What's Next?
By Richard Rost

47 days ago

What's Next: Level 1 Recap & What's Coming Up

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In this video, we review the key topics covered in SQL Server for Access Users Beginner Level 1, including installing SQL Server Express, connecting Access to SQL Server, understanding linked tables, and differences between Access SQL and T-SQL. We will discuss what is coming up in Beginner Level 2 and beyond, such as relational database design, normalization, joins, aggregate queries, and later, advanced topics like indexing, backup strategies, and programming with VBA. The video also outlines the different ways you can continue with the course and options for membership and ongoing updates.

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What's Next

SQL Server for Access Users Beginner 2

Keywords

SQL Server for Access, SQL Server for Access Users, install SQL Server Express, SSMS, connect Access to SQL Server, linked tables, primary keys, foreign keys, relational design, one-to-many relationships, junction tables, normalization, join fundamentals,

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Intro

Transcript

Thanks for watching SQL Server for Access Users Beginner Level 1. We have gone through quite a bit of groundwork to get SQL Server up and running and connected to Microsoft Access.

Let's take a quick moment to review what we learned and then we'll talk about what's coming up in levels 2 and beyond.

We started with the big picture: how SQL Server and Microsoft Access work together. Access is still your front end where you build forms, reports, and the user interface, but SQL Server becomes the database engine that stores and manages the data.

Then, we installed SQL Server Express and SSMS, learned how the server and databases are structured, and created our first tables using primary keys and SQL Server data types that work well with Access.

We also connected Access to SQL Server, talked about how linked tables behave, looked at the differences between Access queries and SQL Server views, and finally we covered some of the key syntax differences between Access SQL and T-SQL so you understand why some queries behave differently once the data lives on the server.

So that's our foundation. As of right now, you're up and running and you've got a working Access database that's connected to SQL Server. Now it's time to learn how to make that run better.

Next up is SQL Server for Access Users Beginner Level 2. The next big step is relational design. We're going to talk about primary keys and foreign keys and how tables relate to each other properly in a real relational database and how that works in SQL Server.

You'll learn how to build one-to-many relationships and junction tables for many-to-many relationships. This is where database design really starts to matter, and good structure prevents a lot of problems later.

We'll spend some time on normalization, lookup tables, and making sure your data stays clean, consistent, and avoids unnecessary duplication and other problems.

After that, we'll start writing some more interesting queries that combine data from multiple tables. We'll look at join fundamentals, inner joins, left joins, so you can pull data together from across tables.

We'll also introduce aggregate queries: things like count, sum, average, and group by. That's the stuff you'll be using when you build reports and summaries.

We'll be talking about some SQL Server behaviors that surprise a lot of Access developers, like why some queries become non-editable and why filtering data on the server is much more important when you're working with larger data sets.

I'm anticipating three, maybe four beginner classes, but again this is my first time teaching this course. So there could be more, or there could be less, and a lot of what I cover will be driven by your feedback.

Even before I started teaching Access online back in 2002, I had done that course in the classroom for years. So my Access course was well curated before I ever brought it online. This is my first time teaching SQL Server, so this is all new to me. I've been using it and working with it for over 20 years, but this is my first time putting a course together for it.

Once we move past the beginner material, the expert series is where we start really thinking like SQL designers. We'll dig deeper into relational database design and how to structure schemas that scale properly as your data grows.

We'll talk about advanced indexing strategies and query tuning so you understand why some queries are fast and others are painfully slow.

Another very important topic in the expert series is backup and restore. Once your data is living on a database server, protecting that data becomes critical. So we'll cover practical backup strategies and how to recover if something goes wrong.

Again, no idea how many expert levels there will be. We'll see when we get there.

I do plan on going through my Access courses while I'm preparing these SQL Server courses and covering some of the same material to show you how it's different moving from Access to SQL Server. In fact, we're going to build some of the same databases that we built in that course on SQL Server. Migrating a lot of that over is going to be a lot of what we're going to do.

The developer series is going to focus on programming against SQL Server from Access VBA. We'll talk about connecting to SQL Server using VBA and ADO, building DSN-less connection strings, executing pass-through queries directly from code, and doing things like we talked about in the Q&A where we can connect without saving our password or other credentials in the server connection string. That's important too. We'll get to all that good stuff.

We'll spend a lot of time on stored procedures, which are server side programs that let SQL Server handle a lot of the heavy lifting instead of pushing that work into Access.

We'll also cover things like triggers, transaction handling, concurrency control, so you can build real multi-user systems that behave reliably when lots of people start using the database at the same time.

My basic delimiter between expert and developer is whether or not it requires VBA, but there may be some VBA sprinkled here and there, even in the beginner and expert lessons.

I always say in my beginner and in my TechHelp videos, learning just a little tiny bit of VBA, even sometimes one line of code, can open up all kinds of possibilities. I might sprinkle a little VBA around as extra tidbits, but it won't be required until we get to the developer series.

All that should give you a pretty good roadmap of where this course is heading and what's coming up.

How do you get your hands on the next level of courses? The beginner level one was completely free, that's the one you just finished.

I wanted to make sure that everybody could get up and running with SQL Server with Microsoft Access without spending a dime, and honestly, what you've learned so far is enough to build a working Access front end and connect it to SQL Server.

Now unfortunately, I have bills to pay so I can't keep producing the rest of the course for free as much as I'd love to, the economy of the world says otherwise. If you'd like to continue with the rest of the series, there are a couple of different ways to do that.

The first option is simply to order the courses directly from my website. Just head over to my order page and click on SQL Server and you'll see them right there.

As of right now, beginner level two is only one dollar. As I'm recording this, I've got beginner level three available for pre-sale for $5.99. Yes, that's intentional, that's my 599 thing. That's a long story. That's all explanation of why it's 599 CD on my website.

Beyond that, I'm not completely sure what the pricing will be for the rest of the course. One thing I've learned over the years with doing my Microsoft Access courses and others is that as the levels get more advanced, fewer and fewer people continue on.

Some people lose interest, other people simply learn enough to meet their needs, other people get tired of my crazy jokes. So as you get up into the more advanced levels, people drop off. So I have to charge a little more to make those more advanced lessons worth recording. What I charge for them will be based on how many people sign up for the earlier lessons.

As of right now, beginner two and three are available for pre-order. I haven't finished recording them yet, but they're coming very soon. I'm working on them right now. If you'd like to sign up for them, there's the link.

Since I know a lot of you are new to my courses, you might be unfamiliar with some of my membership options. I've got a couple of them.

The second way that you can continue with this course is by joining my Learning Connection. This is basically my membership program where you get access to new classes automatically as they're released.

Instead of ordering each course individually, members receive new lessons every week as they come out. Or if you sign up for my Microsoft Access or some of my other existing classes, you get a new class every week or at whatever schedule you decide. You can do every two weeks, every three weeks, or once a month.

Connection members get a 50 percent discount and you can cancel anytime if you decide you are no longer interested. You keep all of the classes that you paid for up to that point.

With the Learning Connection, you can sign up for SQL Server, Access, Excel, or any of my other courses.

Another way you can continue with these lessons is by becoming a Silver Member. You'll get access to all of my extended cut TechHelp videos. Right now, those are mostly for Access, Excel, and some other topics. Eventually, there will be some for SQL Server as well.

The biggest benefit of membership, though, is you get a free class every month. So if you're comfortable learning at the pace of a new class every month, this can be a great option. If you sign up now as a Silver Member, you can get beginner level two as your next free class. Then the next month, you can get beginner level three. If you want to continue up into the expert and developer levels, you can upgrade to Gold and then Platinum and you keep getting a free class every month, plus all my extended cut videos and my code vault and lots of other benefits. If you're an Access developer, this makes a lot of sense.

Finally, the last membership option that I offer is called my Online Learning Partner. This is basically the all-you-can-eat buffet of my lessons. No, not that buffet.

The Online Learning Partner gives you access to all the classes at a particular level. So if you're working through all the beginner, expert, or developer classes, you sign up at that level and you can watch everything that's available at that level. It's kind of like the Netflix version of my training. As long as you are a member, you have access to the entire library at that level. So if you plan on taking a lot of classes and want access to everything without ordering them individually, this is a good option for you.

Even if you decide not to continue with this course, you can still stay in the loop. Join my mailing list on my website. That will let you know whenever I release new classes, videos, or other updates.

I do plan on doing some TechHelp videos for SQL Server, so you'll get notified about those too. I never send spam. I do not flood your inbox, just occasional updates when there's something new that I think you'll find useful. On my website, there's a little selector where you can say you only want to see one email per week or once per month or once per quarter or whatever frequency you like to hear from me.

Before you go, make sure you take a moment to fill out my course survey. Your feedback really helps me to improve these classes and decide what topics to cover next. Let me know what you liked, what you did not like, and anything you'd like to see covered in future lessons. It only takes a minute and I do read every response and I do my best to try to answer them as well.

So I'm very good at that.

All right. So that's going to do it for SQL Server for Access Users Beginner Level 1. I hope you learned something and that this course helped you get started.

If you enjoyed this lesson, feel free to drop a comment down below and let me know what you thought, or even if you did not enjoy it. I still want to hear from you.

Until then, take care, live long and prosper, and I hope to see you in Level 2.

Quiz

Q1. What is the main role of Microsoft Access in a typical SQL Server for Access Users setup?
A. Access serves as the front end for user interface design
B. Access is used only for managing backup files
C. Access stores and manages all database data natively
D. Access is used to install SQL Server

Q2. What was one of the first steps covered in setting up SQL Server for Access integration?
A. Installing SQL Server Express and SSMS
B. Creating Access Macros
C. Migrating Excel data into Access
D. Setting up an Oracle database

Q3. Which of the following best describes a primary key?
A. A column or columns that uniquely identify each row in a table
B. A type of SQL Server license key
C. A user password for accessing the database
D. A SQL data type

Q4. How does Access connect to SQL Server to store and manage data?
A. By linking tables in Access to SQL Server tables
B. By copying data from SQL Server into Access tables permanently
C. By exporting forms and reports to SQL Server
D. By using an Excel intermediary

Q5. What is a key difference between Access Queries and SQL Server Views as explained in the course?
A. Access Queries are stored locally; SQL Server Views are stored on the server
B. Access Queries can only calculate sums; Views cannot
C. SQL Server Views can only be modified through VBA
D. Access Queries are not compatible with linked tables

Q6. Which topic did the instructor mention would be covered in Beginner Level 2 of the course?
A. Relational database design, including primary keys and foreign keys
B. Building VBA custom ribbon interfaces
C. Connecting Access to MySQL databases
D. Designing web pages for Access databases

Q7. What database structure is used for handling many-to-many relationships, as discussed?
A. Junction tables
B. Combo boxes
C. Linked forms
D. Data macros

Q8. Which process ensures data stays clean, consistent, and avoids duplication?
A. Normalization
B. De-normalization
C. Encryption
D. Archiving

Q9. What kinds of queries will be introduced to combine data from multiple tables?
A. Join queries, including inner and left joins
B. Calculated field queries only
C. Macros and modules
D. Import and export queries

Q10. What is the advantage of using aggregate queries like count, sum, and average?
A. They help build reports and summaries from table data
B. They allow you to modify table relationships
C. They encrypt your data for security
D. They force all data into a single table

Q11. Why is filtering data on the server important in SQL Server when working with larger datasets?
A. To reduce the amount of data sent over the network and improve performance
B. So Access can run macros faster
C. To automatically back up the database
D. To increase the number of users allowed

Q12. What topic will the expert series of the course focus on?
A. Advanced indexing, query tuning, backup and restore
B. Creating custom Excel templates
C. Using Access wizards only
D. Simple table design

Q13. What does the developer series emphasize?
A. Programming with VBA against SQL Server, including ADO and pass-through queries
B. Creating PowerPoints from Access reports
C. Exporting Access tables to PDF
D. Writing macros in Excel

Q14. What are stored procedures used for?
A. Allowing SQL Server to execute server-side logic efficiently
B. Storing Access reports in the cloud
C. Creating custom shortcut menus
D. Encrypting VBA code

Q15. Which is NOT mentioned as a course membership option?
A. Direct purchase of individual courses
B. Learning Connection membership
C. Silver Member with free monthly classes
D. Platinum Video Streaming Service

Q16. How can you stay informed about new classes or updates if you choose not to continue with the course?
A. Join the instructor's mailing list on the website
B. Sign up for free YouTube streaming only
C. Use Access macros to get email updates
D. Follow SQL Server on Instagram

Q17. The instructor encourages feedback by asking students to:
A. Fill out a course survey to help improve the classes
B. Send handwritten letters only
C. Tweet their feedback publicly
D. Only leave reviews on third-party sites

Answers: 1-A; 2-A; 3-A; 4-A; 5-A; 6-A; 7-A; 8-A; 9-A; 10-A; 11-A; 12-A; 13-A; 14-A; 15-D; 16-A; 17-A

DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.

Summary

Today's video from SQL Server for Access Users covers everything you need to get started connecting SQL Server with your Microsoft Access database. We spent quite a bit of time discussing the relationship between Access and SQL Server, establishing that Access serves as a front end for building forms, reports, and the overall user interface, while SQL Server takes on the responsibility of storing and managing your data as the back end.

We began by looking at the big picture of how both platforms integrate. I walked you through installing SQL Server Express and SQL Server Management Studio, explained how servers and databases are organized, and demonstrated how to create your first tables with appropriate primary keys and SQL Server data types that work seamlessly with Access.

After setting up the core components, we then connected Access to SQL Server using linked tables. We explored how these linked tables operate, the differences between Access queries and SQL Server views, and reviewed some key syntax differences between Access SQL and T-SQL. It's important to understand these differences since queries can behave differently once your data is being managed by SQL Server.

Through these steps, you've gained a solid foundation. Your Access database is now successfully connected to SQL Server and ready for use. From this point on, you are prepared to take things further and optimize how your solution performs.

Looking ahead to SQL Server for Access Users Beginner Level 2, our main focus will be on relational database design. You'll learn about primary keys, foreign keys, and setting up correct table relationships within SQL Server. I'll cover the creation of one-to-many relationships and the use of junction tables for many-to-many scenarios. This is a vital part of database design and prevents many common problems down the line.

We'll address database normalization and how to build effective lookup tables, ensuring your data remains consistent, clean, and free of unnecessary duplication. After that, I'll introduce more advanced querying methods, such as combining data from multiple tables using different types of joins like inner joins and left joins. These are invaluable for pulling data from across your tables.

You'll also learn about aggregate queries, including how to count, sum, average, and group your data. These are fundamental tools for generating reports and summaries in Access.

I will also go over certain SQL Server behaviors that are often new for longtime Access users, such as why some queries become non-editable and why server-side filtering is crucial when you're dealing with larger datasets.

My aim is to provide at least three or four beginner levels in this series, although the total number could change depending on your feedback and the needs that come up as the course progresses.

With many years of experience teaching Access both in person and online, I have a wealth of curated material to draw from. This is my first comprehensive SQL Server course for Access users, though I have over 20 years of real-world experience using SQL Server. This course will also build on many examples from my Access training, so you'll see how migrating those same databases to SQL Server is done.

Once we finish the beginner levels, the expert series will take a deeper look at advanced database design concepts and schema structuring for scalability. We'll examine advanced indexing strategies, query tuning, and dissect what makes some queries fast while others are slow. Another crucial area is backup and restore. As soon as your data leaves desktop Access and lives on a database server, protecting that data is critical, so I'll show you practical backup strategies and how to recover data if something goes wrong.

There is also a developer series planned, focusing on programming SQL Server from Access VBA. In those lessons, I'll teach you about connecting to SQL Server using VBA and ADO, how to build DSN-less connection strings, and running pass-through queries directly from your VBA code. We'll look at scenarios where you want more control over login credentials and security. We'll also work with stored procedures, which take advantage of SQL Server's ability to do the heavy lifting, allowing Access to act as more of a front end. Topics like triggers, transaction handling, and concurrency will also be covered, preparing you to build robust multi-user systems.

The primary difference between the expert and developer series is mostly whether programming in VBA is required. Some VBA may appear in beginner or expert sessions as optional extras, but you won't need to dive into coding until we get to the developer material. As always, even a little bit of VBA can unlock a lot of options in Access and SQL Server integration.

You now have a clear idea of the roadmap ahead and what to expect from upcoming lessons.

If you want to continue with the next level of courses, there are several ways to do so. Beginner Level 1 is completely free to help everyone get started, and it covers enough for you to set up a working Access-to-SQL Server solution at no cost. However, to support the time and resources needed to produce these advanced lessons, further levels are paid.

You have the option to purchase individual courses directly from my website. Beginner Level 2 is currently available for just one dollar, and Level 3 can be pre-ordered for $5.99 - a pricing strategy I have used for other courses as well. Pricing for more advanced levels will depend on how many people continue with the course, as I adjust course effort to meet community demand.

Alternatively, you might consider joining my Learning Connection, which gives you new lessons as they are released. Membership includes a discount, classes delivered at your preferred pace, and the ability to cancel anytime, keeping all the material you've already received.

Silver Membership is another way to continue, which includes access to all extended cut TechHelp videos and a free class each month, making it ideal if you want a steady pace of new material and other ongoing benefits. As you progress, you can upgrade membership levels to unlock even more content.

If you expect to take many courses and would prefer to stream them at your leisure, the Online Learning Partner plan lets you do just that. This is an all-access membership to every class at your chosen level, much like a streaming library for training.

If you are not ready to continue just yet, you can still join my mailing list so you will hear about future course releases, new videos, and updates. I respect your time, so you can set your own email frequency, and you'll never be spammed.

One last request before you finish - please fill out my course survey. Your feedback is essential in shaping future courses and ensuring I cover the topics you care about most. I read every response and try to reply whenever I can.

That wraps up the beginner Level 1 course for SQL Server for Access Users. I hope you found it useful and are ready to take your skills further. Let me know what you thought in the comments, and I look forward to seeing you in the next level.

You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends.

Topic List

This is a course wrap-up and sales message informing students about the structure of upcoming SQL Server courses, membership options, and how to continue with the next lessons.

Article

In this tutorial, we will review the foundational skills you have gained as you begin working with SQL Server in combination with Microsoft Access. The goal is to help you understand how these two systems work together, what you have accomplished so far, and what you'll learn in the upcoming lessons as you continue your journey.

To start, you have learned how Microsoft Access and SQL Server interact. Microsoft Access acts as your front-end tool, where you design forms, reports, and other elements of your user interface. SQL Server, on the other hand, becomes the back-end database engine that stores and manages all of your data efficiently and reliably. This division allows you to build richer database applications by leveraging Access's user-friendly design capabilities and SQL Server's powerful data management features.

You began by installing SQL Server Express and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), which are both free and robust enough for most projects. You explored the basic structure of SQL Server, including how servers, databases, and tables are organized, and you learned to create your first tables. This included defining primary keys and choosing data types that are compatible with Access, ensuring a smooth connection between your two platforms.

Next, you connected your Access database to your new SQL Server database. This involved setting up linked tables, which let you continue working in Access while storing your actual data on SQL Server. You explored how linked tables behave differently from native Access tables, and you were introduced to the differences between Access queries and SQL Server views. Understanding these distinctions helps explain why some queries behave differently after you move your data to SQL Server.

You also covered key differences between Access SQL and Transact-SQL (T-SQL), which is SQL Server's dialect. This includes syntax variations and certain functions or features that work differently, so you know what to expect and how to adapt your queries when moving to server-based storage.

With all this setup complete, you should now have a working Access front end that successfully connects to SQL Server as its back end. This foundation means you can already build and use powerful Access applications while benefiting from the security, reliability, and scalability of SQL Server.

Looking ahead, the next major topic in this training series is relational database design. You will learn about primary keys and foreign keys and how to set up proper relationships between tables. This is central to building a well-structured database and helps prevent many problems later on. You will explore building one-to-many relationships and the use of junction tables for many-to-many scenarios. Normalization will also be covered, focusing on organizing your data into lookup tables to maintain consistency, avoid duplication, and ensure data integrity.

After designing your tables and relationships, you will move into writing more advanced queries. This includes understanding and using joins to combine data from multiple tables, such as inner joins and left joins. These techniques allow you to pull meaningful results from your database, reflecting real-world relationships in your data. You will also be introduced to aggregate queries, using functions like COUNT, SUM, AVG, and GROUP BY. These are commonly used to create reports and summary information for your business needs.

The course also prepares you for some of the unique behaviors of SQL Server that may surprise Access developers. For example, you will learn why some server-based queries may be non-editable, and why it is especially important to filter data on the server side when working with very large datasets to ensure performance and accuracy.

As you advance through the future levels of this series, you will move from beginner to expert and developer content. Expert topics will dive deeper into advanced database design, teaching you how to build scalable schemas, optimize queries, and apply proper indexing techniques to maintain fast performance. Critical topics like backup and restore processes will be included as well, ensuring that your data remains protected and recoverable.

Developer topics will focus on programming against SQL Server from Access using VBA and ADO. You will learn how to connect to SQL Server from VBA code, create DSN-less connection strings for increased security, and execute server-side queries directly from code. You will discover how to work with stored procedures, triggers, and handle transactions and concurrency so your applications remain reliable when used by multiple users simultaneously.

While VBA is not required in the beginner or expert series, a little exposure to coding - even just a line or two - can unlock impressive new capabilities in your Access-SQL Server solutions. You might encounter small examples throughout the early lessons, with more serious programming reserved for the developer track.

If you want to continue learning, you have several options to access the next parts of the series. Beginner Level 1 was made available for free, aiming to give everyone a solid foundation at no cost. To access subsequent lessons, you can purchase each course directly on the instructor's website. At the time of writing, Beginner Level 2 is available for just one dollar, and Beginner Level 3 can be pre-ordered for $5.99. Prices for advanced levels are not yet finalized and may be higher, reflecting the increasing complexity and lower enrollment typical in advanced courses.

Alternatively, you can join a membership program called the Learning Connection. This grants you automatic access to new lessons as they are released, at a discounted rate, and on a regular schedule that you can customize. There are also Silver, Gold, and Platinum memberships, offering additional benefits like monthly free classes, access to extended tutorials, and code resources. The Online Learning Partner membership is another option, granting you unlimited streaming access to every class at your selected level, similar to a subscription-based service.

No matter which path you choose, you can stay updated by joining the course mailing list, where you will receive announcements of new classes, videos, or resources. You will not receive spam, and you can set your preferred email frequency.

Finally, feedback is highly encouraged. Taking a moment to complete the course survey helps shape future lessons and lets you share what worked for you and what could be improved.

At this stage, you have completed SQL Server for Access Users Beginner Level 1 and have the fundamental skills to build an Access application connected to SQL Server. Your learning journey can now continue, focusing on relational table design, advanced queries, and further integrating Access with SQL Server for powerful, efficient solutions. If you enjoyed this guide, consider providing feedback, ask questions, and continue onto Level 2 to deepen your expertise.