Hi Keith
Welcome to the wide world of Access! :-) There really is so much to learn
in this field, that to become a proficient Access developer means
understanding the theory and practice of normalization, the SQL language,
the forms, reports, controls, events, methods, properties, object naming
structures, and programming VBA code (everything from basic loops to
instantiating classes.)
A TAFE course takes you perhaps the first 5% - 10% of that journey. If you
have any previous experience with databases, that helps with structural
design. If you have previous experience with programming, those concepts
will help as well. If not, expect that it will take quite a bit of time to
become conversant with all the aspects in Access. It is very different from
Word or Excel.
You are welcome to ask specific questions here. Before you do, make sure you
at least searched for the topic in the Access help file so you don't just
get RTFM as a reply. In many cases, the jargon used in the question can be
found in the help file. For further guidelines on what and how to post, see:
http://www.mvps.org/access/netiquette.htm
It may also help to have at least one good book on hand--not a "dummies"
book, but one that has a good index at the back so you can find what you are
looking for. There are heaps around, and your choice will depend on how much
you already know, and how far you want to go. A good middle-of-the-road one
(not too shallow, not too technical) is "MS Access 2003 Inside Out" by John
Viescas (MS Press, 2004)
There are also lots of websites where you can find answers to specific
questions if you know what you are looking for. The site above has heaps of
good stuff. I have one that's been continually updated for 11 years now at:
http://allenbrowne.com/tips.html
and both sides have several more links to others.
HTH
--
Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia.
Tips for Access users -
http://allenbrowne.com/tips.html
Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org.
"Keith Austin" <kc***@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:cZ*****************@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
Hi I am doing an IT course through a TAFE college here in brisbane
Ausrtralia. The course is Certificate III in Information technology
(Software applications). It deals with the Advanced area od MS Word,
Excel, aand obviously Access. I am now at the Acces stage of the course,
and while I understand most of the basics of the program I dont really
know much beyond that. The "learning" material provided with the couse
"tells" me to perform certain tasks in Access but doesnt really "teach" me
how. I cant get a lot of help from the TAFE and they have suggested I
seek someone on a newsgroup for assistance/help.
The "Learning" material asks questions that are not really covered in the
preceeding text to best describe it the text covers A, B, D, F, H but the
questions ask about C, E and G so to speak. and there is no "Self help"
section within the material. The questions ask me to "fill in" the
blanks, but there is no where to refer to.
If someone can help I would really appreciate it. I need to master the
learning material before I can actually do the Assessment Tasks.
Regards Keith
