Q. I have never used Microsoft Access before, so I am worried about messing everything up.
A. Play with it first. Try things out by entering dummy information before spending days pulling all of your records out of their cases and carefully typing the details in. Within an hour or so, you may have learnt how to use the database. Remember, you can always download the skeleton database again.
Q. How do I save the information I have just entered?
A. Microsoft Access will save the information for you automatically
Q. I have just purchased a foreign version of a record that I already own. Do I have to enter all the details again?
A. No, that annoyed me as well. Although these instructions appear lengthy and frightening, this is not a difficult process. Once done a few times, it becomes second nature.
Firstly, open your record form and identify the ID of the record you wish to duplicate (top right of the form). Then identify the ID of the last item you have catalogued, and add one to it.
Close the records form and click on ‘Queries’. You will see two items: Copy Record and Copy Tracks.
For each query in turn, highlight it by clicking on it once only, then click on ‘design’. If you know SQL, you will understand what you see. Otherwise do not worry. There will be a number to the right of the word SELECT. Change this to the ID that your new record will have (i.e. the ID of your last record plus 1). At the end of the line starting WHERE, there is another number. Change this to the ID of the record you are duplicating. Save and close the query. Click on Open, and you will receive a warning that you are about to run an append query. Click on yes, and you will be informed of how many rows you are about to append (for Records, this will be one, for Tracks, it will be the number of tracks on that record). If you are happy with the number shown, click Yes.
Open the Records form and select the new addition you have made. It is unlikely that the tracks will need changing, but you will have to amend some of the record details (e.g. country of origin and condition).
Q. My database is now too large to fit onto a diskette. Is there anything I can do?
A. Click on Tools from the menu bar, select Database Utilities and then Compact and Repair Database. This will reduce the database size dramatically first time. It is a good habit to do this regularly. If you still find the database is too large for a diskette, you will have to compress it using another product, such as WinZip.