Download Exercise CA-5 Solving Mysteries in Access You are a detective

Exercise CA-5
Solving Mysteries in Access
You are a detective assigned to the robbery division. You will use the Microsoft Access to help solve two
mysteries. You will be given a collection of information about suspects that you will include in the database,
and it is your job to search the database to find out who the criminal really is. The same database will be used
for both mysteries.
First, you must set up the database.
Directions:
Open Microsoft Access
Click on Blank Database

Another dialog box will open. On the file name line, type CA-5. This is a very critical step. This is
where you are actually saving the file to your folder!!! Look at the next screen print BEFORE
pressing the Create Button
After you type the file name in you need to make sure that the file is being saved in the correct format and
the correct folder. In order for people to look at your file if they do not have Office 2007 we need to save it
in a format that is compatible with most types of Office being used. Click on the Folder that is circled below.
When you click on the folder this screen will appear. There are TWO to three things you will need to do
before saving your file. One is to make sure your file is being saved in your folder AND we need to change
the file type.
On the left side of this screen you will be able to see the folders you have access to you will need to find
yours. If you have not set up a folder for your Access Assignments we will do so now. Click on New Folder
This screen will appear in the box that says New Folder type Access Assignments and press Enter.
Your screen will now look like this. Now we are going to save the database in a way that anyone will be able
to look at it go down to the Save as type: at the bottom of the dialog box and click on the arrow on the right
side.
The following dialog box will appear choose the first one Microsoft Office Access Databases 2002-2003
format)(*.mdb).
The dialog box will now look like this click OK
Our original screen will return at this point we can now click on the Create Button
We are now ready to set up our Table Fields. First we need to click on Design View:
When the Save As dialog box comes up enter your first name and first letter of your last name and the name
of the table Suspect Info it will look something like this (JohnS – Suspect Info). Click OK.
This dialog box will appear. Now we are ready to start entering the fields for our table.
Enter the information as shown below:
Click on View. Then click on Datasheet View
This dialog box will appear click Yes.
Now Click on the Create Tab and then the Form Button.
Now Click on the arrow below View.
Click on Form View
You are now ready to start entering the suspects into the database. NOTE: in the lower left hand corner is the
description you typed for each field. On the next page is a list of your suspects, let’s get started. If your
suspect HAS glasses you have to use the mouse to check the box next to the field name Glasses.
Name
Gender
Hair
Eyes
Height
Build
Glasses
Anne Ville
Female
Black
Brown
Short
Medium
No
Kitty Litter
Female
Black
Brown
Short
Small
No
Chris Ko
Female
Black
Brown
Tall
Small
No
Ethyl Gass
Female
Black
Green
Average
Medium
Yes
Bea Gone
Female
Blonde
Blue
Short
Small
No
Cora Gated
Female
Blonde
Blue
Short
Small
Yes
Starr Lett
Female
Blonde
Blue
Tall
Small
No
Carrie Meback
Female
Blonde
Blue
Tall
Small
Yes
Terry Cloth
Female
Brown
Blue
Short
Large
Yes
Penny Loafer
Female
Brown
Brown
Average
Medium
No
Mary Mee
Female
Brown
Brown
Average
Medium
Yes
Patty Cakes
Female
Brown
Brown
Short
Small
Yes
Candy Graham
Female
Brown
Green
Average
Small
No
Sherry Soda
Female
Brown
Green
Short
Small
Yes
Val Entine
Female
Red
Blue
Average
Medium
No
Patty O'Furniture
Female
Red
Green
Short
Small
Yes
Peri Winkle
Female
Red
Green
Tall
Small
No
Kelly Green
Female
Red
Green
Tall
Small
Yes
Bob Forapples
Male
Black
Blue
Tall
Large
Yes
Allen Wrench
Male
Black
Brown
Short
Small
No
Jerry Mander
Male
Black
Brown
Tall
Small
Yes
Bob Sledd
Male
Black
Green
Average
Large
Yes
Dan Druff
Male
Black
Green
Short
Large
No
Phil O'Dendron
Male
Black
Green
Tall
Medium
No
Tim Burr
Male
Black
Green
Tall
Large
No
Harry Knuckles
Male
Blonde
Blue
Short
Large
Yes
Steve Adore
Male
Blonde
Blue
Short
Small
No
Bill Payer
Male
Blonde
Blue
Short
Small
Yes
Owen Money
Male
Blonde
Blue
Short
Large
No
Barry Sweet
Male
Blonde
Brown
Average
Medium
Yes
Jack Enjill
Male
Blonde
Green
Short
Medium
Yes
Jay Bird
Male
Brown
Brown
Average
Medium
Yes
Pete Moss
Male
Brown
Brown
Short
Large
Yes
Rich Relative
Male
Brown
Brown
Short
Small
No
Ty Ping
Male
Brown
Brown
Short
Small
Yes
Mark Papers
Male
Brown
Brown
Tall
Medium
No
Tucker Ware
Male
Red
Brown
Tall
Medium
No
Frank Furter
Male
Red
Green
Average
Large
Yes
Tom Katt
Male
Red
Green
Tall
Large
Yes
Now that you have entered all of the suspects into your database you will need to get ready to create a query
which will help us find out who the thief is. The next step is to click on the Create Tab which is circled
below.
When you click on the Create Tab the screen will change to what appears below.
You will now generate queries in order to determine who the actual thief is. A query is a set of criteria you
specify to retrieve certain data from a database.
First, you will need to determine the fields you will need to use. Read Mystery Number 1 below; then follow
the directions for completing a query. You will then use the same Database to Solve the Second Mystery.
Mystery 1:
It was a dark and stormy night. You had just gotten to sleep when the phone woke you with it’s rendition of
“Take me out to the ball game”. At the other end was Chief Ketchem. The chief told you a burglary had just
been committed at Mrs. Rich's house and that only you would be able to solve the mystery.
Upon arrival at Mrs. Rich's house, you began interviewing everyone in the household. While talking to Mrs.
Rich and her servants you learned the following information about the suspect.
1. Mrs. Rich said, "The thief must have worn glasses. I found a bottle of lens cleaner near the safe.
2. The maid stated, "I found some brown hair on the windowsill where the thief entered. Does that
help?"
3. The gardener asked, "Could it have been that short person I saw running toward the gate?"
4. "I'm sure it was a female," piped in Jeeves the butler. "and I noticed she was short like the gardener
said."
5. The cook added, "I'll never forget those cold green eyes! She was very scary."
Thanking Mrs. Rich and her servants for the clues you headed back to your office. On the drive you decided
to use your database to narrow the possible suspects. But, in order to do this you needed to create a query
that will pull out the most likely suspect. Follow the steps below to create your query.
Creating a Query:
The first thing to do is click on the Query Wizard.
When you click on the Query Wizard the following dialog box appears, you will choose Simple Query
Wizard so click on the OK button.
When you click OK a new dialog box appears which will allow you to choose the information needed to find
out who the thief is. The next thing to do is click on the double arrow circled below
Your screen will now look like this. The next thing to do is click on the Next Button.
The following screen will appear just click on the Next button.
This screen will appear when you click the Next button click on the radial button in front of Modify the
query design and then click Finish.
This screen will appear you may have to change the size of the screen in order to see all of the information.
Now we can type in the clues we received from Mrs. Rich and her servants. Below is the conversation again.
1. Mrs. Rich said, "The thief must have worn glasses. I found a bottle of lens cleaner near the safe.
2. The maid stated, "I found some brown hair on the windowsill where the thief entered. Does that help?"
3. The gardener asked, "Could it have been that short person I saw running toward the gate?"
4. "I'm sure it was a female," piped in Jeeves the butler. "and I noticed she was short like the gardener said."
5. The cook added, "I'll never forget those cold green eyes! She was very scary."
You will need to type the clues into the Criteria area of each field. The first clue is shown below:
Now fill in the other clues in the proper Criteria areas of each field. When you have completed entering the
suspects criteria click on the
and enter the suspect’s name on the rubric.
When you have written down the guilty person you will need to prepare for the second case click the Design
View button in the left hand corner.
The screen where you entered the suspects characteristics will reappear you will need to erase what you
typed in the Criteria field to get ready for the next case.
Now read the case below and fill in the new clues in the Criteria area.
Mystery Database: Case 2
No longer had you solved that case, another burglary case was called in. You were ordered by Chief
Ketchum to go to Mrs. Elite’s home because the chief knew that you would be able to solve the crime with
your Microsoft Access database. Upon arrival at Mrs. Elite's house, you began interviewing everyone in the
household. While talking to Mrs. Elite and her servants you learned the following information about the
suspect.
1. Mrs. Elite said, "The thief must have been short. There was a chair under the wall safe with muddy
footprints on it."
2. The maid stated, "I found some blonde hair on the green rug where the thief entered. Does that help?"
3. The gardener asked, "Could it have been that large person I saw running toward the gate?"
4. "I'm sure it was a man," piped in Alfred the butler. "And I noticed he was large like the gardener said."
5. The cook added, "I'll never forget those cold blue eyes, but I only saw them briefly before he put on his
glasses."
With that, you rose and excused yourself saying, "Thank you, you have all been very helpful. I'll go back to
the station and check these clues against the list of suspects in the police files. I'm sure that I will solve this
crime in no time."
Follow the steps for Case 1 to complete Case 2. Write your answer on the rubric.
Table includes all fields.
Correct data type is used for fields.
Description is present for all fields.
Form reflects all data in table and is easy to read.
All thirty nine records are included in form.
Queries are generated and display the correct data.
Total