as you add more sound clips, the size of the database increases dramatically.
Define more reports. There are literally dozens of reports you could create, including the following: Value of collection (This report would be a great help for insurance purposes. List the CD title and its purchase date and value, but no track information.); Average age of collection (This report lets you determine if your collection is aging. That way you could highlight CDs that might need replacing or updating in the near future.); and Singing group review (This report contains just information about groups in your collection.).

Learn Access Now! Chapter 20 Previous Section in Chapter 21 Next Section in Chapter 21