Jnimmers Week 4

File Containing Microsoft Access FDA Database

• File:JnimmersFDAProducts.zip

Electronic Notebook

Purpose

The purpose of this investigation was to get a better understanding of how to operate the Microsoft Access Database by using data collected from the Federal Drug Agency to create my own database. Besides that, this assignment was meant to allow for a visualization of how complex databases, such as the FDA database, is formed and how relationships between tables can be formed to create a cohesive and understandable database to provide as much information as possible to those who access it.

Methods

Task 1

• For this Task, I went to the [| FDA Drug Information Website] and downloaded the available drug data from that source. There is a link at the bottom of the page instructing you on how to download the .zip file.
• From there, I found the files that contained relative data and extracted them from their .zip folder by finding a simple area to extract, right-clicking the folder, and selecting "Extract All" from the drop-down menu.

Task 2

• Once the Text documents had been downloaded, I went into Microsoft (MS) Access and, under the "External Data" tab, I selected the "Import Text File" option and found the files that needed to be imported from the FDA folder. Each file imported will create a new table. The list of these tables can be found on the left side of the screen in MS Access. Most formatting was done automatically by Access, however, make sure to check the box that says "First Row Contains Field Names", it will allow for the automatic formatting of your column names. This makes the inclusion of IDs easier because if you delete an ID row, it forces you to start the process of importing over so that your first row doesn't start as ID:2.
  

  Example of Access and highlighting of Text File Importing Button

Task 3

• In order to make sure that all Field Names and product names/ingredients are visible, hover your mouse over the right edge of the column you want to edit. A two sided arrow should appear, indicating you can now edit the column length. Click and hold down at that point and drag you mouse left or right to adjust the size of your column in order to allow for all words to be properly viewed, including the field header.

Task 4

Once my database was formatted correctly, I created relationships among my tables to show how each table corresponded with the other tables in the database. To do this,I clicked on the "Database Tools" tab and and selected "Relationships". This will open up a new page with a list of your current tables. From here, you can select all of your relevant tables by pressing Control on your keyboard while clicking on each individual table that you want to make a relationship for another table. The tables will pop up and the menu will disappear, giving you each table' field headers. From here, you want to connect tables by clicking and dragging on a field header from one box and overlapping it with another field header with the same name in a different table box. This pulls up a menu for you to confirm that you're making the right connection, if the field headers are identical then you can confirm the relationship and do the same process for the other fields that have relationships in separate tables. These relationships establish a connection between categories in one table and confirming that they're the same categories in a separate table.

Example of Relationships Tab and Confirmation of Relationship Creation

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• From here, you should be done! Your tables are now relationship verified, formatted, and contain all necessary data provided by the FDA in a neat compilation. Be sure to Save your work under the "File" tab. Select "Save as", put it in a safe and simple place to find, name it appropriately, and do any last minute edits that you may like to spruce up your database and make it unique.

Scientific conclusion

This project was given in order to learn the basic structure and function of the Microsoft Access program. It is meant to equip me with the skill and knowledge of how to operate the system and sue it to create a database of my own using pre-made data fro the FDA. In terms of learning, I feel that I learned a lot from this program, and I think it can be a useful asset for anyone in the working world; it allows for organization at a level that can't be done with pen and paper, and it can store far more information than Excel, making it more optimal for a work or company setting, which can be useful for almost anyone.

Data and Files

• References to data and files should be made within the methods and results section of your notebook.
• In addition to these inline links, create a "Data and Files" section of your notebook to make a list of the files generated in this exercise. In particular, you will need to zip and upload a compressed version of your MS Access FDA drug database. Make sure that your filename contains your last name or username to distinguish it from databases created by other students in the class.

Acknowledgments

In this section, you need to acknowledge anyone who assisted you with your assignment, either in person, electronically, or even anonymously without their knowledge.

1. You must acknowledge your homework partner or team members with whom you worked, giving details of the nature of the collaboration. You should include when and how you met and what content you worked on together. An appropriate statement could be (but is not limited to) the following:
   • I worked with my homework partner (give name and link name to their user page) in class. We met face-to-face one time outside of class. We texted/e-mailed/chatted online three times. We worked on the <details> portion of the assignment together.
2. Acknowledge anyone else you worked with who was not your assigned partner. This could be Dr. Dahlquist (for example, via office hours), the TA, other students in the class, or even other students or faculty outside of the class.
3. If you copied wiki syntax or a particular style from another wiki page, acknowledge that here. Provide the user name of the original page, if possible, and provide a link to the page from which you copied the syntax or style.
4. If you need to reference content (such as the methods of a protocol), that belongs in the References section where you will give a include a formal APA-formatted citation (see below).
5. You must also include this statement unless otherwise noted:
   • "Except for what is noted above, this individual journal entry was completed by me and not copied from another source."
6. Sign your Acknowledgments section with your wiki signature.

References

• In this section, you need to provide properly formatted citations to any content that was not entirely of your own devising. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • methods
  • data
  • facts
  • images
  • documents, including the scientific literature
• Do not include extraneous references that you do not cite or use on your page.
• The references in this section should be accompanied by in text citations on your page that refer to these references.
• The references should be formatted according to the APA guidelines.
• For more detailed guidelines, please see the document Guidelines for Literature Citations in a Scientific Paper that you were given on the first day of class.
• Cite the appropriate weekly Assignment page. For example, the citation for the Week 1 Assignment page is: LMU BioDB 2019. (2019). Week 1. Retrieved August 27, 2019, from https://xmlpipedb.cs.lmu.edu/biodb/fall2019/index.php/Week_1
• Even if you have nothing else to cite, the References section must be present and include the citation to the appropriate weekly assignment page.