MS-Access / Getting Started

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Creating Your First Simple Web Table by Entering Data

If you've been following along to this point, you should still have your new Employees Web database open with Table1 open in Datasheet view. (You can also follow these steps in any open web database.) Access 2010 automatically created the first web field, called ID, in the left column. Leave this web field intact for now. In the second column, Access has placed another web field with the Add New Field heading. Just like client tables, you can enter just about any type of data you want in this web field-text, dates, numbers, or currency.

Let's start with a simple list of employee names so you can become more comfortable working in Datasheet view with web tables. For this quick example, we'll only need two columns containing the employee's first name and last name. Be sure to enter the same type of data in a particular column for every row. For example, enter Jeff's and John's last names in the third column (named Field2 by Access) for every row.

Access behaves the same in this situation for web fields and tables just as it does for client fields and tables. When you start to type in a web field in a row, Access displays a pencil icon on the row selector at the far left to indicate that you're adding or changing data in that row. Press the Tab key to move from column to column. When you move to another row, Access saves what you typed. If you make a mistake in a particular row or column, you can click the data you want to change and type over it or delete it. Notice that after you enter data in a column, Access guesses the most appropriate data type and displays it in the Data Type box in the Formatting group of the Fields tab on the ribbon.

If you create a column of data that you don't want, click anywhere in the column and click Delete in the Add & Delete group of the Fields contextual tab on the ribbon. Click Yes when Access asks you to confirm the deletion. If you want to insert a blank column between two columns that already contain data, right-click the column header to the right of where you want to insert the new column and then click Insert Field from the shortcut menu that appears. To move a column to a different location, click the field name at the top of the column to select the entire column, and then click again and drag the column to a new location. You can also click an unselected column and drag your mouse pointer through several adjacent columns to select them all. You can then move the columns as a group.

Access named your columns Field1 and Field2 just as it does if you are creating client tables in Datasheet view. You can change the name of a field by highlighting the column and then clicking the Name & Caption command in the Properties group on the Fields tab. Access opens the Enter Field Properties dialog box. In this dialog box, you can enter the field name you want to use in the Name text box, the field caption in the Caption text box, and the field description in the Description text box. Note that for web tables, the Enter Field Properties dialog box is your only entry point in the user interface to set and update the field caption and field description for your web fields.

Note Just as with client tables in Datasheet view, you can change the name of a column by double-clicking the column's field name or right-clicking a column header and then clicking Rename Field from the shortcut menu that appears.

After you enter several rows of data, it's a good idea to save your table. You can do this by clicking the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar or by clicking the File tab and then clicking Save. Access 2010 displays a Save As dialog box.

Choosing Web Table Names

Access 2010 gives you lots of flexibility when it comes to naming your web tables; however, there are some restrictions to be aware of. A web table name can be up to 64 characters long, can include any combination of letters, numbers, spaces, and special characters except a period (.), exclamation point (!), square brackets ([]), leading space, leading equal sign (=), or nonprintable character such as a carriage return. The name also cannot contain any of the following characters: / \ : ; * ? "" < > | # <TAB> { } % ~ &. In general, you should give your web tables meaningful names. You cannot name your web tables the same as any built-in SharePoint list names that Access Services uses to maintain your site. Specifically, you cannot use any of the following web table names: Lists, Docs, WebParts, ComMd, Webs, Workflow, WFTemp, Solutions, Report Definitions, or AppImages.