Access® 2007 For Dummies®

Chapter 5. Remodeling Your Data

In This Chapter

• Opening an existing table or database

• Adding new records to your table

• Changing an existing record

• Renaming fields and tables

• Deleting unwanted records

• Turning back time — to before your mistake was made

From remembering to change your car's oil every 3,000 miles to cleaning out your rain gutters or mowing the lawn, everything in your surroundings needs a little maintenance now and then. Most of that maintenance involves tidying up, getting rid of old or unwanted things, or making improvements. Sometimes all of these things are part of the maintenance process.

Well, it's no different for your database — an Access database needs a tune‐up now and then, just to keep things running right. This can be as simple as checking for blank fields where you need to plug in missing data, as common as purging old or inaccurate records, or a matter of changing the names of tables and fields so that your database makes more sense to those who use it.

Unlike getting your car serviced or cleaning out your gutters, however, maintaining your database isn't expensive or difficult. Of course, not keeping your database in good working order can get expensive — in terms of your time, of the potential impact of inaccurate records on your business, of wasting time and paper printing reports that include obsolete data, and of confusing those who use your database by having incorrect or vague field and table names.

Don't worry, though — for all those doomsday potentialities, ...