Australian Vocational Education and Training/ICAU1131A - Operate a database application

From the official document:
 * "This unit defines the competency required to operate database applications and perform basic operations."

Basically, that means that you'll be able to create and use simple databases with two tables. You'll be able to add data, edit data, retrieve data, as well as perform some basic operations like creating reports to display your data and creating forms to help your users enter data.

You can read more about this unit on the National Training Information Systems Official document for ICAU1131A.

This unit is part of the IT Foundation units and is a prerequisite for most IT certificates in Australia.

How this unit will help you
After learning and applying the skills required by this unit you'll be able to demonstrate how you can:
 * Create database tables to store data in an appropriate format (eg. a name will be stored as text, and a price will be stored as a currency value) for your requirements.
 * Set a primary key for your table, use the auto-number attribute and create indexes where appropriate for your database.
 * Modify a table design, such as field names or types, or rearrange the fields in a table.
 * Use basic database design principles to design two tables and create relationships between them, such as in the image shown where one Customer can have many payment records (a one-to-many relationship).
 * Add and delete records in your database to verify your database design.
 * Use a wizard to create a simple form and modify the layout of a form according to your user requirements, enabling your users to enter information into the database easily.
 * Create queries to find specific information in a database, such as: "find all the records where the customer is Mr Jones and the purchase price is greater than $2000."
 * Create reports to present your data (such as the above query) in a more friendly format for your users - such as a printed report - and modify your reports according to your user requirements (changing font formatting, colours etc.)
 * Customise the settings of your database application, such as adding toolbars, changing fonts and adjusting layouts of forms, reports and relationship diagrams (like the image displayed above).

Ideas for learning the required skills
Classroom tuition and activities will be provided by your facilitator, but before long you will want to start experimenting with your own ideas and learning! A good textbook might be helpful (your facilitator may recommend one) There are also plenty of great online resources (see the Microsoft tutorials below) that you might like to try when you feel ready.

Recommended tutorial series

 * Road map to Access 2003 Training from Microsoft - these tutorials are excellent quality with audio and practical exercises to help you practice. Everything that you need to learn is included in these tutorials and presented in a fun, friendly way.
 * Database challenges - These challenges are currently in progress!

Text books
The following text books are developed specifically for this unit of competency:
 * Operate a database application (Access 2003)

If you want to test your knowledge with some questions, try the Database quiz questions

Ideas for demonstrating this unit
The best way to demonstrate these skills is show your assessor that you can create databases with all the criteria outlined in the official document for this unit (and summarised above). Ask your facilitator for an evidence sheet for this unit so that you can document evidence of your skills against the official criteria as you learn.

You might complete an assignment for handing in, or book a time with your facilitator to demonstrate your skills on the spot with a practical demonstration, or collect evidence from the activities you've done such as the Database challenges. Chat with your own facilitator to find out what options are available to you.