evaluation

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Thomas Bontoft Evaluation

Evaluation

Field Size

When creating my database I ensured that the field sizes of each field were suitable for the type of information being entered. The field sizes are easy to change so if the database needed to be changed in the future it wouldn’t be very difficult. For example, the details of the customer such as name and address had field sizes that would only allow a sensible amount of characters to be entered. The First and second name had field sizes of 20 opposed to the original of 255.

Another example is the CD number which I changed to 10, this is because all the CD numbers are 10 characters long so it is important that they match the character length to avoid any errors with the information in the database.

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When changing the field sizes it was important that the fields size I entered wasn’t too long and wasn’t too short as this could prevent people from entering real data. I believe that the ones I chose were a suitable length for that particular field.

Validation Rules

When creating my database it was important that I added validation to the fields within it. This means that the information that is added to a field matches the required format. This can sometimes be difficult to do as when typing in a validation different characters stand for different things. EG ‘0’ means that only a number can be entered in its place and ‘L’ means a letter.

An example of validation is for the postcode I entered ‘>"L?09 0LL"’. This means that only the correct format of a postcode can be entered reducing the amount of incorrect information being added to the database. The validation text means that if something is entered doesn’t match the required format a message will appear and in this case says “Enter a valid postcode” This is very important to a business as they need to keep their information correct at all times for many reasons.

When creating the validation rules I had to ensure that the format was correct so that no incorrect data was added to the database. This was hard to do at first but once I understood the meanings of the characters it was a lot easier.

Queries

When creating my database I was required to create 3 queries within it. A query allows the user to view data that matches a certain set of parameters. This is important as it allows the company to analyse the data they have and also quickly find any information they need to about a certain customer, order or product. The queries are often hard to create without a good understanding of databases so these would be hard for the company to replicate in the future.

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The first query I created was the artist query. This allows the company to enter a certain artist from the CD Product table and this will then show all the records that match that certain artist. This would be useful if the company was checking what products they had in stock. When they run the query a dialog box appears in which they can type the certain artist that they want to search the database for.

Below shows the design view of the query I created. For this query I chose all three fields from the CD Product table as they are all relevant but this isn’t always needed as some may not be relevant to the information they want to find. In the criteria box under the ‘Artist’ field I entered “[Enter the name of an Artist]”. This is what is displayed in the dialog box that appears. The database then knows that the following parameters that are entered into this must match up to a record within the artist field.

The second query I created was the Card Type query. This allows the company to enter a certain card type from the Orders table and this will then show all the records that match that certain card type. This would be useful if the company was checking what orders were completed with a certain card. When they run the query a dialog box appears in which they can type a certain card type that they want to search the database for.

Below shows the design view of the query I created. For this query I chose six fields out of the 13 from the orders table as these were the most relevant for the information I wanted to find. In the criteria box under the ‘Card Type’ field I entered “[Enter Card Type]”. This is

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what is displayed in the dialog box that appears. The database then knows that the following parameters that are entered into this must match up to a record within the card type field.

The third and final query I created was the Last Name query. This allows the company to enter a person’s last name from the Orders table and this will then show all the records that match that certain last name. This would be useful if the company was checking what orders had been made by a certain customer. When they run the query a dialog box appears in which they can type a certain last name that they want to search the database for.

Below shows the design view of the query I created. For this query I chose all 13 fields from the orders table as these were all relevant for the information I wanted to find. In the criteria box under the ‘Last Name’ field I entered “[Enter Last Name]”. This is what is displayed in the dialog box that appears. The database then knows that the following parameters that are entered into this must match up to a record within the Last Name field.

I found that the queries were easier to create as I have past experience of creating them. The three that I created were relevant for the companies need. All three work correctly and in a professional way.

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Reports

When creating my database I was required to create 3 reports within it. A report allows the user to view the results of a query in a professional way. This is important as it allows the company to display the results of a certain query which can then be used in different ways by the company. The reports can easily be printed or added to different software such as emails, websites and word documents. The reports are easy to create as it can be created with the click of a button however the queries can be hard to set up.

The first report I created was the artist report. This allows the company show the results of the artist query in a simple but professional way. This would be useful if the company was looking to show what products they had in stock on one document. When they run the report a dialog box appears like in the query in which they can type the certain artist that they want to show on the report. Below is a screenshot of the final report that was created.

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The second report I created was the card type report. This allows the company show the results of the card type query in a simple but professional way. This would be useful if the company had to create a document to show how many people used a certain card type. When they run the report a dialog box appears like in the query in which they can type the certain card type that they want to show on the report. Below is a screenshot of the final report that was created.

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The third and final report I created was the card type last name report. This allows the company show the results of the last name query in a simple but professional way. This would be useful if the wanted to create a document to show what products had been bought by certain customers. When they run the report a dialog box appears like in the query in which they can type the certain last name that they want to show on the report. Below is a screenshot of the final report that was created.

When creating the reports I believe that I did them to a high standard and they work correctly. They are easy to understand and are done in a professional way. I found this easy to do as it only required a few simple steps.

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Own Performance

I believe the database I have created is to a high standard and contains all relevant features. When creating things such as queries and reports I had to ensure they were relevant as they have to be used by the business. I made sure that the database was easy to use even for someone with little Microsoft Access experience. To ensure no work was lost, I made frequent backups and saved regularly.

Improvements

For the database I created, I believe on real improvement would be to add more than 3 queries. Although the 3 I created were full working and relevant, there are many other different ones that would be equally as useful such as one to show all customers of a certain address etc. The queries can be hard to create so users may find it hard to add these in the future if they have no experience of using Microsoft Access.

What could you have done better?

During this unit I believe I could have planned better to ensure all the work was completed for the deadlines and so that I knew exactly what I was going to do. Although I believe that I created it to a high standard, if I had planned it I would have found the work a lot easier to complete.

Feedback from others

After creating my database I chose to receive feedback from other people to see what I could improve. I asked people for their opinions of my database, their feedback is shown below:

“The database is created to a high standard and all the features within it are relevant. I think the reports could have been changed to make them more eye catching and interesting to the

user”

“The queries that have been created are all relevant and useful for the company; they are easy to use meaning that people with little experience can use the database. Some of the

field sizes could be made slightly longer to ensure that all true data can be entered.”

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I asked 10 other students whether they thought my database was easy to use. The results are displayed below:

Yes No0

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Do you think my database is easy to use?

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