Access Database Essay Example for Free

Access Database Essay Problem: Create a computerised relational database using Microsoft Access for a library close by because the library has too many papers and lose many of them, so they want a database that solves all their problems. Users: The Librarian will be going to use the database, and the assistance will also use it, the assistance might not be an expert so the assistance must take classes on how to use the database because it has to be used carefully. I will also make it user friendly Objectives: * Must have more than one table (entity) to create relationships * Each table has a primary key to uniquely identify each record * Each table is linked through primary/foreign keys * The database will be normalised so each table has its appropriate data * Create Forms to gather data/reduce mistakes * Create Queries to search for data * Create Reports to show the output from your queries * Make database user friendly so it can be used * To show the stock of the videos in the library * Age group of videos Alternative solutions: I could have used a flat file database or Microsoft Excel but I used a Computerised relational database because if I use flat file database there will be lots of paper, too much space will be used unnecessarily and too much to carry. And I couldnt use Microsoft Excel because the librarian doesnt have that software so I used Microsoft Access. Software: The database managing system is Microsoft Access and the desktop publishing is Microsoft Word in this very project. Hardware: In this project, I will use a Windows Based PC because all computers in School support them, I will also use a Printer to print out all evidence and paper work. I will also use a memory stick as a backup for my project so if it is lost I always have my memory stick. Security: For security I will save my work regularly so this would reduce the risk of it not being saved. I will also save it in several places for example: school computer, computer at home and USB. This will make sure I wont lose my work. I will also regularly print out pages of the project, this will assure the examiner I have done the project, and this will come very handy if all my work is lost. Input method: I will input data in design view using Microsoft Access to create tables, fields. And when my system will be complete, when I hand it over to my customers they will input data via the forms (in fields) Output method: The output is when you run a Query on a PC, its result or output will come onto a report, that is that is the output method. Process: When query runs it searches fro a database that is an example of a process. Verify: Verification is the process of checking that input data is correct. It is normally carried out by a human who visually compares the data with the source document. To site check, is an example of verification. For example, to check that the fields work. Validate: Verification is the process of checking that input data is correct. It is normally carried out by a human who visually compares the data with the source document. Input masks, is an example of validation. Questionnaire 1. What do you think I could improve in my hand drawn plans? 2. What do you think is good in my hand drawn plans? 3. Do you think my database looks user-friendly, if not why? 4. What do you think of the layout of my hand drawn plans? 5. Is the colour combination used good, is the style of the page good? 6. Overall, what do you think of the hand drawn plans, should I redo do them, or keep it as it is? 7. Out of a rating of 5 being the highest, what do you rate this database? Test Plan OBJECTIVES TEST * Must have more than one table (entity) to create relationships I will check that the relationships work because if they work that means I have more than one table * Each table has a primary key to uniquely identify each record I will check that the primary key is working in Microsoft Access * Each table is linked through primary/foreign keys I will check that I connect the Invoice table with Customer and Video table and check it in E-R diagram * The database will be normalised so each table has its appropriate data I will check that each table has its own headings so that it is user friendly and will check it in design view * Create Forms to gather data/reduce mistakes I will open the forms and check if they work properly in Microsoft Access * Create Queries to search for data I will open the queries and check if they work properly in Microsoft Access * Create Reports to show the output from your queries I will open the reports and check if they work properly in Microsoft Access * Make database user friendly so it can be used I will ask people about my database by giving them a questionnaire, if they think it user friendly * To show the stock of the videos in the library I will check in my forms that there is a field for the stock of the videos * Age group of videos I will check in my forms that there is a field for age group of videos Objectives What should happen? What actually happened? 1. Must have more than one table (entity) to create relationships The tables should have relationships + must work They worked as I expected them to 2. Each table has a primary key to uniquely identify each record The table has a primary key, the main one The tables didnt work because it had no primary key 3. Each table is linked through primary/foreign keys The tables should be linked through primary keys They worked as I expected them to 4. The database will be normalised so each table has its appropriate data The tables should have its appropriate fields according to their table They all had the appropriate fields 5. Create Forms to gather data/reduce mistakes When I open the forms they should work and look like the ones as I designed them to be They did work but did not like the ones I designed 6. Create Queries to search for data When I open the queries they should work and look like the ones as I designed them to be They worked as I expected 7. Create Reports to show the output from your queries When I open the reports they should work and look like the ones as I designed them to be They did work but did not like the ones I designed 8. Make database user friendly so it can be used From user feedback they should tell me its user friendly From user feedback I got told that my database is user friendly 9. To show the stock of the videos in the library When I open the library, there should be a field called Stock of Videos There was not the field, which I wanted 10. Age group of videos There should be a field called Age group of videos in video form There was the field, which I wanted Testing Table 11. To have a customized When I open up database A switch board did Switch board customized switch board not open up should open up Evaluation of objectives * Must have more than one table (entity) to create relationships I kept more than one table, in order to input more data. With more tables, there could be more forms. More different subjects, and so the database can be made. The main reason was so I can create relationships. The reason for the relationships are so I can relate or link the tables with each other. This is very helpful. For example: I can add the field name Customer_ID from the Customer form, and the field name Video_ID from the Video form to the Invoice from. In the end, I managed to achieve the objective. * Each table has a primary key to uniquely identify each record Each table has to have a primary key to uniquely identify each record because without it the table would not work, they are also needed for relationships, if you want to create relationships between several tables. At first it did not work but later after many attempts I achieved the objective. * Each table is linked through primary/foreign keys All the tables are supposed to be linked through the primary/foreign keys or else they will not work. I did this on the E-R diagram and also did it on the database and I achieved the objective. * The database will be normalised so each table has its appropriate data I normalised the data, for each table. I did 3 normalisations. In the first one, I just kept any field names I thought would be useful in my database. In the second one, I put them in tables and in third normalisation I took out the extra field names that were not relevant. Most of it was good; except one field name was wrong, I edited it and achieved the objective. * Create Forms to gather data/reduce mistakes I created forms for the database so I can input data. Then I created them at first they did not work, but later I fixed them and achieved the objective. * Create Queries to search for data I created queries for the database so I can search for data and they worked the first time I tried. I achieved the objective. * Create Reports to show the output from your queries I created reports to show the output and it can be very helpful to the customer or librarian. At first when I created the reports, they were not same as my hand drawn plans, but then in edited them again and I achieved the objective. * Make database user friendly so it can be used I made the database user friendly so it is easy to navigate. And I achieved the objective. * To show the stock of the videos in the library I made the field name of stock of videos in the library, at first the field was missing but then I added the field name and achieved the objective. * Age group of videos To show the field name of age group of videos and I achieved the objective. To have a customized switchboard At start it did not open up, but then I achieved the objective. Data Collection In this project data will be collected in different kinds of forms. The invoice form, the customer form and the video form. The librarian will give the customer the customer form for him or her to fill in. For the invoice form and video form the librarian will be expected to fill in the data for those forms. There will also be reports and queries made for some the data. Designs Explained I have kept my forms very user friendly so it easy for the librarian, the assistant and for the customer to use. For the forms I have kept a simple colour combination. In the forms, in the fields the background colour is yellow and the handwriting colour is blue because yellow and blue go well with each other, the colours are also bright and easy to read. For filling in the data, in those blocks the background colour will be red and the handwriting colour will be black because red and black are a good colour combination and will be easy to read. I have kept the handwriting size fairly big so it is easy for the customer and librarian to read or fill in. I have decided to use the font Arial because it is very clear and big. Also for the field names I have decided to keep them bold because they are very important. My reports are also very user friendly and attractive. User feedback From the user feedback I have decided to keep my hand drawn plans as my final designs because of the feedback I got. They have said everything in my hand drawn plans is good. They also said it is very user friendly, clear and the colour combination used goes very well together. However, one person said to add buttons and maybe an image. So I decided to add a video cover image and buttons to all my hand drawn plans.