Access® 2007 For Dummies®

Chapter 9. Automatically Editing Data

In This Chapter

• Fixing your mistakes

• Replacing data automatically

• Finding unwanted duplications in your data

Correcting an incorrect entry in an Access table is pretty easy. A few clicks, some typing, and voilà — the problem is gone. But what if you need to correct 26,281 records? Manually editing so many records would involve a whole bunch of clicking and typing and clicking and typing. Editing an entire table by hand doesn't sound like an opportunity to triumphantly say, “Voilà!”

Fortunately, Access offers some handy, large‐scale housekeeping and editing tools that let you make big changes to your database — all without wearing out your keyboard, mouse, or fingertips.

Please Read This First!

If you're following my not‐terribly‐subtle suggestion not to skip this section, you're well on your way to successful database maintenance. Why? Because the fact that you're reading this tells me that you're a careful sort who follows suggestions and instructions. These traits are key to managing thousands of records, keeping them accurate and up to date, and making the type of corrections I talk about in this chapter.

Why do I sound so serious, all of the sudden? Well, when you're making large‐scale changes to a database, things can go wrong and mistakes can be made. If you're going to do anything major to your database in terms of editing and/or deleting a whole lot of records, you want a backup there behind you so that if you do make a mistake and wipe out ...