Special Edition Using Microsoft® Office XP

Creating Links to External Databases

For basic list-management tasks, such as sorting, searching, grouping, and summarizing, Excel is an appropriate, easy-to-use tool. For large and complex databases, however, you have better choices, including Microsoft Access. Choose Access over Excel if any of the following statements is true:

• You need to combine data from multiple tables.

• You want to create custom data-entry forms and highly formatted reports.

• You want to create a secure application that multiple users can work with simultaneously.

• Your list contains more than 65,536 records.

• You want to store sounds, pictures, or other data besides text and numbers.

If your database needs have outgrown Excel's list-management capabilities, let a more powerful ...