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How do I create an Excel database?
I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would
be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
Where are you getting "field button"? The best way is to simply put column
headings in row 1, and your first record in row 2. Other than that, we'll need more information. ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
In the Excel Help menu, the Field button is indicated for the PivotTable. I
have several column headings, such as Name, Address, Phone, etc. I have several entries under each heading, and I then need to extract certain information into reports, such as names of those in certain cities, and those with birthdays after a certain date. I started by creating a spreadsheet with all the information, but perhaps I should have made the column labels into fields first. But I don't know how to do any of this. "Anne Troy" wrote: Where are you getting "field button"? The best way is to simply put column headings in row 1, and your first record in row 2. Other than that, we'll need more information. ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
To help you get started, you could read some of the Pivot Table
material, listed on Jon Peltier's web site: http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Pivots/pivotstart.htm Kenn Holmberg wrote: In the Excel Help menu, the Field button is indicated for the PivotTable. I have several column headings, such as Name, Address, Phone, etc. I have several entries under each heading, and I then need to extract certain information into reports, such as names of those in certain cities, and those with birthdays after a certain date. I started by creating a spreadsheet with all the information, but perhaps I should have made the column labels into fields first. But I don't know how to do any of this. "Anne Troy" wrote: Where are you getting "field button"? The best way is to simply put column headings in row 1, and your first record in row 2. Other than that, we'll need more information. ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. -- Debra Dalgleish Excel FAQ, Tips & Book List http://www.contextures.com/tiptech.html |
It can be argued that the proper place for a database is database management
software like Access but I use Excel extensively for this purpose and, at least for me, it works well. If you think of the old record cards, all the information on the card is a record. Each piece of information on the card is a field. On a spreadsheet each row is a record and each column holds a piece of information so is a field. It is important to design a spreadsheet not just type everything in. By design I mean stop, have a cup of tea and think about what is wanted. This cane be defined as input (data to be put in) and output (what you want to do with the date - including pivot tables charts etc.) What you are doing is the middle bit and now you can appreciate that if you don't get all three elements designed properly you'll be foerever tampering with it to get it right. On the input side I would recommend that you split data as much as possible. For a person's name you will need a field each for "Miss/Mr/Mrs/Ms", First name, Initial, Family name. For the address you will need a field for "Building", "DP1" (Distribution point1 - House number), "DP2" (Distribution point2 - Road), "Dependent locality" (locale), "PostTown", "Postcode". It is easy to bundle information together but this approach ensures that you don't have to unbundle it when trying to analyse date. The rest of the field are up to you but bear in mind my comment on splitting data. On the output side I can't comment as I don't know the purpose to which data is being put. Hope this helps. Regards. Bill Ridgeway Computer Solutions "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
Nice response Bill.........
Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message ... It can be argued that the proper place for a database is database management software like Access but I use Excel extensively for this purpose and, at least for me, it works well. If you think of the old record cards, all the information on the card is a record. Each piece of information on the card is a field. On a spreadsheet each row is a record and each column holds a piece of information so is a field. It is important to design a spreadsheet not just type everything in. By design I mean stop, have a cup of tea and think about what is wanted. This cane be defined as input (data to be put in) and output (what you want to do with the date - including pivot tables charts etc.) What you are doing is the middle bit and now you can appreciate that if you don't get all three elements designed properly you'll be foerever tampering with it to get it right. On the input side I would recommend that you split data as much as possible. For a person's name you will need a field each for "Miss/Mr/Mrs/Ms", First name, Initial, Family name. For the address you will need a field for "Building", "DP1" (Distribution point1 - House number), "DP2" (Distribution point2 - Road), "Dependent locality" (locale), "PostTown", "Postcode". It is easy to bundle information together but this approach ensures that you don't have to unbundle it when trying to analyse date. The rest of the field are up to you but bear in mind my comment on splitting data. On the output side I can't comment as I don't know the purpose to which data is being put. Hope this helps. Regards. Bill Ridgeway Computer Solutions "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
I thought so, too, but didn't want to diminish anyone else's, including my
own (by comparison) lame-o! ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "CLR" wrote in message ... Nice response Bill......... Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message ... It can be argued that the proper place for a database is database management software like Access but I use Excel extensively for this purpose and, at least for me, it works well. If you think of the old record cards, all the information on the card is a record. Each piece of information on the card is a field. On a spreadsheet each row is a record and each column holds a piece of information so is a field. It is important to design a spreadsheet not just type everything in. By design I mean stop, have a cup of tea and think about what is wanted. This cane be defined as input (data to be put in) and output (what you want to do with the date - including pivot tables charts etc.) What you are doing is the middle bit and now you can appreciate that if you don't get all three elements designed properly you'll be foerever tampering with it to get it right. On the input side I would recommend that you split data as much as possible. For a person's name you will need a field each for "Miss/Mr/Mrs/Ms", First name, Initial, Family name. For the address you will need a field for "Building", "DP1" (Distribution point1 - House number), "DP2" (Distribution point2 - Road), "Dependent locality" (locale), "PostTown", "Postcode". It is easy to bundle information together but this approach ensures that you don't have to unbundle it when trying to analyse date. The rest of the field are up to you but bear in mind my comment on splitting data. On the output side I can't comment as I don't know the purpose to which data is being put. Hope this helps. Regards. Bill Ridgeway Computer Solutions "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
Sorry Anne, and others........I meant no dis-credit to any other response.
It's just when I read Bill's I felt good about the explanation and the way he presented it and felt moved to offer my appreciation. Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Anne Troy" wrote in message news:671be$42cb1950$97c5108d$27426@allthenewsgroup s.com... I thought so, too, but didn't want to diminish anyone else's, including my own (by comparison) lame-o! ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "CLR" wrote in message ... Nice response Bill......... Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message ... It can be argued that the proper place for a database is database management software like Access but I use Excel extensively for this purpose and, at least for me, it works well. If you think of the old record cards, all the information on the card is a record. Each piece of information on the card is a field. On a spreadsheet each row is a record and each column holds a piece of information so is a field. It is important to design a spreadsheet not just type everything in. By design I mean stop, have a cup of tea and think about what is wanted. This cane be defined as input (data to be put in) and output (what you want to do with the date - including pivot tables charts etc.) What you are doing is the middle bit and now you can appreciate that if you don't get all three elements designed properly you'll be foerever tampering with it to get it right. On the input side I would recommend that you split data as much as possible. For a person's name you will need a field each for "Miss/Mr/Mrs/Ms", First name, Initial, Family name. For the address you will need a field for "Building", "DP1" (Distribution point1 - House number), "DP2" (Distribution point2 - Road), "Dependent locality" (locale), "PostTown", "Postcode". It is easy to bundle information together but this approach ensures that you don't have to unbundle it when trying to analyse date. The rest of the field are up to you but bear in mind my comment on splitting data. On the output side I can't comment as I don't know the purpose to which data is being put. Hope this helps. Regards. Bill Ridgeway Computer Solutions "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
My poor attempt at humor. Yes, I thought Bill's explanation was way GREAT!
******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "CLR" wrote in message ... Sorry Anne, and others........I meant no dis-credit to any other response. It's just when I read Bill's I felt good about the explanation and the way he presented it and felt moved to offer my appreciation. Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Anne Troy" wrote in message news:671be$42cb1950$97c5108d$27426@allthenewsgroup s.com... I thought so, too, but didn't want to diminish anyone else's, including my own (by comparison) lame-o! ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "CLR" wrote in message ... Nice response Bill......... Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message ... It can be argued that the proper place for a database is database management software like Access but I use Excel extensively for this purpose and, at least for me, it works well. If you think of the old record cards, all the information on the card is a record. Each piece of information on the card is a field. On a spreadsheet each row is a record and each column holds a piece of information so is a field. It is important to design a spreadsheet not just type everything in. By design I mean stop, have a cup of tea and think about what is wanted. This cane be defined as input (data to be put in) and output (what you want to do with the date - including pivot tables charts etc.) What you are doing is the middle bit and now you can appreciate that if you don't get all three elements designed properly you'll be foerever tampering with it to get it right. On the input side I would recommend that you split data as much as possible. For a person's name you will need a field each for "Miss/Mr/Mrs/Ms", First name, Initial, Family name. For the address you will need a field for "Building", "DP1" (Distribution point1 - House number), "DP2" (Distribution point2 - Road), "Dependent locality" (locale), "PostTown", "Postcode". It is easy to bundle information together but this approach ensures that you don't have to unbundle it when trying to analyse date. The rest of the field are up to you but bear in mind my comment on splitting data. On the output side I can't comment as I don't know the purpose to which data is being put. Hope this helps. Regards. Bill Ridgeway Computer Solutions "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
Oh, you don't have to be so sensitive.
If people get bent out of shape because you paid someone else a compliment, f**k 'em! {grin} -- Regards, Tushar Mehta www.tushar-mehta.com Excel, PowerPoint, and VBA add-ins, tutorials Custom MS Office productivity solutions In article , says... Sorry Anne, and others........I meant no dis-credit to any other response. It's just when I read Bill's I felt good about the explanation and the way he presented it and felt moved to offer my appreciation. Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Anne Troy" wrote in message news:671be$42cb1950$97c5108d$27426@allthenewsgroup s.com... I thought so, too, but didn't want to diminish anyone else's, including my own (by comparison) lame-o! ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "CLR" wrote in message ... Nice response Bill......... Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message ... It can be argued that the proper place for a database is database management software like Access but I use Excel extensively for this purpose and, at least for me, it works well. If you think of the old record cards, all the information on the card is a record. Each piece of information on the card is a field. On a spreadsheet each row is a record and each column holds a piece of information so is a field. It is important to design a spreadsheet not just type everything in. By design I mean stop, have a cup of tea and think about what is wanted. This cane be defined as input (data to be put in) and output (what you want to do with the date - including pivot tables charts etc.) What you are doing is the middle bit and now you can appreciate that if you don't get all three elements designed properly you'll be foerever tampering with it to get it right. On the input side I would recommend that you split data as much as possible. For a person's name you will need a field each for "Miss/Mr/Mrs/Ms", First name, Initial, Family name. For the address you will need a field for "Building", "DP1" (Distribution point1 - House number), "DP2" (Distribution point2 - Road), "Dependent locality" (locale), "PostTown", "Postcode". It is easy to bundle information together but this approach ensures that you don't have to unbundle it when trying to analyse date. The rest of the field are up to you but bear in mind my comment on splitting data. On the output side I can't comment as I don't know the purpose to which data is being put. Hope this helps. Regards. Bill Ridgeway Computer Solutions "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
Thanks for your feedback. This has prompted me to put together an info
sheet. Apologies for the delay. I hope you don't all think I've been rude in not responding until now. Regards. Bill Ridgeway Computer Solutions "Anne Troy" wrote in message news:d3427$42cb1e1d$97c5108d$28276@allthenewsgroup s.com... My poor attempt at humor. Yes, I thought Bill's explanation was way GREAT! ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "CLR" wrote in message ... Sorry Anne, and others........I meant no dis-credit to any other response. It's just when I read Bill's I felt good about the explanation and the way he presented it and felt moved to offer my appreciation. Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Anne Troy" wrote in message news:671be$42cb1950$97c5108d$27426@allthenewsgroup s.com... I thought so, too, but didn't want to diminish anyone else's, including my own (by comparison) lame-o! ******************* ~Anne Troy www.OfficeArticles.com www.MyExpertsOnline.com "CLR" wrote in message ... Nice response Bill......... Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message ... It can be argued that the proper place for a database is database management software like Access but I use Excel extensively for this purpose and, at least for me, it works well. If you think of the old record cards, all the information on the card is a record. Each piece of information on the card is a field. On a spreadsheet each row is a record and each column holds a piece of information so is a field. It is important to design a spreadsheet not just type everything in. By design I mean stop, have a cup of tea and think about what is wanted. This cane be defined as input (data to be put in) and output (what you want to do with the date - including pivot tables charts etc.) What you are doing is the middle bit and now you can appreciate that if you don't get all three elements designed properly you'll be foerever tampering with it to get it right. On the input side I would recommend that you split data as much as possible. For a person's name you will need a field each for "Miss/Mr/Mrs/Ms", First name, Initial, Family name. For the address you will need a field for "Building", "DP1" (Distribution point1 - House number), "DP2" (Distribution point2 - Road), "Dependent locality" (locale), "PostTown", "Postcode". It is easy to bundle information together but this approach ensures that you don't have to unbundle it when trying to analyse date. The rest of the field are up to you but bear in mind my comment on splitting data. On the output side I can't comment as I don't know the purpose to which data is being put. Hope this helps. Regards. Bill Ridgeway Computer Solutions "Kenn Holmberg" <Kenn wrote in message ... I am a new user, and am required to create an Excel database. Any hints would be helpful. The online documents are not clear. Also, where is the "Field button" ?I am using 2003 Standard Edition. |
Kenn, To augment Bill's thoughts a bit. Once you have the columns situated the way you like, you can create a UserForm for easy and accurate input into your "database". There is a great tutorial 'HERE' (http://www.fontstuff.com/downloads/index.htm#excelvba) by Martin Green. Download the PDF and use it to create the form that he outlines and you should be more than ready to go to create a real input form rather than entering data horizontally (which I have found is very cumbersome and prone to errors). HTH, PZan -- PokerZan ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PokerZan's Profile: http://www.excelforum.com/member.php...o&userid=23480 View this thread: http://www.excelforum.com/showthread...hreadid=384670 |
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