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Monday, October 1, 2018

I Should Have Done This At the Start

I have been gathering data on mass murders in an Excel spreadsheet, but I am now preparing to move it all into an Access database.  Being able to make more specific Selects than you can easily do in a spreadsheet is important for data analysis: How many mass murders were there by weapon type in each decade?  When do firearm mass murders exceed ax and hatchet mass murders?  When do public situation mass murders exceed family mass murders?  How many people are victims of mass murders from explosives or arson?  I have a lot of SQL database experience, but none with Access, so it is a learning process, and it is too late to be learning this right now.
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4 comments:

  1. jdegeOctober 1, 2018 at 7:11 AM

    If you know SQL, and don't know Access, why not use a SQL database?

    MySQL is free and easy enough to install.

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  2. DryCreekHistoryOctober 1, 2018 at 9:14 AM

    If you're not designing a set of relational tables, but just a flat-file analog to your spreadsheet, you won't have to learn much besides the querying mechanism. I do a lot of work with Access and VBA for my own projects (like a compilation of information about the Battle of the Bulge so that I can search for units, dates, places, people, etc.) so if you have any questions, just ask. I'm also right down the road from you in Hidden Springs.

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  3. jnvm34October 1, 2018 at 9:58 AM

    Have you thought about installing/using MySQL?
    https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/

    You could export information from Excel to a text file, and then import to a database (after you setup your tables). Just a suggestion.

    ReplyDelete
  4. KarlOctober 4, 2018 at 8:27 AM

    It's very easy to import Excel files directly into Access.

    If you decide you want to turn a flat file into a relational one, you can either import the table multiple times and delete the fields you don't want, or use a "make table" query to build your relating tables.

    ReplyDelete