01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page iii Microsoft® Access™ 2007 Data Analysis Michael Alexander 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page ii 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page i Microsoft® Access™ 2007 Data Analysis 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page ii 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page iii Microsoft® Access™ 2007 Data Analysis Michael Alexander 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page iv Microsoft® Access™ 2007 Data Analysis Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-0-470-10485-9 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600 Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available from Publisher Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission Microsoft and Access are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page v For Mary, Ethan, and Emma 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page vi 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page vii About the Author Michael Alexander is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) with more than 14 years experience consulting and developing office solutions He currently lives in Plano, TX where he serves as a Senior Program Manager for a top technology firm In his spare time he runs a free tutorial site, www.datapigtechnologies.com, where he shares basic Access and Excel tips to the Office community vii 02_104859 ftoc.qxp 2/17/07 12:49 AM Page xiii Contents Append Queries Why Use an Append Query? What Are the Hazards of Append Queries? Creating an Append Query Update Queries Why Use an Update Query? What Are the Hazards of Update Queries? Creating an Update Query A Word on Updatable Datasets Crosstab Queries Using the Crosstab Query Wizard Creating a Crosstab Query Manually Using the Query Design Grid to Create Your Crosstab Query Customizing Your Crosstab Queries 68 68 69 71 74 75 75 75 78 78 79 84 85 88 Summary 90 Part II Basic Analysis Techniques 93 Chapter Transforming Your Data with Access Finding and Removing Duplicate Records 95 96 Defining Duplicate Records Finding Duplicate Records Removing Duplicate Records Common Transformation Tasks Filling in Blank Fields Concatenating Concatenating Fields Augmenting Field Values with Your Own Text Changing Case Removing Leading and Trailing Spaces from a String Finding and Replacing Specific Text Adding Your Own Text in Key Positions Within a String Parsing Strings Using Character Markers Query Query Chapter 96 97 100 102 102 104 104 105 107 109 110 112 116 118 119 Summary 120 Working with Calculations and Dates Using Calculations in Your Analysis 121 121 Common Calculation Scenarios Using Constants in Calculations Using Fields in Calculations Using the Results of Aggregation in Calculations Using the Results of One Calculation as an Expression in Another Using a Calculation as an Argument in a Function Using the Expression Builder to Construct Calculations 122 122 123 124 124 125 126 xiii 02_104859 ftoc.qxp xiv 2/17/07 12:49 AM Page xiv Contents Common Calculation Errors Understanding the Order of Operator Precedence Watching Out for Null Values Watching the Syntax in Your Expressions Using Dates in Your Analysis Simple Date Calculations Advanced Analysis Using Functions The Date Function The Year, Month, Day, and Weekday Functions The DateAdd function Grouping Dates into Quarters The DateSerial Function Chapter 130 130 131 133 134 134 135 135 139 141 143 145 Summary 146 Performing Conditional Analysis Using Parameter Queries 149 149 How Parameter Queries Work Ground Rules of Parameter Queries Working with Parameter Queries Working with Multiple Parameter Conditions Combining Parameters with Operators Combining Parameters with Wildcards Using Parameters as Calculation Variables Using Parameters as Function Arguments Using Conditional Functions The IIf Function Using IIf to Avoid Mathematical Errors Using IIf to Save Time Nesting IIf Functions for Multiple Conditions Using IIf Functions to Create Crosstab Analyses The Switch Function Comparing the IIf and Switch Functions Summary 151 151 152 152 153 154 155 156 159 159 159 161 163 164 166 167 169 Part III Advanced Analysis Techniques 171 Chapter Understanding and Using SQL Understanding Basic SQL 173 173 The SELECT Statement Selecting Specific Columns Selecting All Columns The WHERE Clause Making Sense of Joins Inner Joins Outer Joins 175 175 176 176 177 177 178 Getting Fancy with Advanced SQL Statements Expanding Your Search with the Like Operator Selecting Unique Values and Rows without Grouping 179 180 181 02_104859 ftoc.qxp 2/17/07 12:49 AM Page xv Contents Grouping and Aggregating with the GROUP BY Clause The HAVING Clause Setting Sort Order with the ORDER BY Clause Creating Aliases with the AS Clause Creating a Column Alias Creating a Table Alias SELECT TOP and SELECT TOP PERCENT Top Values Queries Explained SELECT TOP SELECT TOP PERCENT Performing Action Queries via SQL Statements Make-Table Queries Translated Append Queries Translated Update Queries Translated Delete Queries Translated Creating Crosstabs with the TRANSFORM Statement Using SQL Specific Queries Merging Datasets with the UNION Operator Creating a Table with the CREATE TABLE Statement Manipulating Columns with the ALTER TABLE Statement Adding a Column with the ADD Clause Altering a Column with the ALTER COLUMN Clause Deleting a Column with the DROP COLUMN Clause Chapter 182 183 183 183 184 184 184 184 186 187 187 187 188 188 188 188 189 189 191 192 192 193 193 Summary 193 Subqueries and Domain Aggregate Functions Enhancing Your Analysis with Subqueries 195 196 Why Use Subqueries? Subquery Ground Rules Creating Subqueries without Typing SQL Statements Using IN and NOT IN with Subqueries Using Subqueries with Comparison Operators Using Subqueries as Expressions Using Correlated Subqueries Uncorrelated Subqueries Correlated Subqueries Using a Correlated Subquery as an Expression Using Subqueries within Action Queries A Subquery in a Make-Table Query A Subquery in an Append Query A Subquery in an Update Query A Subquery in a Delete Query Domain Aggregate Functions Understanding the Different Domain Aggregate Functions DSum DAvg DCount DLookup 197 197 198 201 201 202 203 203 203 205 205 205 205 206 206 208 210 210 210 211 211 xv 02_104859 ftoc.qxp xvi 2/17/07 12:49 AM Page xvi Contents DMin and DMax DFirst and DLast DStDev, DStDevP, DVar, and DvarP Examining the Syntax of Domain Aggregate Functions Using No Criteria Using Text Criteria Using Number Criteria Using Date Criteria Using Domain Aggregate Functions Calculating the Percent of Total Creating a Running Count Using a Value from the Previous Record Chapter 211 211 211 212 212 212 213 213 214 214 215 217 Summary 219 Running Descriptive Statistics in Access Basic Descriptive Statistics 221 222 Running Descriptive Statistics with Aggregate Queries Determining Rank, Mode, and Median Ranking the Records in Your Dataset Getting the Mode of a Dataset Getting the Median of a Dataset Pulling a Random Sampling from Your Dataset Advanced Descriptive Statistics Calculating Percentile Ranking Determining the Quartile Standing of a Record Creating a Frequency Distribution Summary Chapter 10 Analyzing Data with Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts Pivot Tables in Access? The Anatomy of a Pivot Table The Totals and Detail Area The Row Area The Column Area The Filter Area Creating a Basic Pivot Table Creating an Advanced Pivot Table with Details Saving Your Pivot Table Sending Your Access Pivot Table to Excel Pivot Table Options Expanding and Collapsing Fields Changing Field Captions Sorting Data Grouping Data Using Date Groupings Filtering for Top and Bottom Records Adding a Calculated Total 222 223 224 225 227 229 231 231 233 235 240 241 242 243 243 244 245 245 246 250 252 253 254 255 255 256 256 259 260 261 02_104859 ftoc.qxp 2/17/07 12:49 AM Page xvii Contents Working with Pivot Charts in Access The Data Area The Series Area The Category Area The Filter Area Creating a Basic Pivot Chart Formatting Your Pivot Chart Summary Part IV Automating Data Analysis Chapter 11 Scheduling and Running Batch Analysis Introduction to Access Macros Dealing with Access 2007 Security Features The Quick Fix The Long-Term Fix Creating Your First Macro Essential Macro Actions Manipulating Forms, Queries, Reports, and Tables The Access Environment Executing Processes Outputting Data Setting Up and Managing Batch Analysis Getting Organized Using a Logical Naming Convention Using the Description Property Setting Up a Basic Batch Analysis Building Smarter Macros Simulating If Then Simulating If Then Else Looping with Macros Scheduling Macros to Run Nightly Using an AutoExec Macro to Schedule Tasks Using the Windows Task Scheduler Using Command Lines to Schedule Tasks When to Use Command Lines to Schedule Tasks Instead of AutoExec Scheduling a Macro to Run Using a Command Line Summary Chapter 12 Leveraging VBA to Enhance Data Analysis Creating and Using Custom Functions Creating Your First Custom Function Creating a Custom Function that Accepts Arguments Controlling Analytical Processes with Forms The Basics of Passing Data from a Form to a Query Enhancing Automation with Forms Enumerating Through a Combo Box 265 265 265 266 267 268 269 272 353 275 276 277 278 279 280 282 283 283 284 284 285 285 285 288 289 291 292 294 296 301 301 302 307 308 308 310 311 312 313 315 319 320 324 326 xvii ... Page iii Microsoft? ? Access? ?? 2007 Data Analysis Michael Alexander 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page ii 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page i Microsoft? ? Access? ?? 2007 Data Analysis 01_104859... ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page iii Microsoft? ? Access? ?? 2007 Data Analysis Michael Alexander 01_104859 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 3:02 PM Page iv Microsoft? ? Access? ?? 2007 Data Analysis Published by Wiley Publishing,... Fundamentals of Data Analysis in Access Chapter The Case for Data Analysis in Access Where Data Analysis with Excel Can Go Wrong 3 Scalability Transparency of Analytical Processes Separation of Data and