Creating a Database
To create a database, start Microsoft Access 2000. The dialog box shown in Figure 1 should appear, which gives you the option of creating a new database or opening an existing database.
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Figure 1 Database create/open dialog box.
We're going to create a new database. In general, you'll have one database per Web site, so creating a totally new database is an activity that you won't do too often, but it's easy. Follow these simple steps:
Click Blank Access Database.
Click OK.
The dialog box in Figure 2 pops up, which allows you to enter the name of your database.
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Figure 2 Naming the database.
Before typing a name for your database, first decide what folder you want to put it in. In general, you should put your database in the same folder where you store copies of your HTML and other Web site files (or, better yet, a subfolder of that folder). This will make it easier to transfer your database to your Web server. Once you've decided on a folder and filename, follow these steps:
Enter the full path to your database in the File Name text box. We'll call our sample database visualtutorial, which we'll put in the folder c:\inetpub\wwwroot\informit, so the full path name of our database is c:\inetpub\wwwroot\informit\visualtutorial.
Make sure that the Save as Type setting says Microsoft Access Databases (*.mdb). Then click Create and you're ready to go on to the next step, creating a database table.