Procedure
Our mission is to
determine the dependencies of the objects in the database, assuming we have
assembled an inventory of those objects already. As we have discussed already,
MS Office Access 2003, with the Name AutoCorrect feature enabled, allows
us to see a list of objects that depend upon a selected object, as well
as objects upon which the selectee itself depends.
5.
Click the Products
table in the Database window to select it.
6.
Select View
--> Object Dependencies from the main menu, as depicted
in Illustration 6.
NOTE: We can also right-click an object and select Object Dependencies
from the context menu that appears to achieve the same objective.
Illustration 6: Select
View --> Object Dependencies ...
The Object
Dependencies task pane appears, as shown in Illustration 7. Atop
the pane is the name of the object under examination (circled in red in the
illustration).
Illustration 7: The
Object Dependencies Task Pane - Selected for the Product Table
The Object
Dependencies pane initially shows the list of objects that rely upon
the Product table. (The radio button to the left of Objects that
depend on me is selected at first, atop the pane).
We can
click the expand icon (+) to the immediate left of each object listed in
the pane to expose the associated dependency details.
7.
Expand the Order
Details Extended query, listed in the Queries section in the Dependencies
pane, by clicking the "+" sign to its left.
The Order
Details Extended query listing expands, as depicted in Illustration 8.
Illustration 8: The Order
Details Query Object - Expanded View
We can
see that, within the Order Details Extended query, the Sales by
Category query, together with the Sales by Category report and
subreport, are identified as dependent upon the Products table.
Once we
have collected the information surrounding the objects that are dependent upon
the Products table, we can easily switch to a view of objects upon
which the Products table is, in turn, dependent, by clicking the
radio button to the left of Objects that I depend on at the top of the pane.
8.
Select the Objects
that I depend on option, by clicking the radio button to its left, atop the
Object Dependencies pane.
The Object
Dependencies pane shifts to present the objects upon which the Products
table is dependent, as shown in Illustration 9.
Illustration 9: Selecting
Objects that I Depend On Atop the Object Dependencies Pane
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