FrontPage Tips by Ward Cameron Enterprises
Take Your Web Site to New Levels

Creating a New Microsoft Access Database

Creating a database driven website begins with the database. This lesson will walk you through the creation of a new database using Microsoft Access. It will also show you secrets to building a database with room to grow.

Step 1 - Create a New Database File

Open Microsoft Access. You have two options for creating a new database. By default, Access opens with the New File Task Pane open on the right side of the screen. You can select many options, including Open a File, New Blank Database, New From Existing File and New From Template.

Let's look at these options one at at time.

1. Open a File. This option does not allow you to create a new database. It is used for opening existing files.
2. New Blank Database. This allows you to begin with a completely blank database. This is often used by experienced users who want to build their database from scratch.
3. New From Existing File. If you have a great database already AND you need a similar new database, then this option is very helpful.
4. New From Template. Microsoft has a great deal of experience in the database world. They have created an excellent series of database templates to help you jump-start your database creation. If you are looking for a database to manage contacts, keep track of assets, manage an event or keep track of expenses, then these databases can get you started. There are two tabs in the Templates dialog. The General tab is used for creating a Blank Database, Data Access Page or Access Database connected to an SQL Server Project.  The Databases tab is used to create a new database from one of the many templates provided by Microsoft.

Here is the New from Template dialog:

Using one of these templates will create a complete database with multiple tables, forms and reports all ready to go. If your needs fall within the area covered by these templates, then you are good to go.

Create a Blank Database

Let's end this lesson by creating a new blank database. From the New File Task Pane, select New Blank Database. The file save dialog will open and you will be prompted to give the file a name and set the location the file should be saved in. When you give the file your name, it will create a new file in the specified location with the extension mdb.

Let's do in now. Create a new database called Sample.mdb. We'll create a database to store customer records for a small tour operator. Over the next few tutorials, we'll go through the process of analyzing our needs, creating tables and finally creating the queries that we'll connect to through our FrontPage website.

We end this lesson then with a blank database called Sample.mdb. Your database window should resemble the following:

So far, all we have is a blank database without tables OR queries. Keep in mind that because we are designing our database specifically for online use, we don't need to create forms or reports. We'll be using FrontPage to create these. There may be times when you create a database for both online AND offline use. For those databases you may need to create offline forms and reports. We will NOT be covering those skills in this course. There are many books and courses that focus on teaching you how to use Microsoft Access in the offline world. Our goal here is to take your data online.

In our next lesson, we'll look at the database design process. Be forewarned thought, the process begins long before you create any tables or queries. The best databases are created through a long process of planning, flow charting and paper doodles.