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How do you decide when to use Excel or Access database program?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
You would use Access when you want to create a database. A database is a file full of organised data. It is a structured set of records comprising a large amount of data or information, which is usually related. It can be a Manual Paper Work collection or Electronic Computer Data. A database is a collection of records organized so that data can be easily retrieved. When you want to deal with lists of data and be able to organise it and retrieve information, that is when you would use Microsoft Access or another database application.
Excel is for creating spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are used for numerical analysis and manipulation. When you have a lot of numbers and you want to do calculations on them, then it is best to use a spreadsheet. It also allows you to do things like create charts and to try different combinations of numbers to see what the effects are of having different values, like how much a company can make if they were to increase the amount of their products that they manufacture and sell.
There are things that both a spreadsheet and a database can do. You can use a spreadsheet to do some databasing operations and you can use a database to do some spreadsheet operations, but you would pick the one that is most suited to the task you want to do. If you are mostly dealing with numbers and doing lots of calculations, it is usually best to use a spreadsheet. If you are dealing with lists of data, like a list of people's names and addresses, then it is best to use a database.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
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Is Excel a database?
Excel is part of the Microsoft Office program. It is a spreadsheet, useful for keeping numerical data. The same program has another part called Access, which is a database, useful for manipulating data of all kinds in various ways.
Is Access designed for relational data and is Excel best for flat data structures?
They are for different programs for different purposes: Access is a database (basically single user), Excel is a spreadsheet program.
Is Microsoft Excel the database software of the Microsoft office suite?
No. Excel is a spreadsheet. Access is the database.
How can you convert an Access database to an Excel spreadsheet?
To export the Access database to an Excel sheet in an easy way and for a detailed explanation, see the related links.
How do you form a primary key column in Microsoft Excel?
Just type your data into the column. Excel is not really a database program, but you can create a flat database file and some elementary relations between worksheets. A better tool for a database would be MS Access.
When importing an access database table Excel does what?
It will put the fields in Access into columns in Excel, and records in Access will be in rows in Excel. Data will be converted to appropriate data types.
How do you choose when to use Excel and Access?
Microsoft Excel is a table processor. That means that it is used to create tables for example for accounting purposes, spreadsheets or just simple statistics and graphs. MS Access is a database program. That means that for example if you are doing a survey, you create a database where you input all the answers.
Is Excel capable of making database?
No, Excel cannot make a database file. However, databases can be imported onto it. The primary software for making a database is Microsoft Access.
Why use Ms access to create databases and why not use Microsoft Excel?
Access is a database. Excel is a spreadsheet. Both are useful to displaying data systematically, but a database is enormously more flexible. Access is a relational database, which is even more flexible than an ordinary database and permits the data to be manipulated in many ways. +++ It's not "instead of" but "both" - using whichever is the better for the given work. ' It does depend on your purposes. Excel is by far the better if you need only a single table, or if you need to embed a lot of mathematical formulae in the spread-sheet - though MS has ruined what had been its nearly-good graph routines. A database table looks like a spread-sheet page, but it lacks the rapid copying functions that are valuable features in Excel.
Is Microsoft access a database or a spreadsheet?
No it is not. However, there are a lot of things that both a database and a spreadsheet can do, so Access does have some capabilities to do what a spreadsheet can. Spreadsheets focus on numeric analysis and manpulation, so mostly concentrate on numbers. Databases deal with processing lists of data, some of which would be numeric, but it works with a lot of other kinds of data. Microsoft Access is a database and that is what it is designed to be, so it is not a spreadsheet.
Why do you need Microsoft Access especially if you have Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Access is a database application and Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application, so they are two different kinds of application. There are things that both can do, but if you want to create a proper database, then Access is better than Excel. It has far more facilities for working with databases than Excel does. Because of that, it is simpler to do lots of things in Access than in Excel. If you want to create a spreadsheet, then that is what Excel is used for, though you can do a lot of things Excel does in Access. If you already have Excel and want to create databases, then you can, but you won't be able to do the really sophisticated things that Access can do and which a really good database needs, such as queries, reports, relationships etc. If you want a really good database that can do those things, then you need Access.
What are the differences between Microsoft Excel and Oracle Database?
Excel is a spreadsheet program. Oracle is for databases. Excel has some databasing capabilities, but it is not its main purpose.
