Week 10: Clear

This week dealt with Database Management. Everyone works with data and information. Data itself is unorganized and differentiates itself from information in that the latter is organized and can be of some use to people. However, *Databases* help to organize data so that it can become that useful information. One important tool that lets one do this is the rational database, Microsoft Access. In all honesty, before this week I had never even attemped to open the program. It is somewhat different than Microsoft Excel in that it has some key functionalites that seperate it.

Like Excel, Access utilizes tables to display its information. It supports a wide range of data types, including Text, Memo, Hyperlink, Number, Currency, Date/Time, Object, and Autonumber. Access has the ability to import or export data. Data can be appended(created) to an existing table or imported into a new table. Many different import sources are supported. The most common transitional file however, are text files. These text files can be either delimited or fixed width. Delimited deals with characters that seperate fields in a text file; for example, semi-colons, commas, or pipes (|). Fixed width is where fields are alligned in columns, defined as specific character regions. For example: chars 1-10=user ID, chars 11-41=username. Excel also has the ability to create Queries, Forms, and Reports. These all stem off of each other with the table being the sort of origin. All in all, Access is a great organizational tool that more people should know how to use.