Access 2003 for Dummies

Access Forms & Reports For Dummies

Microsoft Office Access 2003 Step by Step

Access 2003 Bible

Databases

Access 2003 All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies

Format: Paperback
Author: Alan Simpson
ReleaseDate: 22 September, 2003
Publisher: For Dummies
Rating:

Best Reference I Have Found
I am fluent in SPSS programming, but have had little experience with Access. I started a new job in the Information Reporting Office of a State Education Department. My job turns out to entail retrieving many data files in an Access format from a master database stored in Oracle on a mainframe using ODBC. I have had to learn quickly how to manipulate those databases to obtain the information needed to put into files for Federal reporting purposes. I needed a comprehensive reference to Access that would allow me to learn how to use Access to perform data manipulations that are easy to perform with Statistical Analysis packages such as SPSS. For example, every School is assigned a 12-digit code, and each sequence of two or four digits embedded in the code has a distinct meaning, such as a reference to the county of location or type of school. So I had to learn quickly how to "parse" the long "string" field into new separate string fields made up of the component parts of the 12-digit string. I also needed to aggregate data on field values to obtain counts and sums. These are basic functions, easy to look up or find in the index when using a program like SPSS. These sorts of functions do have counterparts in Access, but the indexes of such books are geared to the business user and do not refer to such functions with the standard terms such as "parse," "string function," or "aggregate" that are familiar to people used to using statistical packages to manipulate data.
I looked at many older Access reference books in our office. I ordered the Alison Balter "Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2003" book from Amazon after reading the reviews. I was not able to find what I needed to learn from those books. Fortunately, I also ordered "Access 2003 All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies," from which I was able to figure out everything I needed to know. Once I knew what I needed to know, which in retrospect seem like simple functions, I went back to the other reference books to see how that information was presented and to figure out why I hadn't been able to find it. I still wasn't able to find some of these functions in the Balter book.
I wouldn't write a review panning the Balter book because it may be excellent for its intended audience, developers working on form and report interfaces for commercial clients. But if you need to quickly get up and running learning how to manipulate data with Access, but are not a total novice with programming, and need some fairly sophisticated information, the "All-In-One Dummies" book certainly was far superior to the others. It could be better, as noted in a review below, if the index would include words familiar to more sophisticated programmers using other programs, such as "parse, "aggregate," etc. , but the table of contents was so detailed, and the examples in the book so detailed and clear, that I was able to quickly figure out where the information would be in the book if it were to be found anywhere.
For example, to find the "parsing function," I lookded under Book III: Queries (because I at least knew that "Queries" do most of the manipulations on data), Chapter 2: Letting Queries Do the Math, (Because functions are generally grouped and described in sections of books on doing math) and finally in the Section called "Manipulating Text with Expressions, Using the Access Text functions. " Yes, a good index cross-referencing the words "parsing strings" and "text functions" would have been better, but I haven't found one reference book that has been that user-friendly to the experienced programmer who just isn't "experienced" using Access. At least the "Dummies" book is sufficiently well-organized, comprehensive and transparent to let me find out what I need to know!.

Index is awful
What you really do is read a little, skimming what you really need to get started. Let's face it: When you want to get started you don't sit down, read through 800 pages, then get to it. When you need to know something, you look it up. There's the rub. Unfortunately, ALL of these books suffer from the problem of having a very bad index. I know the index spans many pages, however, I have seldom found ANYTHING I wanted by looking it up under the obvious heading. For that matter, often the subject is not to be found anywhere in the index at all. Which means it either isn't covered in the book, or it can not be found easily. The "9 in 1" books thing sounds good, until you realize that there is not necessarily an integrated approach to really teaching the whole of Access and the relationship between its parts. The real problem is that Access is layered on top of 3 'languages' (VB, SQL, and Macros) and has different ways of getting things done for its three main parts (Queries, Forms, and Reports). (And VB even supports 2 different object models, DAO and ADO. ) It is often unlclear how all these different areas interact. They can interact together easily, but why is a function spelled one way in an expression, a different way in VB and again different in SQL? There ought to be a cross reference table translating between them. Or when can you nest aggregate functions and when can't you? Much of what Access is secretly doing is translating your groupings and expressions into SQL with Unions and inner/outer-joins or what not. None of this inner working is explained, leaving you clueless when Access refuses to do what it thinks you want to do. Yes, Access is a confusing product owing to the way different parts were cobbled together. But it can also be very easy to do certain things, like turning a report's groupings inside out. Some of these things are explained in this book, but most are not. A comprehensive index would be a start, but they would of course need the text to go with it. You'll have better luck finding specific information by searching on the internet. I have found many great and helpful web sites, but I still haven't found any one book on MS Access that comes close to really explaining it properly. And none with an even decent index. It sounds get to read on a book's jacket that it will cover VB or XML or web stuff, but the important stuff is often overlooked. .

A good guide for dummies and others
I have had very frustrating experiences trying to use Access in the past. I am a complete dummy when it comes to Access. I am now using the guide to design and develop a relational database. It's written in simple language and goes through everything in a reasonable order, with the more advanced programming-related chapters at the end. I have a feeling this book will become my best friend as I work through this project. .