Database Analysis Paper

Database Analysis Paper

CIS/205

September 16, 2010

George Crombie

Database Analysis

HardCopy Designs has chosen Microsoft® Office Access to create and manage their

database. The database is visualized as a file cabinet, because it contains numerous folders.

Each set of folders in the file cabinet relates to a table within the database. Each table contains

several records that correspond to the folders in the file cabinet about a specific subject. The

data that is stored within a record is called a field. The vocabulary that is used when describing a

database is a table, a field, a record and a database.

A table is the central point of any database, and it contains the actual data. The Datasheet view and the Design view are the two views that the table will show. To add, edit, or delete records, HardCopy Designs uses the Datasheet view. Access will automatically save any changes in the current record as soon as you move to the next record, or as soon as you close the table.

Even though Access is a clever application, it will not create valid output from invalid input. HardCopy Designs will create a rough draft of the needed reports, and then we will carefully design the table so that it contains the necessary fields to create those reports. The reports are based on a table or a query, which is an answer to a question about a database. The report that is based on a table includes every record in that table. The report that is based on a query consists of only the records that satisfy the criteria in the query.

HardCopy Designs has the ability to combine our Access database with a Microsoft® Word form letter. Microsoft® Office gives the users the power to merge data from one application to another. With mail merge, Microsoft® Access can take data from a table or query, and input the set of names, and addresses into a Microsoft® Word document to produce individual form letters, after the form letter was created....