We call
this our Competent User course because
that's exactly what you will be at the end of
the day. There is a level beyond this
(The Expert Level) that you can achieve
by taking our Expert course - but for many general
office requirements Competent User level
is sufficient.
Just because this course covers Access from
the very beginning, with no assumption of any
existing Access skills, doesn't mean that it
is only for beginners. IT Professionals
and Access users with more than ten years experience
often take this course and are amazed by how
much they have learned. Even if you use
Access every day you'll probably be doing some
things the wrong way. This course will
eradicate all of those bad habits.
- If you are a "self-taught" Access user,
or have just picked up Access by being shown
things by others in the office then this
course is definitely for you.
- If you've never even seen Access before
and need to be proficient with the product
quickly this course is also designed for
you.
Check out the things you'll be able to do
after taking the course by reading the
outline below. We really can teach you
all of this in just one day.
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It is not possible to be a proficient Access
user without also understanding how to correctly
design and implement a relational database.
We do not list "Database Design" as a separate
topic in our course outline. Design issues are
covered throughout the course so that
by the end of the course each delegate is extremely
proficient in both the advanced use of all Access
features and relational database design
best-practice.
As well as learning Access you'll also pick
up many "golden rules" of database design -
things we've discovered the hard way after over
20 years of designing and implementing commercial
databases for some of the world's largest companies.
At the end of this course delegates will
not only understand Dr Codd's Third Normal Form
rules but also appreciate why they are important...
and the problems that will occur if they are
not observed. You'll also learn some of The
Smart Method's database design rules that you
will never find in a textbook!
Read the outline
below but remember that you'll come away from
this course with far more than simply the topics
listed.
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| We
structure our courses into sessions. A
session usually takes about an hour and a
half and we have coffee/cigarette breaks
between sessions. Each session has a
set of objectives that you'll achieve
(there's no doubt about this, the
teaching
method ensures success)! Here's
what you'll learn in each session: |
| Before
starting the course we need to explain what
Access is all about. Many people don't
realise that Access is a tool for designing
databases and applications as well as a tool
for reporting and querying databases. We de-mystify
the concept of client-server data-centric computing
in the introduction and completely explain how
SQL fits into the equation.
We also explain how Access can work with
the Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle data engines.
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One of our introductory slides
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- Describe the seven main Access 2003
objects
- Start Access and open a database
- Understand the Access Program Screen
- Add, Edit and Delete Records in Table
View
- Add, Edit and Delete records in Forms
- Open and run a query
- Open and run a report
- Close down and exit Access
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| Even though this
introduction only takes about an hour you'll
already be way ahead of anybody that ever tried
to figure out Access from a book or by experimentation.
You'll totally understand what Access is, how
it works, the interaction between data engines
and Access via SQL and how to create and run
simple queries, forms and reports.
You'll even get an insight into how macros,
pages and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
fit into the big picture.
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- Understand Primary Keys
- Understand data types
- Create a database
- Create a table
- Create a query
- Create a form
- Use the form wizard
- Create a report using the report wizard
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| This
session really picks up the pace in explaining
what a database is really all about.
You'll understand all about data types and
learn how to correctly name tables and fields
(even IT professionals regularly
get this wrong)!
The all-important concept of the Primary Key
is introduced and de-mystified in this session
too. Once again the instructor will use
our unique animated interactive slides to simply
explain complicated relational database concepts
that are difficult to get across using only
words.
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This slide helps us to explain Primary
Keys
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We usually have a bit of fun with this session.
We create a real database, perhaps one that
is relevant to your own business. Instead
of reading from a script and using sample files
we usually get you to build a real and useful
database that represents part of your own business area.
You'll learn faster and more effectively when
you associate the skills you are learning with an immediate
real-life productivity gain when you return
to work. |
- Find and replace information
- Sort records
- Filter records
- Adjust and re-arrange rows and columns
- Freeze fields
- Hide columns
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This
is often a short session but it provides some
essential Access skills.
Some users want to use Access as a "super spreadsheet"
because they have hit the 67,000 row limitation
of Excel. This session shows how you can
use Access in this way.
We'll also show you how to export data to Excel
in a couple of clicks. This is usually
(but not always) the preferred method if you
want to analyse a result set with less than
67,000 rows. We'll explain when you should export
to Excel, and when you shouldn't. |
- Understand field properties
- Index a field
- Change a field’s data type
- Apply formats to number and text fields
- Set default values and apply field validation
- Create input masks
- Create and modify lookup fields
- Create value lists
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| By now
you'll have enough database theory on board
to understand some of the more interesting capabilities
of a relational database. You'll discover
the magic of indexes and how a query's execution
time can change from several hours to several
milliseconds once you understand their correct
application. We touch upon relational database
theory in this session by creating a multi-table
database but there will still be some blind
spots in your perception of the big-picture.
Your knowledge will become complete in the last
session when we'll bring everything together.
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- Understand table relationships
- Create relationships between tables
- Understand referential integrity
- Implement and test referential integrity
- Understand relationship types
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| Now you have all
of the skills needed to understand the real
power of a database and why they are called
"relational databases". You'll learn how
to join tables together with relationships and
you'll learn what a Foreign Key is. Best of
all, you'll learn how to build a database that
has Referential Integrity.
In other words it will police its own integrity
and refuse any attempts to corrupt the data.
We regularly see corporate databases that weren't
properly constrained and have no integrity
at all! After this session you'll
never fall into this trap.
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| When
you've taken the Competent User course you'll
be streets ahead of most of the world's Access
users, even if they have been struggling with
Access for years.
Relational database design is a big subject,
however, and one that even IT professionals
often struggle with. If you really want
to create useful and sophisticated Database
applications Competent User level
won't be enough. You'll want to also take
our Expert one-day course when we introduce
concepts such as Access Macros and advanced
query, report and form design.
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High quality 100-200 page course manual
