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Databases store data in tables. Tables are made up of fields and records.

A prison might use a database to keep records of its inmates. A criminal’s record may contain the following fields:

• first name
• last name
• height
• crime
• release date

A table consists of related records, eg people convicted of a crime, and a record consists of related fields, eg Paul Smith who is 1.8 m, committed a robbery and is being released on 26.01.2015.

Creating a table

To create a table in Microsoft Office Access, use Design view. Start by writing a list of sensible field names, eg ‘Crime’ would be a better field name than ‘Act of questionable judgement’ because ‘Crime’ is short and to the point.

Data types

Access will automatically choose a field’s data type based on the data entered. For example, if a phone number is entered into a field its data type will be automatically set to 'Number'. Other data types include:

• 'text' – writing
• 'date/time' – date or time
• 'currency' – euro, pound, dollar, etc
• 'autonumber' – number increases by one each time
• 'yes/no' – only yes or no can be entered

Setting a primary key

The primary key is a field that contains data that is unique for each record. A car dealership may use a car's registration or number plate as a primary field to set apart two cars of the same colour, make and model.