Creating the database file

Unlike other Office programs that immediately give you a blank document to get started in, Access starts with the options for creating a new database, or opening an existing database. On the first screen we'll see a list of available starting templates here. We have templates for Assets, Business, Contacts, and so on; above that we have a box, so we can Search for templates. I'll click here and type vehicle. When I press Enter, Access searches through the available templates online and returns this Desktop Vehicle maintenance database template.

If I am interested in it, I can click on it to get some additional information such as how big the file is, what kind of rating it's gotten from other users. And if I decide to use this, I simply give it a name and press Create. Access will download this template to my computer and I can begin using it. I am going to press the Close button on the upper right-hand corner to dismiss this window. Then I am going to press the Back button here at the top left to return to the beginning. Now any of the templates that use the web app phrase like the Custom web app here or the Globe icon such as this Context template, these templates use the web-based SharePoint servers to host your database and make it available over the Internet.

In order to create a web app database you'll need access to a self-hosted SharePoint server or have an active subscription to either Microsoft Office 365 Small Business Premium, or Office 365 Enterprise. For more information about Office 355 Plans & Pricing visit office365.microsoft.com. In this course we are going to focus on the desktop database. These types of databases allow you to create self-contained databases that run right from your local computer or network without the added complexity of managing servers or subscriptions.

These tablets are great if you just want to get up and running with the task of storing your data, but they are also a great resource for learning about how Access works. Some of them include very sophisticated layout ideas and techniques that can help give you ideas of the things that you can add to your own databases. So even if you don't need an asset-tracking database, for example, it might be worthwhile to spend a few minutes exploring the template, taking it apart to see how it works. If you don't want to start with a template the left-hand side of the screen has a listing of Recent files, if you have opened any previously, and we also have an option to Open Other Files, go ahead and click there.

This will bring up a new window, we can choose to create a new database, open an existing database from our computer, checkout our account settings or explore some Access options. Let's start a new database by clicking on the blank database icon, and I go back to New and choose this Blank desktop database. Access asks us for a name for our database. I am going to call this NoObstacles. We are going to create a database for the NoObstacles Home and Furnishing Company. Go ahead and click on the folder icon to choose where we are going to save this database.

I am going to browse out to my Desktop. I am going to find my exercise files folder and I am going to go into the Chapter 01 folder and say Open, and then OK to save my database. Access updates the path here and now I press the Create button to create the new database file. Access creates this file and opens up a new Data Table ready for us to start entering our data. Now that we have got our database file created, we can begin to explore the Access interface.