Member Avatar for Martian

Hey guys, I am a beginner at MS Access and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good sites that hold good examples and methodologies using MS Access. Let me know.

And is it better to learn MS Access before attempting SQL?

Thanks.

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Short answer: Access is a handy desktop/front-end tool but it is not a substitute for learning core SQL and relational design. and were on the right track — Access's visual tools make building forms/reports and quick queries easy, but the fundamentals of data modeling, joins, aggregates and set-based thinking come from studying SQL and relational theory.

A practical learning path: (1) learn relational concepts — tables, primary/foreign keys and normalization; (2) learn core SQL: SELECT, WHERE, JOINs, GROUP BY/HAVING, aggregates and subqueries; (3) practice writing those queries in Access by switching Query Design to SQL View so the generated SQL can be examined and edited; (4) add DML (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE) and basic indexing. Once confident with SQL, test linking Access to a server DB via ODBC and compare behavior and performance.

Production tips and caveats: Access works over networks and wireless links, but performance and reliability can degrade in multiuser or high-write scenarios (a point to clarify from ). Split the database into front-end (UI/VBA) and back-end (tables), give each user a local front-end copy, run Compact & Repair regularly, and avoid storing large BLOBs in tables. For many concurrent users or stronger transactional guarantees, migrate tables to a server DBMS and use linked tables or pass-through queries from Access.

Example: same logical join written in standard SQL and in Access SQL (note Access date literals use #):

-- standard SQL
SELECT c.Name, o.OrderDate
FROM Customers c
JOIN Orders o ON c.CustomerID = o.CustomerID;

-- Access (SQL View)
SELECT c.Name, o.OrderDate
FROM Customers AS c
INNER JOIN Orders AS o ON c.CustomerID = o.CustomerID;

Build small, focused projects in Access to practice, then move data to a server when scale or concurrency demands grow.

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Member Avatar for Martian

Hey guys, I am a beginner at MS Access and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good sites that hold good examples and methodologies using MS Access. Let me know.

And is it better to learn MS Access before attempting SQL?

Thanks.

Wow..not a single person sent a reply.

Member Avatar for bentkey

Wow..not a single person sent a reply.

Maybe that's because no one loves Ms Access enough to build a site around it. :mrgreen: I never touch it anymore myself, but you can Google on "using ms access" and get plenty of how tos.

As far as learning Access before SQL, if you mean learning Access before using it as a front end to connect to an MSSql database, then I suppose you should. If however you mean learning about SQL as Structured Query Language, then the two really have nothing in common. IOW Ms Access does not lead into
or prepare you for learning SQL. Also, I would not use MS as a source for learning SQL. SQL is an international standard and MS always feels they can bend the standards to improve them. If you end up using MSSql then this is fine, but if want to use any of the great free dbs out there or competitors for that matter, they won't comply with MS's "improvements".

Member Avatar for Paladine

Wow..not a single person sent a reply.

In my opinion ... No it is not easier to learn SQL by learning Access first. The two are entirely different applications/programs/databases (if you can call Access that).

My best advice is to pick up SAM's Learn SQL in 10 minutes book and you will get up to speed in a very short time.

Hope this helps!

Member Avatar for mysorian

You should try Microsoft's web site as they maintain a site for msot of their recent versions. Or Just ue google or yahoo to search.
You may find some howto articles at this site:

mysorian :rolleyes:

Hey guys, I am a beginner at MS Access and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good sites that hold good examples and methodologies using MS Access. Let me know.

And is it better to learn MS Access before attempting SQL?

Thanks.

Member Avatar for RonR

Access will NOT work on a Wireless LAN, at least not on the ones i have tried.

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