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Access Database Design
Creating Quality Database Designs for Access Projects
A correctly designed database provides you with accurate and current data that can be manipulated to help you make informed business decisions. Our team of Microsoft Access developers will invest the time to discuss what you need, and then we will develop a database designed to your exact specifications.
When we’ve completed the project, you’ll be able to manipulate information by sorting, organizing, displaying, editing, and creating reports. This will enable you to run different scenarios and easily accommodate changes as your business grows.
We use two principles to guide the database design process.
- The same information (also called redundant data) makes life difficult because it wastes space and increases errors and inconsistencies.
- Information must be correct and complete.
The Access Database Design Process
The best database designs offer several key features.
- They divide your information into subject-based tables to reduce redundancy.
- You can easily access the information required to join the data in the tables together as needed.
- The database designs ensure the accuracy and integrity of your information.
- They accommodate your data processing and reporting needs.
At Phoenix Consultants Group, our Access database design process typically consists of the following steps:
01
Determine the purpose of the database
02
Find and organize the required information
03
Divide the information into tables
04
Turn information into columns
05
Specify each table’s primary keys
06
Set up the table relationships
07
Refine the database design
08
Apply normalization rules
Organizing Information & Determining the Objective of Your Database
Before beginning the project, it’s a good idea to draft a project goal, which can set the course for the project, ensure your database can produce the information you need, and allow you to form a team consensus. Whether it’s a small project or an extensive corporate database, putting your objective together at the beginning will make it much easier to determine the fields you need to give you the most important results.
To find and organize the information required, start with the current data you have, such as purchase orders in a ledger or customer information on paper in a file cabinet. If you don’t have any existing, imagine that you have to design a form to record the customer information. You’ll need to think through all the information you would like to include on that form and how you would like customers to respond. For example, you might need boxes for them to fill in. After this point, you will need to build out your requirements in more detail.
Optimizing the design of your database is an integral step in ensuring its efficiency and functionality. Our custom Access databases can simplify your daily processes while helping you organize and access the information that you need when you need it.