MICROSOFT ACCESS CHAPTER 1 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Asterisk Symbol – appears next the blank record at the end of every table.

AutoCorrect – feature that automatically expands abbreviations.

Current Record – the record the user is working on.

Data Validation – anticipates errors the user might make and rejects those errors prior to accepting data.

Database – consists of one or more tables

Database Window – displays the various objects in an Access database.

Datasheet View – the view used to add, edit, or delete records.

Design View – used to define the table initially and to specify the fields it will contain.

Field – a basic fact or data element

Field Name – the first row in the table.

Filter – displays a subset of records from the table according to specified criteria.

Filter by Form – filtering in which the user specifies alternative criterion

Filter by Selection – filtering by clicking any cell that contains the desired criterion.

Filter Excluding Selection – displays all records that do not satisfy the specified criterion.

Find Command – enables the user to locate a specific record (s) by searching the table for a particular value.

Form – provides a more convenient and attractive way to enter, display, and/or print the data in a table.

GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) – the reality that a system cannot produce valid output with from invalid input.

Insertion Point – a flashing vertical bar that appears at the point where the text is being entered.

Macro – analogous to a computer program and consists of commands that are executed automatically one after the other.  Macros are used to automate the performance of any repetitive. 

Microsoft Access – a major application in the Microsoft Office that is used to create and manage a database.

Module – provides a greater degree of automation through programming in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

One-to-many Relationship – the way in which two tables are linked by a common field.

Page – is an HTML document that can be posted to a Web server or Local Area Network, and which can be viewed by a Web browser.

Pencil Symbol - indicates that the user is working on the record and that the changes have not yet been saved.

Primary Key – a field or combination of fields, which are unique for every record in the table.

Query – answers a question about the database with the most common type of query specifies a set of criteria, then searches the database to retrieve the records that satisfy the criteria.

Record – a set of fields

Record Selector Symbol – a symbol next to the current record to indicate its status.

Referential Integrity – tables must be consistent with one another

Relational Database – contains multiple tables and enables the user to extract information from those tables in a single query.

Remove Filter – by clicking this, the user can display the complete table.

Replace Command – incorporates the Find command and allows the user to locate and optionally replace (one or more occurrences of) one value with another.

Report – presents the data in a table or query in attractive fashion on the printed page.

Sort – lists records in a specific sequence.

Sort Ascending – type of sort that is more appropriate for non-numeric fields.

Sort Descending – type of sort that is more appropriate for numeric fields.

Table – stores data about an entity and is the basic element in any database.  It is made up of records and columnar in appearance.

Triangle Symbol – indicates  that the record has been saved to disk.

Undo Command – allows the user to reverse the most recent past action. 

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