Access 2000: The Complete Reference (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Access 2000: The Complete Reference confronts the least intuitive element of Microsoft Office 2000 and does an admirable job explaining how to use its numerous tools and features. Intermediate and advanced Access 2000 users--as well as people upgrading from earlier versions of the database program--will appreciate Andersen's comprehensive treatment of her subject.

Access 2000: The Complete Reference opens with a quick overview of the program's most rudimentary functions before stepping back to discuss relational database concepts. Andersen then documents Access 2000's data manipulation features, including the tools for establishing and manipulating relationships among tables. Readers also get a full rundown on building good queries.

Data presentation comes next: The book covers report creation--with and without the Report Wizard--and goes into depth on creating and editing graphs. The coverage of PivotTables--being both extremely powerful and rather hard to understand--could be more extensive. There's also a considerable amount of text dedicated to Access 2000's abilities to publish database information on networks and a little bit on Visual Basic as it applies to Access.

Throughout, Access 2000: The Complete Reference presents its documentation as a mixture of prose, stepped procedures, bulleted lists, and tables. A companion CD-ROM includes a quiz program that gauges the skills of people interested in taking the Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) exam on Access 2000, plus the sample files discussed in the text. --David Wall

Product Description

Access is the leading database of choice for individuals and corporations looking to manage data easily, share information over intranets and the Internet, and build faster business solutions. Complete details on every aspect of creating, customizing, and maintaing an Access database. Full coverage of Web applications--hyperlinks, Web publishing, HTML output, importing, exporting, and linking. Explains how to integrate Access with the other components of the #1 Office Suite. CD-ROM contains hundreds of practice exam questions covering the material on the Access segment of the MOUS exam.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1319 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0078825121
• ISBN-13: 978-0078825125
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 2.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #355,339 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Buy for Beginners!, October 10, 2001

By	S. Nare "snare" (Lebanon, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a technical writer who is also a graphic artist and web designer. I work for a large company in their IT department. Every project I have ever worked on required usually two things: a website and a database of some kind. I taught myself the web stuff and have been doing it for about 3 years. Now I am learning the database stuff. I decided to start with Access after consulting with several hardcore database programmers who recommended it as a good starting place. One of them in particular told me to check out this book. I was not disappointed.

The author starts the book out with a really nice discussion of relational database design. This is key because no matter how well you understand Access the application, if you don't understand how to lay out the tables and establish the relationships, you will be sunk long term. The book then moves into the various functions of Access which is pretty much broken up by the objects in the database. The descriptions and instructions are clear and easy to follow. The last third of the book covers advanced topics like web-enabling your databases and using Visual Basic with it.

I think this book would be of little use to an advanced Access programmer. But beginners and possibly intermediate users will find it invaluable. After just 3 months my book is so dog eared it is sad. I wouldn't trade it for the world. If you are just getting started and are somewhat technical to begin with, I recommend this book to you most definitely.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Detail, August 13, 2000

By A Customer

This is the third or fourth book on Access I have purchased and the book contains (often in chart/table format) more useful detail than I have found in other books for beginner-intermediate Access users. This is my first choice

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for the budding database developer., April 15, 2004

By	Donald Smith (Martinez, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After perusing the other reviews I reached this conclusion: (which makes sense) everyone has reviewed this book from their own perspective. As will I.

But first what the book isn't:
This book was not designed as an easy reference manual for you SQL and VB gurus out there who can whip out something superior to Microsoft Money in an afternoon. Check out the title The COMPLETE Reference. This book is 1300 pages long. It can be used as a study guide if you are going to take the MOUS.

This book was not designed (though the diligent can try) as an introduction to Access. There is so much information here that you will swamp yourself with details and give up before too long.

This book is:
A great resource for someone who has had one class in Access development, or (like me) two or three years of playing with simple databases (like tracking one checking account, etc.). There is a quick reference in back, which I've had limited success with. However, with a quick flip of the book's index, I can usually find what I am looking for on the first try.

What I feel was being said by the other reviewers (as a whole): This book doesn't fit my knowledge level!
Those who were not familiar enough with Access 2000 would not know where to look in an index. Those who can design Deep Thought (for all you Hitchiker's fans) would look it up but then have to sift through an entire lesson on the topic instead of just being told what to do.

*****Final Thoughts*****
This book fits the majority of Access users who have been using Access for a while, but aren't proficient enough to work as a professional database developer. Reading through two pages isn't a waste of time at this level because you get a well rounded view of the control/command/whatever.