Basic queries using QBE Introduction: Using queries to get the informa-

Lesson 10: Basic queries using applications to have different views of the same
data.
QBE
10.2 Learning objectives
10.1 Introduction: Using queries to get the ! create different types of queries
information you need ! understand how queries can be used to
At first glance, it appears that splitting answer questions
information into multiple tables and ! develop a naming convention for
relationships creates more of a headache than queries
it is worth. People generally like to have all the ! understand the difference between an
information they require on one screen (like a “updatable” and “non-updatable”
spreadsheet, for instance); they do not want to recordset
have to know about multiple tables, foreign
keys, relationships, and so on.
10.3 Exercises
Saved queries address this problem. Queries
allow the user to join data from one or more 10.3.1 Creating a query
tables, order the data in different ways,
calculate new fields, and specify criteria to ➨ Use the New button in the Queries pane of
filter out certain records. The important thing the database window to create a new query
to keep in mind is that a query contains no as shown in Figure 10.1.
data—it merely reorganizes the data from the
table (or tables) on which it is built without ➨ Add the Products table to the query as
changing the “underlying tables” in any way. shown in Figure 10.2.
Once a query is defined and saved, it can be
used in exactly the same way as a table. ➨ Examine the basic elements of the query
Because of this, it is useful to think of queries design screen as shown in Figure 10.3.
as “virtual tables”. Indeed, in the majority of
DBMSes, saved queries are called views because ➨ Save your query (Ctrl-S) using the name
they allow different users and different qryBasics.
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FIGURE 10.1: Create a new query.

1 Select the
Queries tab in 2 Press the New
button to create a
the database new query.
window.

Avoid the use of

? the query wizards
at this point.
Queries are very
important and it
is best to learn to
create them from
scratch.

The queries you build in these exercises fields. The operations are fundamental in the
? are for practice only. That is, they are not sense that they are supported by all relational
used in your order entry project and it is database systems.
not absolutely critical that they be saved
as part of your database. On the other 10.3.2.1 Projection
hand, there is little reason not to save
Projecting a field into a query simply means
them.
including it in the query definition. The ability
to base a query on a subset of the fields in an
10.3.2 Five fundamental query operations underlying table (or tables) is particularly
In the following sections, you are introduced to useful when dealing with tables that contain
five fundamental query operations: projection, some information that is confidential and some
selection, sorting, joining, and calculated that is not confidential.
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FIGURE 10.2: Add tables to your query using the “show table” dialog.

1 Add the Products table to the query by selecting

it and pressing Add (alternatively, you can simply ? The “show table” dialog is always
available from the Query → Show Table
double-click on the table you want to add). menu. Alternatively, you can press the
“show table” button on the tool bar.

2 Press Close
when done.

The “show table” window is “modal”—you can not

? do anything else in a WINDOWS application until a
modal window is closed.

For instance, the PAY_EMPS table you used in have no way of viewing sensitive pay
Section 8.3.3 contains a field describing the information.
employee’s pay level. If you created a saved
query that projected all the employee fields Recall that a view called SALES_REPS was
except EMP_PAY_LE and gave users permission ? used in Lesson 9 to show only the
to view the saved query instead of the employees names and ID numbers from
PAY_EMPS table, then unauthorized users would the PAY_EMPS table.
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➨ Perform the steps shown in Figure 10.4 to 10.3.2.2 Selection

project the ProductID, Description, and
You select records by specifying conditions that
UnitPrice fields into the query definition.
each record must satisfy in order to be included
in the results set. To achieve this in “query-by-
➨ Select View → Datasheet from the menu to example”, you enter examples of the results
see the results of the query. Alternatively,
you desire into the criteria row.
press the datasheet icon ( ) on the tool
bar.
➨ Perform the steps shown in Figure 10.5 to
answer the following question:
➨ Select View → Query Design to return to “Which products sell for more than $20?”
design mode. Alternatively, press the design
icon ( ) on the tool bar.
➨ Select View → Datasheet View from the
main menu to see the results of the query,
as shown in Figure 10.6. Since this is a

FIGURE 10.4: Project a subset of the available fields into the query definition.

To project all the fields in the

?
1
Products table (including any Select the field you wish
that might be added to the table to project and drag it into
after this query is created) drag the the query definition grid.
asterisk (*) into the query definition Alternatively, double-click
grid. the field.

To save time when projecting

? fields, multi-select (by holding
down the Ctrl key when selecting)
and drag all the fields as a group.
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FIGURE 10.3: The basic elements of the query design screen.

The upper pane Field row — shows the

contains field lists for If you “lose” tables in the top name of the fields
the tables on which
the query is based.
? pane, you can use the included in the query.
horizontal and vertical scroll
bars to return to the upper-left
corner of the pane.
The lower pane
contains the query Table row — shows the
definition grid. name of the table that
the field comes from.

If the table names

Criteria row — allows you to Show check boxes — Sort row — allows you ? are missing, select
specify criteria for including or determine whether fields to specify the order in View→Table
excluding records from the included in the query are which the records are Names from the
results set. actually displayed. displayed menu.

select query, the resulting recordset ➨ Use complex selection criteria to answer
contains only those records that satisfy the more complex questions:
criteria.
• “Which products cost less than $5 each?”
(see Figure 10.7)
10.3.2.3 Complex selection criteria
• “Which products cost less than $2 each or
It is also possible to create complex selection
cost less than $5 for unit sizes greater than
criteria using Boolean (logical) constructs such
one?” (see Figure 10.8)
as AND, OR, and NOT.
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➨ Set the Sort row to sort the results of your

query by Description in ascending (A→Z)
FIGURE 10.5: Select records using a “greater
than” criterion in the UnitPrice field. order (see Figure 10.3).

When multiple fields are used in a query

? to sort (e.g., sort first by last name, then

1 Project the by first name), fields on the left take

fields of interest. precedence over fields on the right.

Since a query is never used by itself to

? display data to a user, you can move the
fields around within the query definition
to get the desired sorting precedence.
You then reorder the fields in the form or
report for presentation to the user.

10.3.2.5 Joining
2 Enter the criterion in the appropriate row.
The query will return all records that In Lesson 7, you were advised to break you
satisfy the condition UnitPrice > 20. information down into multiple tables with
relationships between them. In order to put this
information back together in a usable form, you
use a join query.
10.3.2.4 Sorting
When you use a query to sort, you do not ➨ Save and close qryBasics.
change the physical order of the records in the
underlying table (that is, you do not sort the ➨ Open the relationships window and ensure
table). As a result, different queries based on you have a relationship declared between
the same table can display the records in a Customers and Regions. If not, declare one
different sequence. and ensure referential integrity is enforced
(review Section 7.3 as required).
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FIGURE 10.6: View the results of a select query.

2 Examine the resulting recordset

to verify that the query returns
the correct products.

The “datasheet” icon

? can also be used to
switch between the
different viewing
modes of a query.

1 While in query design mode, select View →

Datasheet View to see the results of the query.

➨ Create a new query called qryJoin based When a query is based on more than one
on the Customers and Regions tables. ? table, it is often the case that certain
field names are used in multiple tables
➨ Project Regions.RegionName, (e.g., RegionCode is used in both
Customers.CustName, and Customers.City Customers and Regions). To eliminate
as shown in Figure 10.9. ambiguity, the
<table name>.<field name> notation is
used to refer to fields.
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FIGURE 10.7: Complex queries using ANDed criteria.

1 To “AND” criteria, put them in the

same row. This selects products
for which UnitPrice < 5 AND
Unit=“ea”.

If no comparison operator (such as

? “greater than”) is provided, “equals” is
assumed.

Criteria for text fields must be in

? quotation marks. For non-text fields,
do not use quotation marks.

➨ Click on the column selector for If you neglected to populate the

Regions.RegionName and drag the field to ! Customers.RegionCode field in
the far right of the query definition grid Section 8.5, the result of your join query
(this is to show you how easy it is to re- will be empty (no records). A join
order your fields once they have been matches each record on the “many” side
added). with its corresponding record on the
“one” side. If Customers.RegionCode is
➨ Switch to datasheet view and notice that NULL for all customers, no records are
information from both tables is shown.
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FIGURE 10.8: Complex queries using ORed criteria.

1 To “OR” criteria, put them on different rows.

This example selects products for which
UnitPrice < 2 OR (UnitPrice < 5 AND
Unit is not equal to “ea”).

Care must be taken with

? complex selection criteria to
ensure the ANDs and ORs are
associated the way you think
they are associated. The
expression X OR (Y AND Z) is
very different from (X OR Y)
AND Z.

returned since there is no record in the name instead of the single-letter RegionCode
Regions table with a RegionCode = NULL. field. The result is similar to the “monolithic”
table design discussed in Section 7.1.1.
10.3.3 Using queries to edit records However, there are some important differences,
as you will see in the following exercises.
Once ACCESS knows the RegionCode of a
customer, it can uniquely identify the region to
which the customer has been assigned. This
allows us to show the more user-friendly region
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10.3.3.1 Editing a record on the “many” side record selector to save the record, you will
notice that the value of the RegionName
➨ Add Customers.RegionCode to your query. field changes automatically.
Ensure you add Customer.RegionCode, not
Regions.RegionCode. 10.3.3.2 Edit a record on the “one” side

➨ Switch to datasheet view, as shown in ➨ Click on one of the “Key” values in the
Figure 10.10. RegionName field and change it to a more
descriptive value “Key Accounts”, as shown
➨ Change the RegionCode value for ROSCH DRY in Figure 10.11.
GOODS from “E” to “K” (assume the firm is
being transferred to the special “key ➨ Save the record and notice how the change
accounts” region). When you click on the propagates to all key account regions.

FIGURE 10.10: Use a join query to make a change to a record on the “many” side of the relationship.

1 Add Customers.RegionCode to
the query.

2 Change Rosch’s region from “E” to

“K” and click the record selector to
save the change. Note the change
to the RegionName field after the
record is saved.
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FIGURE 10.9: Create a query that joins FIGURE 10.11: Use a join query to make a
Customers and Regions. change to a record on the “one” side of the
relationship.

1 Bring Customers and Regions into the

query. Note that the relationship between the
tables is inherited from the relationship window.

You can move

? or delete a
column by
clicking on its
column 1 Change the name of the “Key” regions
to “Key Accounts”. Observe the values
selector. in the RegionName field for other
customers in the region when the record
is saved.

the region is only stored in the database

once, it only needs to be changed once.

2 Project fields from both tables

into the query definition. 10.3.4 Using queries to add records
When adding records to a table that is on the
“many” side of a relationship, it is often helpful
Normalized tables and join queries to use a join query to provide feedback to the
? provide a very efficient means of user during data entry.
administering data. In this exercise, it is
important to realize that the RegionName ➨ Create a new query for adding customers
field in the query is a direct “window” called qryCustomerAdd. Project the
into the Regions table. Since the name of following fields into the query definition:
Customers.*, Regions.RegionName.
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Since the purpose of this query is to add following guidelines should be appended to
! records to the Customers table, it is clear those introduced in Section 5.4.5.1:
that you need to project all of the
• Use meaningful names — An object named
customer fields. The asterisk (*) provides
Table1 does not tell you much about the
a convenient means of doing this, even if
contents of the table. Furthermore, since
the fields in the table change over time.
there is no practical limit to the length of
the names, you should not use short, cryptic
➨ Switch to datasheet view and add a new names such as s96w_b. As the number of
customer record (make one up).
objects in your database grows, the time
spent carefully naming your objects will pay
➨ Note that when the RegionCode is itself back many times.
specified, the name of the region is
“looked-up” and filled in automatically. • Give each type of object a distinctive
This is what is meant by feedback—the prefix (or suffix) — This is especially
additional region information helps you important in the context of queries since
determine whether you have entered the tables and queries cannot have the same
correct RegionCode. name. For example, you cannot have a
table named Orders and a query named
10.4 Discussion Orders. However, if all your query names
are of the form qryOrders, then
distinguishing between tables and queries is
10.4.1 Naming conventions for database
straightforward.
objects
Table 10.1 shows a suggested naming
As discussed in the section on field names in
convention for ACCESS database objects (you will
Section 5.4.5.1, there are relatively few naming
discover what these objects are in the course of
restrictions for database objects in ACCESS.
doing the tutorials).
However, a clear, consistent method for
choosing names can save time and avoid
confusion later on.
10.4.2 Using queries to populate tables on the
“many” side of a relationship
Although there is no hard and fast naming
convention required for the project, the In Section 10.3.4, you added a record to the
Customers table to demonstrate the automatic
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query definition. To illustrate the problem, do

the following:
TABLE 10.1: A suggested naming convention
for ACCESS database objects.
➨ Create a new join query called
qryCustomerAdd2 that projects
Object type Prefix Example Regions.RegionCode instead of
table (none) OrderDetails Customers.RegionCode, as shown in
query qry qryBackOrders
Figure 10.12.
parameter pqry pqryItemsInOrder ➨ Attempt to add a new record. You will be
query
unable add anything and will get an error
form frm frmOrders message in the status bar at the bottom of
sub form sfrm sfrmOrderDetails the screen.
report rpt rptInvoice Even if you were allowed to add a record using
sub report srpt srptInvoiceDetails this query, the results would be dangerous. In
macro mcr mcrOrders qryCustomerAdd2, the RegionCode field is
bound to the Regions table instead of the
Visual Basic bas basUtilities
Customers table. Entering a value of “N” into
module
the field simply overwrites the current value of
Regions.RegionCode.

10.4.3 Non-updatable recordsets

lookup feature of ACCESS. A common mistake
when creating queries for adding or modifying Another problem that sometimes occurs when
data on the “many” side of a relationship is to creating join queries is that the query is not
forget to project the foreign key of the table quite right in some way. In such cases, ACCESS
you intend to populate. will allow you to view the results of the query,
but it will not allow you to change the data in
For example, faced with two tables containing
any way.
the RegionCode field, you might project the
one from wrong table (the “one” side) into your In this section, will look at a nonsensical query
that results from an incompletely specified
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FIGURE 10.12: Create a data-entry query without a foreign key.

1 Project CustID, and CustName from the Customers table and

RegionCode and RegionName from the Regions table.

2 Switch to datasheet
view and attempt to add
another new customer Only a subset of the
record. ? customer fields are
projected in order to
keep this illustration
simple.

relationship. As you will probably discover, ➨ Delete the RegionCode relationship and
however, there are many different ways to project a couple of fields from both tables,
generate nonsensical queries. as shown in Figure 10.13.

Show me (lesson10-1.avi) ➨ View the results of the query.

The result of this query is known as a Cartesian
➨ Create a new query called qryNonUpdate join (or cross product)—every customer is
based on the Customers and Regions combined with every region regardless of the
tables. value of the RegionCode field. ACCESS
recognizes that this is not a standard join query
and designates the recordset as non-updatable.
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FIGURE 10.13: Create a non-updatable recordset.

1 Project fields from

both tables into the
query definition. 3 Attempt to change a
value in the recordset.

Note the absence of the

2 Right-click on the relationship and ? asterisk and the “new record”
select Delete from the context row. These are sure signs that
menu. Note that this deletes the the recordset is non-updatable.
relationship from this query only.

Later, when building forms, you may 10.5 Application to the assignment
! accidentally base a form on a non-
updatable recordset. You then may spend ➨ Create a query called qryOrderDetails
a great deal of time trying to get the form that joins the OrderDetails and Products
to work when the real problem is the tables. When you enter a valid ProductID,
underlying query. A quick check for a the information about the product (such as
“new record” row in all your new queries name, quantity on hand, and so on) should
can save time and frustration later on. appear automatically.
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Due to the referential integrity have in inventory), and determine the default
? constraints you specified in Lesson 7, you selling price of each good.
will not be able to save any records you
use to test qryOrderDetails until you HINT: Much of the effort involved in switching
have a corresponding OrderID in the between tables is eliminated if you use
Orders table. At this point, you can the qryOrderDetails query you created
simply hit the Esc key to discard the test above for this exercise.
data without saving it.
Entering orders into your system will be
If the name of the product does not ? much less work once the input forms and
! appear when you enter a valid event-driven programs are in place. The
ProductID, you have used the wrong goal at this point is to get you thinking at
ProductID field. Review Section 10.4.2 a very specific level about the order entry
and ensure you understand (and fix) the process and what needs to be automated.
error before continuing.

➨ Create a query to show additional

information about the customer who placed
the order when looking at data in the
Orders table.

➨ Enter the first order (or at least a handful of

order details from the first order) into your
system by typing the information directly
into tables or queries. Doing this correctly is
going to require some thought.
Adding a new order involves creating a single
Orders record and several OrderDetails
records. You must also consult the Products
table to determine the quantity of each item to
ship (you cannot ship product that you do not