Baseball Hacks

Use Microsoft Access to Run SQL Queries

Write queries in Microsoft Access using the SQL language.

Most Microsoft Access users like to build queries graphically, and I must admit that I also like to do that. But it’s very hard to explain how to build a query in print. (See “Make Your Own Stats Book” [Hack #11] for an example.) SQL is a very concise way to explain database queries, so that is the way I explain queries in this book.

Luckily, Microsoft Access lets you enter queries as SQL code. This hack explains how to enter SQL queries in Microsoft Access.

SQL Queries in Access

To begin, start Microsoft Access and open the database file you want to query. You can do this by double-clicking the file in Windows Explorer or by starting Microsoft Access and choosing Open Database.

As an example, I chose to show batting averages by player, using the Baseball Archive database. (See “Get an Access Database of Player and Team Statistics” [Hack #9] for instructions on how to get this database.)

To create a new query, select Query from the Insert menu. A dialog box will appear, asking you how you want to create a new query. Select Design View. This will open a query design window in the default format. To get a SQL dialog box, select SQL View from the View menu. You will see a window like the one shown in Figure 2-9 . Running the query shown in Figure 2-9 generates the results shown in Figure 2-10.

Figure 2-9. Access SQL edit window

Changing SQL Queries to Graphical Queries

If you want, you can ...