1. Open the table in Datasheet view.

Press TAB to move from the primary key column to the second column in the table. (You cannot add data to the primary key column. Access 2000 automatically generates the information in this column.)

2. Type data in the second column. As soon as you enter a value into the second column, Access 2000 automatically numbers the first record and adds another record to the table.

3. Press TAB to move to the next column in the table, and type your data. Unless a field is required, you can leave a field empty.

4. When you reach the end of the first record, press TAB to move to the next record in the table.

5. Save and close your table.

DELETING DATA FROM A TABLE

You may add a field to your census table and later discover that you cannot collect data for that field, so you need to delete it from your table. Deleting fields and records in Access 2000 is simple:

*To delete an entire record, make sure you are in Datasheet view and click the record selector in the box at the left of the record and then press the DELETE key. Then click Yes.

*To delete an entire field from a table, go back to Design view and click the field header so that the whole row is selected and then press the DELETE key.

SORTING RECORDS

Access 2000 displays the information in a table in alphabetical or numerical order based on the primary key. However, you can sort information so that it appears in an order that works better for you. For example, if you want to group people by educational level in the census table, you can select that field and then click one of the sort buttons. Access 2000 alphabetizes the records according to the data in that field.

Sort Records

1. In Datasheet view, click the header of the field to sort by so that the whole column is selected.

2. Click the Sort Ascending button  or the Sort Descending button  on the Datasheet toolbar.

3. Save and close the file.

You can use the sort feature for query results also.