Accessing and Analyzing Data with Microsoft Excel (Bpg-Other)

In this chapter, you learned the following:

• Relational and nonrelational data are different, primarily because with relational data you use multiple data tables to ascertain certain business facts.

• Importing data into an Access database creates a copy of the data, while linking data tables in an Access database to tables in an external data source lets you change and update the original date in Access. Commonly, you link data tables to an external data source if the data is updated frequently.

• The basic data analysis skills of filtering, sorting, and querying data in Access tables and forms are similar to the skills you learned for Excel except that the user interface components are slightly different.

• Access reports are in many cases superior to printing Excel spreadsheets. Use Access report features when you want sophisticated grouping or other visual design features not supported in Excel.

• Access PivotTable views and PivotChart views bring the power of Excel PivotTable reports and PivotChart reports to Access 2002 data tables.

• Access projects can connect directly to SQL Server data. This allows you to use the Access user interface and data analysis features, while still keeping the original data and other database objects in SQL Server for very large database support, more robust disaster recovery options, and to handle very large numbers of simultaneous users.

• Data access pages are Web pages that connect to and display Access data. Because they are Web pages, users can view them using a Web browser. Creating data access pages in Access is similar to creating Access data entry forms.

In the next chapter, “Analyzing Data with the Office Web Components,” you will learn how to analyze data by using the various Office Web Components: the Spreadsheet Component, the PivotTable Component, and the Chart Component.