Evaluation of Software

I thought it was again an effective way to present my data and a very good idea to create a form using the wizard. This is because, as I am not an advanced user, the wizard gave me some guidance.

To create my form using a wizard I clicked on the ‘forms’ button then I double-clicked on create form using wizard. I then selected the fields I wanted on my form. I clicked NEXT then I chose my layout and style. I clicked NEXT and then gave my form a name. I finally opened the form and entered the information I wished to display and clicked FINISH. Again if I chose to adjust the design of my form I simply clicked on the design button.

Queries were a little harder to do as I often forgot how to create them. This is because I had to choose to fill in certain boxes at the correct times. If I did this well then I would either create an ‘OR QUERY’ or an ‘AND QUERY,’ which is what I was instructed to do.  On the whole, I found that queries were very useful to use as you could locate someone’s address or emergency contact number etc. within minutes.  

The only disadvantage I found of Microsoft Access was that you could not make graphs.

Overall, I thought Microsoft Access was good software to use as it has many features. For example, we can create databases using a wizard or without using a wizard. We can also use primary keys.

There are also advanced table features such as assign a field a specific set of characters, format a field to look a specific way and select a value from a dropdown box with a set of values that you assign to it. This saves you from typing it in each time. You can also create a form, report and mail merge labels etc.

I did everything the user had asked me for apart from making a graph in Microsoft Access. The data from Microsoft Access would have to be imported into excel and then made into a frequency table. The frequency table would then have to be made into a graph.

Above I have shown a line graph showing how many people attend a particular club in the gym in 2007.