[Year 12 IT Apps] MS Access - Calculated fields

[Mark]

Hi Stuart.

- The only problem with "The VCAA website states that students should
"create, edit and use queries" is that - if strictly enforced - it would
outlaw the use of Filemaker, which does not have queries as such.
I think we need to be reasonably flexible in the interpretation of
commandments that assume a particular (usually Microsoft-centric) mindset.

- Regarding your second point about dependent fields, calculated fields are
a distinctly different beast to regular storage fields. They are unstored
and dynamically calculated, so they probably don't qualify as 'fields' as
such even if they appear as such to the user.


On 14 February 2014 08:33, Stuart Walkerden (STUW) <
stuw at huntingtower.vic.edu.au> wrote:

>  Good Morning everyone
>
> I have often told my students with respect to Microsoft "Just because you
> can doesn't mean you should". I reckon we should continue to use queries
> for calculated fields for the following reasons:
>
> ·         The VCAA website states that students should "create, edit and
> use queries". We can sort in tables and sort and group in reports, so
> although in Access we may not need queries, we must teach students to use
> them.
>
> ·         My understanding of normalisation is that we remove fields
> dependent on other fields (i.e. calculated fields). Question 9 on the 2012
> exam and the examiner's report, expects students to remove calculated
> fields as part of normalisation.
>
> Cheers
>
>
>
> Stuart Walkerden
>
>
>
> *From:* itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:
> itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] *On Behalf Of *ATKINSON-BUCK, Damien
> *Sent:* Thursday, 13 February 2014 1:39 PM
> *To:* Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
> *Subject:* [Year 12 IT Apps] MS Access - Calculated fields
>
>
>
> Hi folks,
>
>             Just looking into Outcome 2 and looking at the 2010 version of
> MS Access. I hadn't noticed before, but you can now create a calculated
> field  in the table definitions. This means that not only does it do the
> calculation (duh) but stores that value too, so you no longer have to
> create a query to do that.
>
> Now, I always stress to my cherubs that one of the primary reasons for
> making a database is to reduce the amount of space the data is going to
> take up. This new 'feature' does the reverse. Given hard drives are so
> cheap and our down databases are comparatively quite small, it doesn't
> really affect SAC scenarios......... but should we be teaching best practices or
> "The Way of the Access"? How do others feel about this?
>
> Cheers
>
> Damien
>
>
> *Damien* *Atkinson-Buck*
> Head of Learning Area: Technology/Arts
>
> *p:* +61 3 9490 3848
>
> *e:* damien.atkinson-buck at ivanhoe.com.au
>
> *f:* +61 3 9490 3490
>
> *w:* www.ivanhoe.com.au
>
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>
>
> --
--
Mark Kelly
mark AT vceit DOT com
http://vceit.com

*Everything that used to be a sin is now a disease - Bill Maher *
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