There are several ways to update data in an Access database. You add a record to your database when you have a new item to track, such as a new contact to the Contacts table. When you add a new record, Access appends the record to the end of the table. You also change fields to stay up-to-date, such as a new address or last name. To maintain data integrity, the fields in an Access database are set to accept a specific type of data, such as text or numbers. If you don't enter the correct data type, Access displays an error message. Finally, you can delete a record when it is no longer relevant and to save space. Show
For more information on setting up a database for data entry, see Design considerations for updating data. In this article
Updating data by using either a form or datasheetYou use a form to manually update data. Data entry forms can provide an easier, faster, and more accurate way to enter data. Forms can contain any number of controls such as lists, text boxes, and buttons. In turn, each of the controls on the form either reads data from or writes data to an underlying table field. Datasheets are grids of data that look like Excel worksheets. You can change data by working directly in Datasheet view. If you are familiar with Excel, datasheets should be relatively easy to understand. You can change data in tables, query result sets, and forms that display datasheets. Typically, you use datasheets when you need to see many records at once. Top of Page Understanding data entry symbolsThe following table shows some of the record selector symbols you might see when updating data and what they mean.
Top of Page Add a record to a table or form
Top of Page Find a recordYou must first find a record before you can edit or delete it. In a form or datasheet that contains only a small number of records, you can use the record navigation buttons to navigate through the records until you find the one you want. When there are many records, you can use the Find and Replace dialog box and filter for the record. Use the record navigation buttonsYou can navigate between records by using the navigation buttons. Arrow buttons Click to conveniently navigate to the first, previous, next, or last record. New (blank) record Click to add a record. Current Record Type a record number and then press ENTER to navigate to that record. The record number is counted sequentially, from the beginning of the form or datasheet — it does not correspond to any field value. Filter The filter indicator button shows whether a filter has been applied. Click to remove or reapply the filter. Search Enter text in the Search box. The first matching value is highlighted in real time as you enter each character. Use the Find and Replace dialog boxThe Find and Replace dialog box provides another way to change small amounts of data in less time and with less effort. You can use the Find feature in the Find and Replace dialog box to locate a matching record. When you find a matching record, that record becomes the current record, and you can then edit or delete it.
For more information, see Use the Find and Replace dialog box to change data. Top of Page Apply a filterYou can apply a filter to limit the records that are displayed to those that match your criteria. Applying a filter makes it easier to find the record that you want to edit or delete.
For more information, see Apply a filter to view select records in an Access database. Top of Page Delete a recordThe deletion process is fairly simple, except when the record is related to other data and resides on the "one" side of a one-to-many relationship. To maintain data integrity, by default, Access does not let you to delete related data. For more information, see Guide to table relationships.
Tip If you need to delete only some information but not the entire record, select only the data in each field that you want to delete and then press DELETE. Top of Page Edit data in a text box or fieldAccess provides one text control for use with Short Text and Long Text (also called Memo) fields. Typically, you can tell if the underlying field is short or long text by the size of the control, which usually reflects the size needed for the underlying table field. A Short Text field can store up to 255 characters and a Long Text field can store 64,000 characters. By design, you cannot edit data from some types of queries. For example, you cannot edit the data returned by a crosstab query, and you cannot edit or remove calculated fields — values that a formula calculates as you use your database, but that do not reside in a table.
Top of Page Add a date by using the Date PickerThere are several ways to add a date to your table, and using the Date Picker control is a quick option.
Top of Page Enter text in a control with input masksA field may have an input mask applied. An input mask is a set of literal and placeholder characters that force you to enter data in a specific format. For more information about input masks, see Control data entry formats with input masks.
Top of Page Apply rich text formatting to data in a Long Text fieldIf a Long Text field (also called Memo field) supports rich-text formatting, you can apply different fonts, sizes, styles, and colors to your text.
Top of Page Enter data by using a listLists help maintain data integrity and are easy to use. You can use lists in forms, and in tables and queries. Access has three types of lists — value lists, lookup fields and multivalued lists. Value lists display a set of items that you enter manually. Lookup lists use a query to retrieve their data from one or more table result sets open in datasheet view. Multivalued lists solve a common business requirement, a many-to-many relationship. For example, you might to want to track customer support issues and assign multiple people the same issue in one field. There are three types of list controls: Combo box
List box
Multiselect Combo box
Enter an item from a combo box
Enter an item from a list box
Enter items from a multivalued list in a Multiselect Combo box
Edit the items in a listTo edit items in a list, the list must be enabled for editing. For more information, see Design considerations for updating data.
Top of Page Enter zero-length stringsAccess allows you to distinguish between two kinds of blank values: Null values and zero-length strings. Null values indicate an unknown value, and zero-length strings indicate fields that contain a space. For example, suppose you have table of customer data, and that table contains a fax number field. You can leave the field blank if you are unsure of a customer's fax number. In that case, leaving the field blank enters a null value, which means you don't know what the value is. If you later determine that the customer doesn't have a fax machine, you can enter a zero-length string in the field to indicate that you know there is no value.
Top of Page Undo changesIf you type data incorrectly, you can often undo your changes. Do one or more of the following:
Top of Page Which data validation alert style should you use to prevent the user from entering invalid data?Stop. If you set the error alert style to Stop, then you are asking Excel to prevent the user from typing in an invalid value. A value that does not meet the condition specified on the Settings tab will be rejected, and will not be stored in the cell. This is the default style.
What indicates an error in the precedents used?What indicates an error in the precedents used? A red tracer arrow displays between the dependent and precedent cells.
Which of the following tools is best suited for visualizing data?The best data visualization tools include Google Charts, Tableau, Grafana, Chartist. js, FusionCharts, Datawrapper, Infogram, ChartBlocks, and D3. js. The best tools offer a variety of visualization styles, are easy to use, and can handle large data sets.
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