Creating a database illustrating a player's stats

[hofo_mofo]

Hello all

I am using Access 2007 and I have been asked to create data for hockey players over their entire career. The fields at present are the following in my table:

(the words in uppercase are the name of the fields and the info inside () describe what the field is and [] represents the formatting of that field).

LASTNAM (last name [text])
FIRSTNAM (first name [text])
POSITION (position [text])
WEIGHT (weight [number])
HEIGHT (height [number)]
SHOOTS (shoots [letter])
DAYMONBO (day and month born [letter])
YEARBORN (year born [number])
LOCATION (country of birth [number])
EXACTLOC (place based on country [text])
DRAFTYR (year drafted [number])
DRAFTBY (drafted by [text])
OVERPOS (overall position in the draft [number])
PRESTEAM (name of present team [text])
NUMB (player's number [text])
ACTIVEROS (is player on the active roster [number])
SEASONYR (season in years [text])
PLAYOFF (was this during playoffs [number])
NHL (was this in the NHL [number])
TEAM (name of the team [text])
LEAGUE (which league was it in [text])
GP (games played [number])
G (goals [number])
A (assists [number])
P (points [number])
PLMI (plus/minus [number])
PIM (penalty minutes [number])
PP (power play goals [number])
SH (short handed goals [number])
GW (really have no idea what this is [number])
S (shots [number])
SPER (percentage of shots which resulted in a goal [number])

I have been asked to do this in Access 2007, and from there the data will be imported to SAS.

The problem is, I have no idea how to use Access.

I have done a search here, but regrettably all the answers I see, well make no sense to me (eg. combobox?!?)

What I am trying to do is the following:

Be able to have names complete after entering a few letters in LASTNAM as well as in FIRSTNAM.

From then, based on the completed LASTNAM and FIRSTNAM fields I need Access to auto complete the following fields (if available for that LASNAM and FIRSTNAM combo):
POSITION WEIGHT HEIGHT SHOOTS DAYMONBO YEARBORN LOCATION EXACTLOC DRAFTYR DRAFTBY OVERPOS PRESTEAM NUMB ACTIVEROS

Then be able to complete the remaining fields myself.

Please help!! I really hope this makes some sense...

 

[statsman]

The good news is that all that you wish to accomplish is doable in Access.

The bad news is that you will require some knowledge of Access to perform these tasks.

Basically, your raw data regarding each player will be contained in tables. The necessary sorting and grouping of the data is performed in queries. You can then use the query to display the final data in either a report or on a form (depending on the client's requirements).

If the data is already in the tables, play around with a few basic select queries to see if you can get the data into a presentable condition. DO NOT play around with update or delete queries as these will permanently alter the raw data (there will be plenty of time for that later).

Good Luck

 

[gemma-the-husky]

but note that your data probably cannot be held in just a single table - or you will be very limited if you do just have one table

 

[jdraw]

You might want to read thru this tutorial to get started
http://www.databaseanswers.org/approach2db_design.htm

 

[hofo_mofo]

Thank you statsman gemma-the-husky and jdraw.

What I don't get however, is what you said gemma-the-husky; all my data is in one table and growing (so far about 433 entries). How is this a bad thing? That is to say, once the database is done it will be exported to SAS.

The way I am entering the data as well is just hitting CTRL + ' in the next entry if it is the same player for a different year. What I would ultimately like to do is, instead of hitting CTRL + ' all the time, have it understand that with this LASTNAM and FIRSTNAM the remaining data is this, and jump right to the season I want to enter.

If you are trying to say that, then I am really slow, heh, sorry

Much appreciated again to you all