trouble with Null values and et al?

[mattf]

I have instructions that i have to follow and i do not understand what they want me to do. Here it is :



"Null values can cause problems when they are part of a relationship. They may not be required in the foreign key position but later some search and query problems can occur. We are going to add none and et al to our author table and then we will set the dictionary to none."

I have the author table, but what does it mean "add none and et al to our author table then we will set the dictionary to none"? add it to where? the field name?

I am still learning access and would appreciate any respond and help thank you

[recyan]

1) Perhaps they are indicating the use of "None" or "Et Al maybe Others" as values in the field "Authors", to avoid using Null in the Field values.
2) Perhaps, you have "Dictionary" as a value in a Book Field, for which, they are indicating the use of "None" in the corresponding "Author" field.
All perhaps, till someone comes along.

Thanks.

[mattf]

hmm still not sure.. do the images help ?

[recyan]

May be wrong, but think, what I suggested earlier could be the case.
For eg.
1) In your "tblAuthors" table, you could have a value AuthorID - 3; Author Last Name - None; Author First Name - Others.
or it could be AuthorID - 3; Author Last Name - None; Author First Name - Et Al.
and AuthorID - 4; Author Last Name - Et Al; Author First Name - None.
depending on how the values "None" and "Et Al" mean and are going to be used.
2) In your "tblBooks", you could have a value Title - Dictionary; Author - 3.


Edit :
For my information :
1) What is the difference between BookType and BookCategory ?
2) Can the same "ISBN" have different publishers ?
3) If "ISBN" is unique, why do we have both "ISBN" and "Publisher" in "tblOrders" ?



Thanks

[mattf]

thank you so much for replying, means a lot

The data types have to be what it says in the instructions..im not really sure.. it would prolly be easier if i just sent you the documents of the instructions

i have uploaded it to a file hosting site

lesson onehttp://www.filedropper.com/tablesone
lesson twohttp://www.filedropper.com/tablessessiontwo_1
lesson three http://www.filedropper.com/lessonqueriesone
lesson four http://www.filedropper.com/lesson04queriestwo<--The one im on right now

[recyan]

Sorry, currently, will not be able to look at it in depth. Just hang on till someone comes along.
But the relationship diagram that you have posted, leaves many questions in my mind, and without answering the questions to myself, it is difficult for me to think.
Beyond the initial 3 questions in my earlier post ( reproduced below ), a couple of other questions are also popping up :
1) What is the difference between BookType and BookCategory ?
2) Can the same "ISBN" have different publishers ?
3) If "ISBN" is unique, why do we have both "ISBN" and "Publisher" in "tblOrders" ?
______________________
4) A BookTitle along with its Author/s is unique.
5) A BookTitle can have multiple ISBN's
6) Why do we repeat the Book Details (BookTitle, BookAuthor, Publisher ) in tblBooks for each ISBN for the same Book? Should we not have a separate tblBooks, which stores perhaps, the BookID, BookTitle, BookType, Author, Category, etc & a separate table tblISBN, handling perhaps the ISBN, BookID, perhaps the PublisherID.
AFAIK, the ISBN, itself reflects many of the fields that we are discussing.
----------------------------------
I realize, that it could perhaps be just a tutorial, that exposes you to the basics, from where you can proceed.
But, I am sorry, am just not able to proceed without my doubts cleared.

Apart from all above, if you take a look at the title "Latin - English Dictionary", it has not "Author" value. Perhaps, to avoid Null values, we could have an author "None" in the Author table.

Hope, I have not confused you, instead of answering your question.

Thanks

[mattf]

[recyan]

Have you progressed any further or are you still stuck with the original question :

I have instructions that i have to follow and i do not understand what they want me to do. Here it is :

"Null values can cause problems when they are part of a relationship. They may not be required in the foreign key position but later some search and query problems can occur. We are going to add none and et al to our author table and then we will set the dictionary to none."

Thanks

[mattf]

still havent figured it out :/

[recyan]

For the time being, ignore all the blah-blah about relationships, done by me. But do come back to it later, whenever you have time.

I have instructions that i have to follow and i do not understand what they want me to do. Here it is :
................
"We are going to add none and et al to our author table and then we will set the dictionary to none."

1) Open your Table tblAuthors.
2) Add an Author, with LastName as "None". Leave the FirstName Blank. This will be used in tblBooks in the Author field for all those Books, which donot have any Author. For eg. in your tblBooks, the title "Latin - English Dictionary", it has no Author.
3) Add another Author with LastName as "Et Al". Leave the FirstName Blank. This will be used in tblBooks in the Author field for all those books having multiple authors, for which we know a few author names & remaining, we select Author as "Et Al" meaning "And Others". For eg. we can put in tblBooks the Author as "Twain Mark, Conway James, Et Al".
3) Close your tblAuthors.
4) Open your tblBooks and add Author "None" against Title "Latin - English Dictionary".
That is it. Refer to the image in last page of the Word Document "Lesson 04 Queries Two" that you had posted earlier & look at the Author field for Title "Latin English Dictionary".

Now coming to :

I have instructions that i have to follow and i do not understand what they want me to do. Here it is :

"Null values can cause problems when they are part of a relationship. They may not be required in the foreign key position but later some search and query problems can occur.

Refer :

http://allenbrowne.com/casu-11.html

http://allenbrowne.com/casu-12.html

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/...rosoft-access/

Thanks