Microsoft Access 2013 Inside Out

Defining a primary key

Every table in a relational database should have a primary key. Telling Access how to define the primary key is quite simple. Open the table in Design view, and click the row selector to the left of the field you want to use as the primary key. If you need to select multiple fields for your primary key, hold down the Ctrl key and click the row selector of each additional field that you need.

Note

For details about designing primary keys for your tables, see Article 1, “Designing your database application,” which you can download from the book’s catalog page.

After you select all the fields you want for the primary key, click the Primary Key button in the Tools group of the Design contextual tab on the ribbon. Access displays ...