Access 2003 for Starters: The Missing Manual

Appendix B. Access FAQ

• Importing and Exporting

• Validation

• Finding Find

THIS BOOK COVERS ALL THE BASICS of creating and using Access databases, but there’s plenty more to be curious about. You may not need to swap files between Access and, say, Word or Excel very often, but it’s good to know you can. And the fields in your database probably work just fine, but there’s a way to make extra sure that you’re entering information correctly. This appendix covers these burning issues and more.

Importing and Exporting

Q: I’ve already done a fair amount of work in other Office programs like Microsoft Word and Excel. Now that I’ve gotten Access, how can I move this information over to Access without having to enter all the information all over again?

A: Excellent question! Actually, you can move information, including text and numbers, between other programs and Access in any number of ways. This is especially true for Access and other programs in the Microsoft Office product line, such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. (You got a hint of this in Chapter 8 where you learned about Access reports.)

For example, you can take records or query results from Access and import them into Word where you may be preparing a whole document—say, for a monthly or annual report. You could also take a list you’ve been keeping in Word and use it as the start of a new Access database; you could do the same with information stored in an Excel spreadsheet.

The best way to get a feel for the import and export process is ...