Access Database Design Approach

There are a couple of different approaches to designing a database and we will try to simplify that process for you.

The Bottom Up approach starts with the data collection and you then group them into the separate tables. There are some shortcomings to this approach since the final product may have missing elements which must be later added.

We personally prefer the Top Down approach for Access database design. You start with the problem that an Access Database can help you solve, and work backwards from there. Specifically, consider the end results that you want to output from the database. Determine what reports or exports will you need for other purposes, and extrapolate the data from those processes to understand what fields and tables you will need to develop. This approach does require that the database programmer understands the requirements of the system well, and good communication between them and the Users/Contact.

In many cases there are already existing reports in Excel or other systems that can be utilized to figure out what data will be needed in your Access Database tables.

Once you determine what data is needed for your database tables the next step is to determine which datatypes you will need.

To be continued...