12 min read

Best Practices for Naming and Organizing Objects

Short, spaceless names; a consistent prefix convention; a consistent singular-or-plural rule for tables — small habits that pay off enormously as a database grows.

Field Notes: Consistency Established Early

A small amount of consistency, established early, saves enormous confusion as a database grows larger and more complex over time. - Use short, clear, spaceless names for tables and fields — CustomerID rather than "Customer ID Number" — and use each field's Caption property to display a friendlier, spaced-out label on forms and reports instead. - Consider a simple prefix convention to instantly identify an object's type when it appears in code or in lists elsewhere — tblCustomers for a table, qryTopSales for a query, frmCustomerEntry for a form, and rptMonthlySales for a report. - Keep a consistent singular-or-plural convention for table names — all singular, like Customer, or all plural, like Customers — either works fine, but pick one and stay consistent throughout. - Add a short description to important objects, right-click an object in the Navigation Pane, choose Object Properties, then Description, explaining its purpose, especially useful for anyone else who might maintain the database later, including a future version of yourself.

More lessons in Microsoft Access · Next: Access vs. Excel: Choosing the Right Tool · Previous: The Access Runtime: Sharing with Users Who Don't Have Access

Field Notes: Consistency Established Early

A small amount of consistency, established early, saves enormous confusion as a database grows larger and more complex over time. - Use short, clear, spaceless names for tables and fields — CustomerID rather than "Customer ID Number" — and use each field's Caption property to display a friendlier, spaced-out label on forms and reports instead. - Consider a simple prefix convention to instantly identify an object's type when it appears in code or in lists elsewhere — tblCustomers for a table, qryTopSales for a query, frmCustomerEntry for a form, and rptMonthlySales for a report. - Keep a consistent singular-or-plural convention for table names — all singular, like Customer, or all plural, like Customers — either works fine, but pick one and stay consistent throughout. - Add a short description to important objects, right-click an object in the Navigation Pane, choose Object Properties, then Description, explaining its purpose, especially useful for anyone else who might maintain the database later, including a future version of yourself.