ACC1: Commonly Asked Questions About MS Access Version 1.0

ID: Q90866

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

Commonly asked questions about Microsoft Access version 1.0 are listed below.


MORE INFORMATION

  1. Q. Is it possible to customize the Help file in Microsoft Access?

    A. Customized Help files can be used only in Microsoft Access forms. Use the HelpContextId and HelpFile properties of the form to reference a Help file previously constructed with the Microsoft Windows Help Compiler. For more information on this, search for "HelpContextId" in the Microsoft Access online Help.


  2. Q. Is it possible to set up a many-to-many relationship?

    A. No. The only kinds of relationships you can define are one-to-many and one-to-one. It is generally not a good database design to have many-to-many relationships. An alternative is to build a linking table between two tables that have a many-to-many relationship. For example, if you had an "Employees" table and a "Job Skills" table, each employee may have many skills, and each skill could belong to more than one employee--a many-to-many relationship. To work around this, you would build a linking table "EmpSkill" that had two columns, EmpID and SkillID, to relate the two tables.


  3. Q. Where are OLE objects (such as the pictures in the Employees table in NWIND.MDB) stored?

    A. OLE objects can be either linked or embedded. Embedded objects are stored inside the .MDB file. Linked objects point to a file located external to the database, and are therefore not stored in the .MDB file. Since the Employees' pictures within NWIND.MDB are embedded OLE objects, the pictures are stored in NWIND.MDB.


  4. Q. How can I tell if an OLE object is embedded or linked?

    A. To tell if an object is linked or embedded, first select the object, then choose the last command on the Edit menu. The command name varies depending on the object type. (For example, "Paintbrush Picture Object," "Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object," and so on.) When the option is highlighted or selected, a submenu appears to the right of the menu. If the object in question is an embedded object, the Change Link option will be unavailable (dimmed). If it is a linked object, the Change Link option will not be dimmed.


  5. Q. Is all the information (tables, queries, reports, and so on) that appears as part of a database actually stored in the database?

    A. All database information is stored in the database, with the exception of database "preferences" (choose Options from the View menu) and certain security information (users, their passwords, and group information), which are stored in the SYSTEM.MDA file.


  6. Q. Is it possible to break out the information that is contained in a database (that is, tables) into individual files?

    A. You can use the Export option to export tables and other data to separate files (ASCII, dBASE, and so on). You can also export Microsoft Access objects to other Microsoft Access databases.


  7. Q. Is some type of tool available that helps document applications? (For example, variables used, macros used, properties of different interface elements, and so on.)

    A. A tool called "Database Analyzer" is included with Microsoft Access that aids in this task. For information on using this tool, look in the PSSKB.TXT file, question number 23, or choose the Microsoft Access Q&A icon in the Access group in the Microsoft Windows Program Manager.


  8. Q. Are memo fields part of a table, or are they stored in a separately linked file as is done in FoxPro, which has .DBF and .FPT files?

    A. They are part of a table and thus stored in the .MDB file.


  9. Q. Can Microsoft Access create stand-alone applications?

    A. Currently, Microsoft Access does not create stand-alone applications. Since there is not yet a run-time version of Microsoft Access, a developer and his or her customers both require full working copies of Microsoft Access to run Microsoft Access applications. The developer distributes only the .MDB file(s) for the application to the customers.

    A run-time version of Microsoft Access is planned for the near future that a developer can distribute with his or her .MDB file(s) so that customers will not require a full working copy of Microsoft Access to run applications.


Additional query words: Misc Setup 


Keywords          : kbusage GnlOthr 
Version           : 1.0
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: March 11, 1999