Let's save this report.

You can either click-on File (in the Menu Bar) and then Save, or Save As, or click-on the small diskette button in the button bar.  A menu window will open which says Save As.  In the area under Report Name type-in State Report then click-on OK.  Now click-on the File in the Menu Bar and then click-on Close.  You could also click-on the “lower X” in the upper right corner of the screen.  Be careful here.  The lower “X” closes whatever you are working on (report, query table, etc.).  The upper “X” closes the Access XP database.

This Report Wizard menu screen asks if you want to add Grouping.  Grouping simply “groups” records by an item in the report you are designing.  We’ll group by state.  This means that “records” from a state will be in a “group”  (e.g. people from Virginia will be in one group, the folks from Washington in another, and so on).  This will be easy to see when we look at the report.  So, click-on State, then click-on >.  If you make a mistake, no problem, just use the <.  Your screen should now look like the one below.

Reports can be very complex.  In this tutorial we'll learn the basics.  A good manual, or some knowledgeable assistance will be essential to mastering reports.  

There are several types of reports.  We'll use the Wizards to design some.

So far we have listed everything under each Field Name that we selected.  However, many times you will probably want to find something specific in your Table (database - e.g. people from a certain state or city, people whose favorite number is 7 or salaries between $ 20,000 and     $ 50,000).  This is fairly common sense, but it can get tricky. 

If you are not in the Query Design Screen, you’ll need to be in that view.  So, go to the Design Screen.  Notice that the third row in the lower half of the screen indicates Sort: (like the image at the right).  Click-in the Sort: area under Last Name.  A down triangle box appears; click-on the down triangle.  Let's sort the Last Names in Ascending order.

This is what a database is designed for: finding specific information about some of the data in the table(s) very quickly.  A query is a search for general or specific data in a field or fields in your database (e.g. the first and last names and birth dates of all employees, just the Jones’s, the people from CA, salaries > $10,000, etc.).  In order to do this, we need to click on the fields we want to query.  So, let’s start by finding just Last Names in our table. 

In the Button Bar, just to the right of Help (in the Menu Bar), is a button with a lightening bolt and a small form.  This is the New Object: AutoForm Button.  Point to it, make sure you have the correct button, then click-on it.  A New Data Entry Form will automatically be created and appear. 

Note:  Anytime you want to take a break and exit Access, simply point to File in the Menu Bar, and click-on Exit.  If it asks Do you want to save?, click-on Yes.  If it gives you a save file screen, give it a name of your choice and click on OK.  You should then exit to the Windows Screen with no problems.  Since you have already named everything for this exercise, you should not have to name any files as you exit.

At this point you will still be in the design window.  You have two choices.  If you look at the Button Bar just below the Menu Bar Area (File, Edit, View, etc.) you will see that the first button on the left that has a small sheet of paper with some data on it (see arrow on the right). Point to this button with the mouse and pause, you will see a "Tool Tip" that indicates that this button is the View Button.

Click- in each area (to the right of the words) as you read about it below

Field Size    Is currently set to 50 characters.  That's pretty large for a name.  So, click-in this area and change the number to 25.