1. Introduction to Microsoft Access
Part 2 – Queries
One of the main reasons why computerised databases are useful is their ability to find
the information what you want quickly.
1. Sorting
Sorting simply puts the records in a sensible order.
1. Click in the Field you want to Sort
2. Either use the two buttons on the toolbar or select Sort from the Records menu.
You need to select either Sort Ascending or Sort Descending.
Sort Ascending sorts alphabetically from A-Z or numerically from smallest to
largest.
Sort Descending sorts reverse-alphabetically from Z-A or numerically from largest to
smallest.
Your Task
A limitation of the Sort function is when you have letters mixed with numbers. Try
entering these addresses into a table. Use the Sort function and record what happens:
12 Bond Street
24 Regent Street
36 Ashford Road
345 Benfleet Road
140 Ash Avenue
15 York Road
16 Market Street
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2. 2. Finding Data in Tables
1. Start by entering some more data into the Artists table, as follows:
2. The simplest find of all is to click in a column and press CTRL+F (alternatively,
select FIND from the EDIT menu.
3. Enter some text to search
for and click Find First
4. By default, Access searches only in the field you clicked in before you started the
Find. Untick the Search only the Current Field box if you want to search the whole
table.
5. If you are finding that there are too many matches, use Search Up or Search
Down to search from the current record.
6. By default, Access looks for records that contain only an exact match of your text.
This means, for example, that if you searched for Rob your search would not find
Robbie. Bill would not find Billy, and so on. If you want to widen your search, look
at the options in the Match box.
7. Match Case makes the search case sensitive. With this option activated, a search
for McNulty would find neither MCNULTY nor mcnulty.
For Discussion
In any Access search, you can search for a "wildcards". Wildcards match patterns.
For example, you can use the # symbol to represent a number. # # Shipwrights
Drive would find 10 Shipwrights Drive but not 9 Shipwrights Drive. Why not?
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3. 3. Filtering: Filter By Selection
Filters group together records that share something in common.
There are three methods of filtering: filter by selection, filter by form and Advanced
Filter/Sort. We will go through each in turn.
Note: Although the examples here are used on tables, filters can also be applied to
forms, queries and records.
1. Find one recording artist who is American and highlight the word American.
2. Either click the Filter By Selection button on the toolbar or go to Records ►
Filters ► Filter By Selection.
You should now see a table listing only American musicians.
3. Click the Remove Filter button on the toolbar to return to the complete table
Your Task
Using the Filter By Selection tool, see if you can generate a list of British musicians.
Is Robbie Williams in your list? Why not?
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4. 4. Filtering: Filter By Form
Filter By Form is more flexible than Filter By Selection, as we shall see.
1. Start by clicking the Filter By Form button or go to Records ► Filters ► Filter
By Form.
2. You should notice that a Look For tab is at the bottom of the window and also that
an upside down arrow appears in whichever field you select.
3. Using the Filter By Form you can set Search Criteria, for example, you can tell
Access to look for Artists who are English Or British (so you make sure you include
Robbie Williams). You could ask for a list of Australians who are also called Rolf
Harris.
4. Click the Apply Filter button when you want to run the filter and the Remove
Filter button when you want to return to the full table.
The Clear Grid button lets you start again if you make a mistake.
The Remove Filter button and the Apply Filter button both look like this.
Because you only use them one at a time, this shouldn’t be confusing!
Your Task
Using Filter By Form, generate a list of Artists who are either American or
Australian
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5. 5. Filtering: Advanced Filter/Sort
Advanced Filter/Sort is almost a query. Its only limitation is that you can only work
with one table at a time.
1. Start by going to Records ► Filters ► Filter By Form.
2. You will see a Field List in the top half of the window and blank Query Grid in
the bottom half.
3. Add the field or fields that you want to filter. You can add one or more fields. Add
a field by double-clicking the field name in the Field List or by selecting it from the
drop-down list.
If you want to add all the fields at once, double click on the heading in the Field List
and drag the fields to the Query Grid.
4. You can set an Ascending or Descending sort for each field. This will control the
way the order in which the filter results are listed. If more than one field is selected,
the Sort will work from left to right in the Query Grid.
5. You can set your search criteria in inverted commas. This search is going to look
for artists who are Australian or American.
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6. Select Delete Columns from the Edit menu, if you want to remove a column from the
Query Grid.
Click the Clear Grid button if you want to clear the whole Query Grid.
Click the Apply Filter button to run the filter and the Remove Filter button to return
to the full table.
Click the Save As Query button, if you want to save the filter for later use.
Boolean Operators
AND Finds examples of both e.g. American AND Australian finds
artists who are both American and
Australian (will produce zero results)
OR Finds examples of either e.g. American OR Australian finds
records artists who are either American or
Australian
IS Finds exact matches only e.g. IS Rolf Harris finds records which
contain both names
LIKE Finds any record that contains e.g. LIKE Rolf finds any artist called
the term somewhere. Rolf
> Greater than e.g. in a money or field <30 would show
all numbers below 30
< Less than e.g. >30 lists all numbers over 30
> = Greater than or equal to e.g. >=30 lists all numbers from 30
< = Less than or equal to e.g. <=30 lists all numbers that are 30 or
less than 30
<> Not Equal e.g. <> 30 lists all numbers except 30
= Equals e.g. =30 lists only 30
Your Task
Open a larger database, such as the Northwind database (this is a sample database
that Microsoft supply with Access.
Open the Products table and do an Advanced Filter/Sort to find:
• Items with more than 50 units in stock
• Condiments that cost more than $20.00
• Seafood products that come from Escargots Nouveaux or Tokyo Traders or
New England Seafood Cannery of which there are least 30 units in stock.
For Discussion
Arithmetic operators can be applied to text and date fields. For example, LAST
NAME >"G" finds everyone with surnames from G to Z. Why doesn't it pick up Ali
G?
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7. 6. How to Create a Simple Query
Creating a query is easier than using Advanced Filter/Sort because:
• The results of the query are automatically saved.
• You can use the Simple Query Wizard to design the query
• You can use multiple tables
1. Click on the Queries tab of the Database Window.
2. Click the New button and select Simple Query Wizard.
3. Choose your tables and fields.
4. If you want to add sorting and search criteria, you must open the Query in Design
View.
5. A very useful feature to note is the Top Values box, into which you can type a
number or a percentage.
Click the Run button to run the Query
Your Task
Using the Northwind database, create a query to show the 20 most expensive
products.
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8. 7. More Complex Queries
1. You can design a query that combines fields from more than one table, as long as
the tables are related. Create the relationships before you create the query.
2. You can create a query to show items between two values. For example, the
following Query shows orders between two specified dates:
Your Task
Using the Northwind database, create a query to show all orders in the second half of
1996. Use the Customers and the Orders tables to show the details of who made
these orders.
3. Boolean Operators can be used across columns. It is important to remember the
difference between AND/OR operations.
AND operations restrict your search. OR operations widen the search.
You can combine AND/OR operations. The query below looks for orders that were
made between two dates AND were made by customers from the UK OR France OR
Canada.
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9. Your Task
1. Open the Query from the previous task
2. Make sure the Country field is included in the query. Add it if necessary.
3. Restrict the query to show only orders made by customers in Germany or Denmark
or Austria.
4. Click the Design View button to make a further change to your search criteria.
5. Refine your query so that it shows orders made by customers in Germany or
Denmark or Austria AND with the company name “Drachenblut Delikatessen” (the
query should show only one order).
4. Using the OR operator in one column is easy but it becomes more complicated if.
If you want to widen the search by adding an OR over several columns, you need to
put the OR on a separate line.
For example, this query shows orders made between two dates and all orders made by
London companies:
Your Task
1. In the example above, what would be the result if “London” were put in the
Criteria row?
2. How good a salesperson is Nancy Davolio? Produce a query to show all orders
that she took in 1994 that were over £50 in value.
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10. 8. Counting Queries
To get your queries to do calculations, you start the query as normal, select the tables
and fields you are going to use and then press the Sigma Button (∑) to make the
Total Row appear.
You need to have a field or fields to Group By. This function tells Access that you
want to organise the information you are displaying into groups. You can group by
several fields. You also need a field on which to perform a function
The Count function simply tells you how many records are in each group. For
example, the following query tells you how many customers are in each country:
The following query will add together the daily value of UK orders, using the Sum
function:
Your Task
1. Using your Music database, do a query to count how many different artists you
have in your database.
2. Using the Northwind database, calculate the total value of all orders made in
1996.
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11. You can use a Search Criteria in any field, including a Group By field. The
following query, searches for products that cost more than $100
Access Functions and What They Do
Group By Organises the query results
Sum Adds up all the values in the field
Avg Calculates the average values
Min Returns the lowest value
Max Returns the highest value
Count Shows the number of records that match the query criteria
First Returns the first value that Access finds
Last Returns the last value that Access finds
Expression Creates a calculated field
Where Uses the field as part of the search criteria but does not display the field
itself in the results of the query
Your Task
1. Create a list of products that cost less than $50
2. Find the average price of Northwind’s products
3. Show the most expensive product only
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12. 9. Crosstab Queries
Crosstab queries are used to summarise data in tables. It has a rows and columns
format, where you can think of each row as a record and each column as a field
describing that record. Unlike a table, however, there is an additional column that
performs a calculation on the data.
For example, you might create a crosstab query based on a table of sales orders.
Products could be shown in rows and the Order Date in columns. You would also
have a calculating column to Sum the values. The calculating column would provide
a total value for each product.
A crosstab query can be based on tables or queries.
1. You want to show the total value of the sales of each of Northwind’s products for
each year. First, create a query that combines data from the Orders and Order
Details tables. You need the name of the product, the dates on which the product was
ordered and the value of each order.
2. Start the Crosstab Query Wizard.
3. Select the query that you just created.
4. You want to use the name of the product as the row heading.
5. Use the order date for the column headings.
6. Group the orders together by year.
7. The Wizard then asks you what number you want to be calculated at the
intersection of each row and column. You want to add together the value of the
orders.
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13. 10. Calculated Fields
A calculated field takes numbers from other fields in the query and performs a
calculation on them.
You can add a calculated field to a query, as long as you include in the query all the
data that the calculated field needs to perform its calculation.
A calculated field can take data from more than one field.
Calculated fields are ideal for performing “What if?” queries. For example, “what
would our prices be if we increased all prices by 5%?”
1. To answer this question, use the Northwind database and create a new query using
the Products Table.
2. You need the name of the product and the price of the product in the query.
3. Type [UnitPrice]*1.05 as the field name in a new field:
4. Run the query by clicking the Run Button. You will notice that your field name
has been given the name Expr1, which isn’t very descriptive and the numbers in the
column are not formatted as currency. Click the Design View button to remedy this.
5. Double click Expr1 to select it and change the name to New Price.
6. Click the Properties Button
Change the Format of the field to
Currency.
In the Description Box type: Shows
prices raised by 5%. Close the
Properties.
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14. 7. Run the Query again and you will see the effect of your changes. When you click
in the New Price field, you will see the Description Text appear in the Status Bar at
the bottom-left of the Access window.
Your Task
The accounting department at Northwind want to know the value of each product that
is on order. Produce a query with a calculated field that will show this.
8. Of course, the company could be awkward and reduce the prices by 4.5%, and then
they might change their minds again. This needn’t be a worry to you if you make
Access ask for a percentage value before running the calculation.
To achieve this, simply make up the name of a field, for example “PercentIncrease”
and include that in the expression in place of the figure. For example:
New Price: [UnitPrice]*[Percent Increase]
Now, when the query runs, it asks for a percentage increase and calculates the results
accordingly.
Your Task
Northwind are considering reducing their prices for a month. Produce a query with a
calculated field that will allow the accounting department to see the effect of a
percentage decrease in the value of orders.
9. You can calculate with text fields as well as with numbers. A common use for this
is when you want to combine the FirstName and LastName fields. You would
simply enter:
[FirstName]+" "+[LastName]
N.B. the space between the quotation marks tells Access to leave a space between first
name and last name.
Your Task
Create a list of customers with their titles in brackets. For example:
Maria Anders (Sales Representative)
Hint: Click the Build button on the toolbar to use the Expression Builder.
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15. 11. Other Types of Queries
A Select Query is the commonest type of query. It answers questions about your
data.
An Action Query is a query that makes changes to your data.
Simple jobs don't need complicated solutions. If you want to change every instance
of a word or phrase, throughout a field, you can open a table, select a field and then
select Replace from the Edit Menu (or use CRTL+H).
In Find What: enter a word or
phrase to search for.
In Replace With: enter a word or
phrase to replace it with.
The other options in this dialog box
are the same as for the Find feature.
Your Task
In the Customers Table of the Northwind Database change every example of the
entry Owner to Proprietor.
More complicated and widespread changes should be
made with the appropriate type of Query. When you
create a new query, Access gives you a Select Query.
You can change the Query Type by opening the Query
Menu and selecting a different type of query or you can
use the Query Type drop-down list.
You will recognise the Crosstab Query because you have used it before.
The last four types of queries are listed with an exclamation mark to remind you that
they actually change the way your information is organised. You should not run these
queries unless you have first previewed the changes and unless you also have a
backup.
The Run button executes the query. All changes are saved automatically.
The View button allows you to preview the query without saving the
changes.
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16. 12. The Delete Query
The delete query is the easiest type of action query to use and it is also the most
dangerous!
1. Create a normal select query and add the fields you want. Preview the query when
finished and click the View button to preview the changes.
2. Change the Query type from Select to Delete. You will notice that the Sort line
changes to a Delete line.
3. Enter your criteria to delete. The following example, will remove records of
customers located in France or Canada.
4. Click the View button and you will see a list of records that would be deleted if
you were brave enough to click the Run button. If you are sure you want to delete
these records, click the Design button and then click the Run button. Access will
give you one last chance to change your mind and then your records will be trashed.
Your Task
In an act of blatant ageism, Northwind decide to sack all employees who were born
before 1960. Create a Delete query that will remove these employees from the
database. Preview the results but don't run the query.
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17. 13. The Update Query
An update query allows you to create a query to select records and then change those
records according to an instruction.
1. Create a select query first, preview it and then change the query type to Update
Query. You will notice that the Sort line changes to an Update line.
2. Enter an instruction in the Update Line telling
Access what to do with the records you have
selected.
This query will apply a 10% discount to all
products over $100.
3. Clicking the View button will show you a list of the records that will be changed,
should you decide to click the Run button.
Your Task
Increase the prices of all products in the Northwind Database that are over $50 by
10%
4. The other query types are less commonly used. Once you have got the hang of the
Delete Query and the Update Query, these should not cause you too many
problems:
Make Table Query Saves the results of a query as an additional table. This is
useful for exporting information to another database.
Append Query Allows you to add information from a query to an existing
table. In the Criteria line, you could, for example, append
only those customers with unpaid bills.
Find Duplicates From the results of a Find Duplicates query, you can
Query determine if there are duplicate records in a table, or
determine which records in a table share the same value.
Use the Find Duplicates Query Wizard.
Find Unmatched Using the Find Unmatched Query Wizard, you can find
Query records in one table that don't have related records in another
table. For example, you can find customers who don't have
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18. orders. Use the Find Unmatched Query Wizard.
14. Keyboard Shortcuts
F2 Select an entire field
Ctrl+; Insert the Current Date
Ctrl+: Insert the Current Time
Ctrl+Enter Insert a Line Break (use it in a memo or large text field)
Ctrl++ Add New Record
Ctrl+- Delete the Current Record
Shift+Enter Save the Record
Ctrl+Z Undo the last change you made (don't rely on this)
Ctrl+Enter Open the selected object in Design View
Alt+F4 Quit Access
15. Summary (from the Access Help file)
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