Chapter Demonstrable Skills
After completing the Access Chapter 5 portion of the Access unit, students will be able to:
| Demonstrable Skill | Learning Activities & Informal Assessments |
Formal Assessments (excluding Exams) |
|---|---|---|
| Use default values, input masks, and validation rules to control field values. |
|
|
| Create lookup fields to facilitate more accurate data entry. |
|
|
| Use the IIF function to generate conditional values in queries. |
|
|
| Create parameter queries to prompt users for criteria. |
|
|
Chapter Notes
Data validation
Data validation uses a set of constraints or rules to control how data is entered into a field [1]. Access provides built in validation that prevents users from entering text in a field with a number data type, and prevents users from adding records with duplicate values in the primary key field.
Ways to assure data validation
- Require a field (don't allow it to be left blank)
- Set a default value
- Set a validation rule. Data values that do not conform are rejected and the user is prompted to change the value. Validation rules only check values entered for a field. They do not prevent users from skipping fields.
- Set an input mask. The data entry operator will know how the expected value should be formatted (for example 1/20/16 instead of January 20, 2016.
- Create a lookup field. The data entry operator selects a value from a pre-defined drop down list, preventing them from entering incorrect data.
Immediate If (IIF) function
Similar to the IF function in Excel, the IIF function can test and create conditional values in a query [1].
References
- A. Poatsy, K. Mulberry, C. Krebs, L. Hogan, A. Rutledge, and E. Cameron, Exploring Microsoft Office 2013, 1st ed., vol. 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2013.