How to Create a Parameter Query in Microsoft Access
If you ever find yourself in need of creating a parameter query in Microsoft Office Access, you will need to provide certain data or information. For example, you could make use of a Microsoft Access parameter query to display all the sales generated by your company in a given month. Access will prompt you to pick a month for which you want to pull up the sales records each the parameter query is executed. Here is what you will need to do in order to create a parameter query in Microsoft Access.
Instructions
-
1
The first step towards creating a parameter query in Microsoft Office Access is to create a crosstab query. To accomplish this you will need to click the ‘Query Wizard’ in the ‘Other’ group under the ‘Create’ tab in MS Access. Then click the crosstab query wizard. Next, select the queries you would want to be used for crosstab query results. Complete the remaining settings in the crosstab query wizard and finally click the ‘Finish’ button to create the crosstab query.
-
2
After you have created the crosstab query, click the button labelled ‘Design’.
-
3
Access will pop up the Field list (the rectangular box which contains names of all the fields and appears in the upper half of the Microsoft Access window). Select all the fields before moving on to the next step.
-
4
Drag all the entries from the Field list into the query design grid. The query design grid would be in the bottom half of the Microsoft Access window while Access is in the Design mode.
-
5
Determine the field which you would want to use as the parameter for the parameter query. Click in the Criteria cell of the field that you choose.
-
6
In the Criteria cell, type in a prompt and type a square bracket at the start and end of the prompt. Next, click the button labelled ‘View’ which should be located on the toolbar. Microsoft Access will pop up a prompt in which you will be required to type the value which you would want to use as reference in the parameter query. Microsoft Access will execute the parameter query and will display all the records which match the criteria which you defined in the earlier steps.
