Access Assignment 2: Creating an Access database
Overview
In this assignment, you will create an Access database from
scratch. This should take all the magic out of what a relational database is
because you will have built a simple one yourself.
Deliverable
In this assignment, you will create a MovinOn.mdb Access
database. We will harvest
your MovinOn.mdb database from your p:\classwork\BA271\access
folder location.
So if you complete the assignment at home, move a copy of your completed MovinOn.mdb database to the specified folder by the due date and time.
Also make sure you check that your work is at the correct location for grading
by going to the Student Pages - Access
listing and clicking on your UserName link.
Training Exercises
I recommend that you start by working through these activities as a training
exercise:
If you skip the exercises described above, expect the actual assignment to be
confusing. Also, when it comes time to show me your skills on an exam, know that
you will have a lot less practice and understanding about what to do.
Ultimately, the choice of how much practice you need is up to you.
Assignment Specifications
Individual Assignment
- This is an individual assignment (not a team assignment). Please
ensure that you address all requirements described in the textbook and instructions provided below. If you would like to be creative
and enhance your assignment beyond the listed requirements, you may do so.
However, make sure that you satisfy the requirements of the assignment, since
your work will be evaluated based on those requirements.
- Note: The code for academic honesty applies. All students
are expected to work through this assignment personally with their own set
of fingers. Copying all or a portion of a file from a classmate and
submitting it as your own work will be treated as a violation of OSU's code of
academic honesty.
-
Please pay attention to the specifications of the
assignment. In a multi-developer environment, even the seemingly minor
deviations from these specifications may have profound impacts. If you
spell the name of a table incorrectly, another application that links to the
correctly spelled table may crash. Let me put this another way: if your
tables are named incorrectly, we may not find them when we grade your work,
and you may not get any credit for creating them.
Detailed Instructions
For this assignment, you are to complete Case 2--Creating the Database
for MovinOn Inc. on pages 174-177 of the textbook. Here are additional
ideas that you will find useful about this assignment:
- Step 1 asks you to compare your design from the
Access 1 activity with the design on page
175. I recommend doing this because you are likely to gain insights into how
a professionally designed database is likely to differ from one prepared by
a beginner. However, when you begin actually working on the Access 2
activity, use the design on page 175 ... do not use a modified
version of your Access 1 work.
- In Step 2, create a new database named MovinOn.mdb, but store it your
P:\classwork\ba271\access folder rather than in a "Case2" folder as the
printed instructions suggest. Thus, you will "turn in" your assignment by
building a MovinOn.mdb database and by leaving it at
P:\Classwork\BA271\Access.
- In Step 4, make sure you build relationships among tables that have
check marks next to Enforce Referential Integrity and Cascade Update Related
Fields. Do not put a check mark next to Cascade Delete Related Records.
Thus, your Edit Relationships dialog boxes should look like the image below:
- In Step 7, disregard the instructions in the textbook that suggest you should find
MovinOn.xls and Job.mdb in a Chapter 2\Case 2 folder. Instead, use these
links to retrieve them:
-
MovinOn.xls contains data about Customers, Drivers, Job Details,
Storage Units, and Vehicles. You will use File - Get External Data -
Import commands to populate tables in the MovinOn.mdb database with data
from this Excel workbook.
-
Job.mdb
contains data about Employees, Job Orders, and Unit Rentals. Once again,
you will use File - Get External Data - Import commands to populate
tables in the MovinOn.mdb database with data from this Access database.
Warning: It is fairly easy to run into problems with
importing data into Access. For example, I have found that if I try
importing data into a file that has an incorrect field name, then Access
will refuse to import the data and the resulting error message does not
explain what went wrong. One way to sidestep this problem is to import the
data into a new table rather than attempting to import it into an existing
table. To help you understand this paragraph better, I recorded the
following video with similar information ...
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Video 1: Dave Sullivan shows various
problems that can occur when you attempt to import data into Access tables
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Important self-check of your work: give
a Tools-Relationships command and make sure your tables and fields have the
following names and relationships. At least parts of this activity are
likely to be graded automatically by comparing your MovinOn.mdb database
with a correct solution. Thus, if you have misspelled a table's name
(perhaps by naming it tblCustomers, tblCustumer, or Customer),
the automated program won't find the table, and you won't get credit for
having created it.
-
Final Step: Test that you have turned in the assignment correctly
Make sure your work is in the proper location for grading. To do this, click
on your name in this Access listing.
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