How to Use the Wizard to Add a Table to a Microsoft Access Database

You can use the Table Wizard to add a new table to your existing Microsoft Access database. This is handy if you decide that you need to enter new categories of information after you've created the database. These instructions are for Access 97.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Microsoft Access

1. Open your database in Access.

2. Click the F11 key to change to the Database window.

3. Click on the Tables tab. Click New.

4. Double-click on Table Wizard. Click OK.

5. Check business or personal to retrieve a list of table names. Select the table name that is closest to the one you want. You can rename both the table and the fields later if you want to.

6. Select the sample fields that you want, then click on the right arrow to move them into the Fields window. If you want to use all of the fields, click on the double right-arrow (>>) sign. If you change your mind and want to remove a field, select the field from the Fields window, then click on the left arrow to move it back.

7. Rename the fields if desired. Click Next.

8. Name your new table and indicate whether you want Access to assign a "primary key," or unique identifier, to each record. Primary keys are handy if you want to do complex queries later on.

9. Indicate whether your new table is related to any existing tables (if it shares fields, for example, with existing tables). Click Relationships to change the way your tables are related. Click Next.

10. Indicate whether you want Access to open the table immediately after creating it, whether you want to enter data into the table directly or whether you want the Wizard to create a form that allows you to enter data.

11. Click Finish.

Tips & Warnings

• A table contains categories of information pertaining to your general topic. For instance, if your database is an inventory of household goods, the tables could include Furniture, Rooms, Plants, Appliances, Electronic Equipment, etc.
• A record contains the information for each item in a table. For example, in the Plants table, you would have a record for each plant in your house - poinsettia, ivy, geranium, begonia.
• A field contains the information that you want to enter about each record. Your plant records could contain the following fields: botanical name, household name, flowering, water, sun, fertilizer, soil.
• In Access, one database can include many tables. You can create "queries" to extract data from multiple tables in the database. (For example, if your household goods database tables each had a field for when an item was purchased and how much the item cost, you could query to find out how much you spent each year on household goods.)