Reflection on Fields

This week helped open up my eyes to the extensive possibilities available with the Access software. I didn't find any field type to be difficult to create or even understand. Several might have had me blinking at the screen for a few minutes until their purpose clicked in my brain, but this momentary confusion lasted mere milliseconds. The book is very straight forward and explains things really well. Also, the pictures in it really help to help me make sure I'm on the right track because they correspond with the steps listed. It's actually the most easily understood text book I've ever used. Gone are the days of "boring", 2D spreadsheets. Access offers a multidimensional way to for the user to record information.

More on my Final Project Idea

I have decided to make the purpose of my final project to organize my bills and hash out a budget. The two tables I created for this week's assignment (bills and due dates & amounts) I'm going to use for the project, but I'm also going to create several others. I want a tables for total debt amounts, which will have some bills that are not on the previous two tables since these two are only for bills I am paying at the moment and not ones that are in deferment, such as student loans.

I want this table to show the total amounts due on debts and the companies I owe. The first two tables I created a one-to-one relationship for with the "company name" being the relating field. I'd also relate the third table to these two with the company names that they share. I haven't decided yet what I could use a fourth table for, but I would like it to relate somehow to the debts table. Maybe a table that shows how long it would take to pay off each debt.

My Initial Database Concept

My initial instinct is to create a database with a professional goal in mind. I work in the parts department of a car dealership in town and I'm seeing how Access would be very beneficial towards my job. It would be useful for storing inventory, tracking sales, storing shipping and receiving information. So I might integrate this into my final project as it would benefit not only my class experience but also my work (and might impress my bosses too). While creating a database on my CD/DVD collection or address book would be fun, I don't believe it would really help me realize the real potential that Access has in my professional life.

I could also create a database based on me and my wife's finances. I could document our income every month with everything we have going out in bills, expenses, and savings and create a budget. That's another idea that would be highly beneficial. I could set up a table for income, one for bills, one for savings, one for food, one for gasoline...there are many possibilities. Then I could create reports based on this information to compare our money in with our money out. I could also create a report that shows how much we save each month, and in what avenues we save in, and project what our savings could be like in years to come. Ultimately, my goal with the final project would be to create a database that connects Access to either my professional life or my personal finances. Either way, it will prove to be really helpful.