Getting to Know Microsoft Access, Part 5: Retrieving and Arranging Data Meaningfully - Basic Queries
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Use filters when you need to see a subset of data temporarily, but use a query if you think you’ll need to use that subset at a later date. Queries are also preferable to filters when you need to perform calculations on your data. Note however that you can save a Filter By Form or a Filter By Selection as a query by choosing the Save as Query toolbar button after you apply a filter.
Using queries you can choose to see just a subset of records, and then only some of the fields in those records. A query basically means a question. You can query one or multiple tables in an Access database at once. Access provides several different types of queries; we’ll cover the most basic queries this week.
There are four general types of queries in Access: select, special purpose, action, and SQL-specific. Select queries are commonly used for getting information from one or more tables and displaying that information in a datasheet view. You can also use a select query to group records and to perform calculations on certain field values. Special purpose queries include crosstab queries. You use crosstab queries to summarize values from a field. Action queries are used to update or delete records from tables, make new tables, or add new records to an existing table. SQL-specific queries only use structured query language instead of a design grid, with SQL running in the background like the other types of queries. One type of SQL-specific query is a union query that combines fields from one or several tables into one field.
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