A Quick Microsoft Access 2000 Tutorial
By Charles W. Neville, © Charles W. Neville, March 2001
Verbatim copying and redistribution of this tutorial are permitted in any medium provided this notice and the copyright notice are preserved.

Chapter 2. Adding and Changing Data

Adding Data to the Customers Table

To add records to a table, all you have to do is type them in. Let's add a record for a new customer, Restaurante Villa, to the Customers Table.

Step 1. Be sure the Customers Table is open in the database window with its data displayed. Click on the end scroll button button at the bottom of the Customers Table window to move to the blank record at the end of the Customers table. The cursor should be positioned in the Customer ID field of the record.

Adding a new record
adding a new record

Step 2. Enter RSTVA in the Customer ID field. Click on the next field, the Company Name field and enter Restaurante Villa. Then repeat this process to add the following information to the following fields of the Restaurante Villa record: Pancho Villa to Contact Name, Manager to Contact Title, Avda. Azteca 123 to Address, Juarez to City, Mexico to Country, (5) 555 4781 to Phone, and (5) 555 4782 to Fax. Click anywhere outside of the new record to save it. (There will be no feedback that the new record has been saved.)

The completed Restaurante Villa record
the completed Restaurante Villa record

Changing Data in the Customers Table

Suppose you have just learned that Pancho Villa is not the manager of Restaurante Villa, rather he is the owner. To make the change, all you have to do is type it in.

Step 1. Be sure the Restaurante Villa record is visible in the Customers Table window. Click anywhere on Manager in the Contact Title field to place the cursor there.

Ready to change the Contact Title field of the Restaurante Villa record
ready to change Contact Title field of the Restaurante Villa record

Step 2. Use the Delete or Backspace key to erase Manager, and then type Owner in its place to make the change. Click anywhere outside the Contact Title field to save the change. (There will be no feedback that the change has been saved.)

Changing the Restaurante Villa record
changing the Restaurante Villa record

Deleting Data from the Customers Table

Sometimes you need to completely delete a record. Let's delete the Restaurante Villa record so we can restore your copy of the Northwind sample database to its original state.

Step 1. Be sure the Restaurante Villa record is visible in the Customers Table window. Click anywhere on the record to select it. This is VERY IMPORTANT, as not selecting the correct record may result in the WRONG RECORD being deleted.

Ready to delete the Restuarante Villa record
ready to delete the Restaurante Villa record

Step 2. Click on the Edit menu and then click on Delete Record to delete the record. If you can't see Delete Record, try making the Microsoft Access window a little larger. (Alternate procedure: Click on the delete record button button on the tool bar.)

Deleting the Restaurante Villa record
deleting the Restaurante Villa record

Step 3. Because deleting a record is an extreme change and an irreversible process, you will be asked to confirm the deletion. Check carefully to be sure you are deleting the correct record.

Confirming the deletion of the Restaurante Villa record
confirming the deletion the Restaurante Villa record

Step 4. Click Yes on the confirmation box to finish deleting the record. Observe that the Restaurante Villa record is no longer there.

After deleting the Restaurante Villa record
after deleting the Restaurante Villa record


Finding Records in the Customers Table

To find a record in the Customers Table, click on the Edit menu and then click on Find. (Alternate procedure: Click on the find button button on the tool bar.) Find works just about the way Find works in your favorite word processor, so I won't present you with any screen shots. Just be careful that the cursor is located in the column of the table containing the item you are looking for, because the default is to search only down the current column. You should practice using Find. Try moving to the first record in the table and then finding TOMSP in the Customer ID column. Then go back to the top or the table and repeat this for Karin Josephs in the Contact Name column.

The last thing you should do is close the Customer's Table by clicking the small x at the top right of the table on its title bar. Be careful not to click on the x at the top right of the Microsoft Access title bar, or you will close Access completely.

What's Next?

The next thing to do is to study Simple Queries