This book attempts to show you the new look and feel that comes with Microsoft Office Access 2007. Many time-saving and user-friendly features make Microsoft Office Access 2007 a complete and manageable tool for tracking, reporting, and sharing information. Some of the new features in Microsoft Office Access 2007 apply to the new user interface; others apply to creating database objects or to customizing the workplace itself. Here are some of the more significant improvements covered in this book:
• The new user interface is a ribbon that takes the place of the menus and toolbars used in earlier versions. The ribbon provides all the actions and tasks that relate to the current activity.
• The new Navigation Pane replaces the Database window and displays lists of all the objects in the current database. The Navigation Pane lists can be customized to suit your application.
• Open database objects are now displayed as tabbed documents instead of overlapping windows. You can move from one to another by clicking the object tab.
• New security features make it easier to protect your database, improving on features in previous versions. By default, all potentially unsafe components are disabled. You then have the option of trusting the database for the current session or permanently. The new Trust Center lets you set and change security settings in one place.
• The new Layout view for forms and reports lets you make design changes in place so you can see the effects in the finished product immediately.
• You can now store more than one value in a single field. Multivalued fields actually provide the same model as the many-to-many relationship.
These are just a few of the new features that you will see when you get to work on your database with Microsoft Office Access 2007.
