Learning how to use microsoft access/databases

[Fondue]

I'm in charge of getting all of our equipment calibration stuff lined up at work and it was all on paper and very hard to keep up with so I've made excel spreadsheets for most of the item categories with all the calibrated items and their calibration status/history.

This works but is not ideal and seems cumbersome/also hard to keep up with. I feel like microsoft access might be the better place to try and organize all of this information but I dont know the first thing about it.

Does anyone know of any good resources for learning about access/databases? I'm basically starting from scratch and about to buy access 2016 for dummies but anything else would be appreciated.

[Zetanio]

Skip access and use a real database solution. I tried to learn access and quickly realized it's not a good solution for anything. Learn SQL and be much much better off.

[Ratatapa]

So many software my M$ while the only good ones are

Word Excel, Outlook Powerpoint (one note i guess)

Who the fuck uses Access and Publisher

[Fondue]

Skip access and use a real database solution. I tried to learn access and quickly realized it's not a good solution for anything. Learn SQL and be much much better off.

That sounds scary

[Zetanio]

It is but you'll have a very useful and indemand skill after learning.

[Day]

its not bad, my dumbass can handle most basic SQL queries and db shit

[Mabubeezareel]

Skip access and use a real database solution. I tried to learn access and quickly realized it's not a good solution for anything. Learn SQL and be much much better off.

^ This. So much this. Access is a plague - stay away if you value your life.

[Fondue]

before I dive in too deep, let me explain a little of what I'm hoping to get out of this:

I need to track a few hundred pieces of equipment/standards/apps on xrays. The information that needs to go in there is basic mfg, what its used for, where it is, whos in charge of it, date of last cal, in use/in spec?, recal frequency, etc and then all the calibration/verification history (measurement details and dates) associated with each item too. It would also be nice if it had some way of spitting this out into a calendar showing when stuff was coming up as due and then it could be redone and bumped along from there.

Thats the idea I have in my head and like I said I'm currently keeping all of this stuff on excel spreadsheets. I dont mind trying to learn sql if it will be able to do what I'm looking for with some effort.

[Mabubeezareel]

You're definitely on the right track here. Before you go out and choose the tool, I'd recommend to start with learning the basics of relational databases and data modeling. Grab some paper and a pencil and start sketching out your tables and how they'll relate to each other. Just from your description above, I already see at least 2 tables and 1 parent-child relationship between them.

[Fondue]

You're definitely on the right track here. Before you go out and choose the tool, I'd recommend to start with learning the basics of relational databases and data modeling. Grab some paper and a pencil and start sketching out your tables and how they'll relate to each other. Just from your description above, I already see at least 2 tables and 1 parent-child relationship between them.

currently I have all of one type of item grouped into a spreadsheet with each individual item getting a sheet in that one file, so I dont know what a sql table really looks like but I'm still imagining each item gets it's own table where the cal/verification data is kept. Here is one of the sheets, all the main mfg and status is on the front sheet and all the items have their own tabs that link from the serial number box. The last cal date and status are pulled from that serial number's sheet to update the main list page.
The cal date columns are conditionally formatted so they're green if they're in use and the cal is still good or red if they're out of cal or not in use based on the frequency set

Spoiler: show

[Mugekuge]

Hmm i think excel is a great tool and may be enough for your needs tbh, learning SQL is always a plus for you, but you may use a simple solution like a free CRM software if your information is small and not many people will have access to it.


This link have some references to free alternatives:


https://www.reallysimplesystems.com/...-crm-software/

[Fondue]

My problem with excel atm is I have 10 spreadsheets like that one, most have more items- some 50-100 in the category. This is a very small company so yeah there arent many people who will ever be using these and there isnt a colossal amount of things. I would just like it if I could combine it all into one database but I dont see any way to logically do that with excel. Dealing with that many sheets in a single book is already a big headache just because its so hard to navigate between sheets with excel.

How easy is it to import data into a sql database? Like when I set up the tables with sql, are they fully editable to where I could just copy/paste all of my relevant fields into the database from my excel files?


I like the idea of using sql for this- I just need to keep looking into it. I'm going to start digging through w3schools sql tutorial when I get home

[Niya]

If you wanna try/tinker around with SQL, you could try the MySQL workbench: https://www.mysql.com/products/workbench/
It's a management tool that can also install the DB itself and lets you look inside it more or less graphically. Not 100% sure about it, but it might even have import wizards for grabbing data from excel.

[Fondue]

I'll check that out when I get home! Thank you for the input so far everyone. I wish I had taken some computer science classes when I had time q.q

[Day]

the cool thing about learning in your case is you have a lot of data already to work with and you know what you want to do with it, so anything you learn regarding the databases whether you go with SQL or whatever will be instantly applicable and tends to make more sense than doing some course where you don't give af about fictional data

[Dantrag]

Make sure you have backups!