Creating an Address Book With Microsoft Access

For these instructions, we will use Microsoft Access 2010 to create an address book and explore various functions of Access.

You will need:  A PC with Microsoft Access 2010

1. Click the Start icon on the desktop and select “All Programs” at the bottom of the list. Locate and click on “Microsoft Office” and click on “Microsoft Access 2010” to open Access.

2. Select “Blank Database” in the upper left corner of “Available Templates”.

3. Click the Field for “File Name” on the right side of the screen and name the database.

4. Click the “Create” button located beneath the “File Name.”

When Access is opened, a blank table will be created automatically. Create subsequent tables by following these steps.

1. On the Navigation Ribbon, click the “Create” Tab.


2. Click “Table.”


3. Right click the “Table 1” tab at the top of the table.


4. Click “Save.”


5. Enter the name “Name and Address” into the space under “Table Name.”


6. Create two additional tables and name them “Emails” and “Phone Numbers.”

A field holds individual pieces of information within the table.

1. Click on the drop down arrow in the “Click to Add” box above the table.


2. Select the desired field type.

     a. For an address book, most fields will be text fields.


3. Click within the grey box to ensure it is selected. Type a field name into the highlighted placeholder.

     a. In the Name and Address table, enter “First Name,” “Last Name,” “Street Address,” “City,” “State,” “Zip Code,” and “Apt                           Number” as the fields.

     b. In the Email table, enter “First Name,” “Last Name,” “Primary Personal Email,” “Secondary Personal Email,” and “Work Email.”


4. In the Phone Number table, enter “First Name” and “Last Name,” then use the “Quick Start” option of “Phone.”

     a. To utilize the “Quick Start” option, click on “Fields” on the Navigation Ribbon.

     b. Click More Fields in the “Add & Delete” section.

     c. Scroll down in the drop down list to the “Quick Start” options.
  
     d. Click “Phone.”

1. Click on the blank box beneath the “First Name” field.

2. Enter the necessary data.

3. Use the tab key on the keyboard to move to the next field and enter the corresponding information.

4. Repeat until all necessary data for the record has been entered.

5. Click in the next blank box beneath the “First Name” field to start a new row and repeat the previous three steps to enter a new person’s information.

6. Repeat steps 1-5 until all contacts are entered into the table.

7. Repeat with subsequent tables.

If there are many records in the database it is useful to use filters or tools such as the find command to quickly access the information being looked for. The find command matches the text searched for. The sorting tool sorts records alphabetically. The filter tool only shows records that meet the established criteria. The following four sections show different ways to sort data.

1. To search a field, click the column heading. For this example, “Last Name” will be used.

2. Click “Find” in the Home tab of the navigation ribbon at the top of the page. It is symbolized by a pair of binoculars.

3. Type the text to be searched for into the “Find What” box.

4. Click “Find Next.”

5. When finished, click the X in the top right corner of the “Find and Replace” box.

1. Click the heading of the column to be sorted on the table.

2. Select the “Home” tab on the Navigation Ribbon.

3. Under Sort & Filter, select either “Ascending” to sort from A to Z or “Descending” to sort from Z to A.

     a. These are located next to the picture of the funnel with the word “Filter” under it.

     b. Other ways of sorting include “Equals,” “Does not equal,” “Contains,” etc., but they are not necessary for our purposes.

1. Click the drop down arrow in the field to be filtered.

2. Uncheck all unwanted items.

3. Click “OK”.

4. To remove a filter, click the “Toggle Filter” button in the Home tab under Sort & Filter.

     a. The “Toggle Filter” button is on the bottom right side of the section.

A query is useful to look at information from several tables at once while still in a database format. The two options for creating a Query are Query Design and Query Wizard. These instructions show Query Wizard, as it is much more user friendly and easy to navigate. When using the Query Wizard, the results will differ depending on what fields are chosen to sort by.

1. Click on the “Create” tab on the navigation ribbon at the top of the screen.

2. Click the “Query Wizard” icon in the “Queries” section.

3. When asked to save the table, click “yes.”

4. Select “Simple Query Wizard” and click OK.

5. Select a table from the drop down list.

6. Select the Field in the available fields box to draw from.

7. Click the “>” button.

8. Repeat with each desired field.

9. On the next page, click “Finish.”

Reports are similar to queries in viewing information from several tables in one place. The report is much more professional and formal and can be designed and used as a print out.

1. Select a table from the Navigation Bar on the left side of the screen.

2. Go to the “Create” tab on the navigation ribbon at the top of the screen.

3. Click “Report Wizard” under the “Reports” Section.

4. Select the desired table to draw from in the drop down list.

5. Select the field to draw from in the available fields box on the left.

6. Click the “>” button.

7. Repeat with each desired field.

8. Click “Next.”

9. Choose any desired grouping levels.
          i. This will simply change the order in which the information will appear.

     a. Select the field of highest priority.

     b. Click the right arrow on the screen after selecting the field to be prioritized.

     c. To create levels of lower priority, repeat steps a and b.

10. Click “Next.”

11. To sort the records, select up to four fields.

     a. Select each field by using the drop down arrow.

12. Choose either “ascending” or “descending” order to sort the fields.

13. Click “Next.”

1. Select a layout for the report: Stepped, Block, or Outline. A sample of each kind is given in the yellow box onscreen.

2. Click “Next.”

3. Enter a title into the first field in order to name the report.

4. Click the circle next to “Preview the report.”

5. Click “Finish.”

     a. The report will appear in preview mode.

     b. From here, the report can be viewed, printed, exported, or emailed using the “Data” options at the top of the screen.

1. Right click the report made in the previous section in the sidebar labeled All Access Objects, under.

2. Click “Design View”.

3. Double click the “Last Name” field under the Page Header bar.

4. Type your last name into the field.

5. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with other fields such as “First Name”, as needed.

It may be necessary to export the data as a PDF or Word document.  Instructions are included for each of these choices.

1. In the navigation ribbon at the top of the screen, click “External Data.”

2. In the box labeled “Export,” choose the desired format to export the database as.

1. Select “PDF or XPS.”

2. Type a title into the “File name” box.

3. Towards the bottom of the screen, click the button next to “Standard (publishing online and printing.)”

4. Click “Publish”.

5. Review the Report and press the X in the corner of the PDF viewer to close out of it.

1. Click the drop down arrow on the “more” button in the Export section.

2. Click “Word” in the drop down list.

3. Click the “Browse” button next to the “File Name” box to choose the save location.

4. Click “Save.”

5. Click “Ok” at the bottom of the page when finished.

6. Click “Close” in the “Save Export Steps” page if it pops up.

1. It is good practice to Compact and Repair a database after creating it. Start by double clicking “Name and Address” on the left side of the screen to return to Table view.

2. Click the “Database Tools” tab at the top of the screen.

3. Click “Compact and Repair Database” at the far left side of the bar.

     a. This should close all tables. It also debugs the database.

You have successfully created, completed, saved, exported, compacted, and repaired a database in Microsoft Access! Congratulations!