MS Access, Outlook and Office Tools: Exam Notes

The correct answer is B, MS Access. Access stores data in separate tables that are joined to one another through keys, which is what makes it relational, and it provides tables, queries, forms, reports, macros and modules to work with that data. It ships with the professional editions of Office. Option A, MS Excel, is a spreadsheet; it arranges data in a single grid of rows and columns and can sort, filter and calculate, but it has no concept of a relationship between tables and is not a database management system. Option C, MS Publisher, is a desktop publishing program for brochures, cards and newsletters. Option D, MS OneNote, is a digital notebook for loose notes, clippings and sketches. Papers often set Excel against Access on purpose, so remember the dividing line: a spreadsheet keeps one table, a database keeps many tables and the links between them.

The correct answer is B, .accdb. From Access 2007 onwards, the default database format changed and files are saved with the extension .accdb, which stands for Access database and supports features such as multivalued fields and attachment data types. Option A, .mdb, was the extension of the earlier format used up to Access 2003; it can still be opened for compatibility, which is why it is the favourite distractor in this question. Option C, .adb, is not an Access format at all. Option D, .dbf, is the old dBase file format, used by dBase, FoxPro and several statistical packages, and it can be imported into Access but is not written by it. The pattern to notice is that Office 2007 added a letter to the extensions of the whole suite, giving .docx for Word, .xlsx for Excel, .pptx for PowerPoint and .accdb for Access.

The correct answer is B, primary key. A primary key is a field, or a combination of fields, whose value is different in every record and never left empty, so it can be used to pick out one record with certainty; an AutoNumber field is the usual choice because Access fills it in by itself. Option A, foreign key, is a field in one table that stores the primary key value of another table, and it is the device that creates a relationship between two tables, but it need not be unique. Option C, an index field, is one on which an index is built to make searching and sorting faster; an index may allow duplicates and is not the same as a key. Option D, a lookup field, shows a list of values drawn from another table or a fixed list to make data entry easier. A table may have only one primary key but many indexes and many foreign keys.

The correct answer is C, Bcc. Bcc stands for blind carbon copy. Everyone listed in Bcc receives the message, but their addresses are hidden from the people in the To and Cc fields and from one another, which is why it is used for circulars sent to a long list. Option A, the To field, carries the main recipients and their addresses are visible to all. Option B, Cc, stands for carbon copy and sends a visible copy to people who should be kept informed; every recipient can see those addresses. Option D, Reply To, is not an address field for sending a copy; it is a setting that tells the recipient's program which address a reply should go to. A connected fact asked often is that a message waiting to be sent sits in the Outbox and moves to Sent Items once it has left the computer.

The correct answer is A, .pst. The letters stand for personal storage table, and this single file holds the messages, calendar entries, contacts, tasks and notes of an Outlook account on the computer, which is why backing up the .pst file backs up the whole mailbox. A related file, with the extension .ost, is the offline cached copy of a mailbox that lives on a server, and one message saved on its own takes the extension .msg. Option B, .ppt, is the old PowerPoint presentation format. Option C, .pdf, is the portable document format of Adobe, used for fixed-layout documents that look the same everywhere. Option D, .pub, is the file format of MS Publisher. Keep the three Outlook extensions together in memory, since questions move between .pst, .ost and .msg from one paper to the next.

The correct answer is C, SMTP. SMTP, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is the protocol that carries a message out of the sender's program and between mail servers until it reaches the recipient's mailbox. Option A, POP3, the Post Office Protocol version 3, is a receiving protocol: it downloads messages to one device and by default removes them from the server. Option B, IMAP, the Internet Message Access Protocol, is the other receiving protocol and it keeps messages on the server so that a phone and a computer show the same mailbox with the same read and unread marks. Option D, FTP, the File Transfer Protocol, moves files between a client and a server and has nothing to do with mail. The one-line rule for the exam hall is that SMTP sends while POP3 and IMAP receive, and that IMAP is the one that synchronises across devices.

The correct answer is B, MS Publisher. Publisher is built around page layout rather than around text flow: the user places text boxes, images and shapes exactly where they are wanted on the page, which suits brochures, greeting cards, certificates, labels and newsletters, and its files carry the extension .pub. Option A, MS Visio, is for diagrams such as flowcharts, organisation charts, floor plans and network diagrams, and it writes .vsdx. Option C, MS Project, is for planning a project: it holds tasks, durations, dependencies and resources and draws the Gantt chart, writing .mpp files. Option D, MS Access, is the relational database of the suite. The distinction examiners test is between Word and Publisher: Word is a word processor for documents whose text runs from page to page, while Publisher is a layout program for designed pages.

The correct answer is A, MS Project. Project is the project management program of the Microsoft family. The user enters tasks with their durations and the dependencies between them, assigns people and costs, and the program draws the Gantt chart, a bar chart of time against task, and works out the critical path and the resource loading. Option B, MS Excel, can be made to draw a bar chart that looks like a Gantt chart, but it does not handle task dependencies or critical path calculation by itself, so it is not the program meant for the purpose. Option C, MS OneNote, is a digital notebook for notes and clippings. Option D, MS Teams, is for chat, meetings and file sharing within a group. Remember the pairing Project with .mpp and with the Gantt chart, since both halves are asked.

The correct answer is B, drawing flowcharts and diagrams. Visio supplies ready-made shape sets, called stencils, for flowcharts, organisation charts, network diagrams, floor plans, electrical schematics and entity relationship diagrams, and connectors that stay attached to a shape when it is moved, which is what distinguishes a diagramming program from a drawing program. Its files carry the extension .vsdx. Option A, editing photographs, is the work of an image editor such as Adobe Photoshop or GIMP, or of the Photos app of Windows. Option C, recording video lectures, is done by screen recording and video editing software, not by Visio. Option D, managing email accounts, is the work of MS Outlook or any other mail client. Questions in this topic usually ask you to match each program with one purpose, so keep Visio with diagrams, Publisher with layout and Project with schedules.

The correct answer is C, form. A form is the object designed for data entry and viewing: it presents the fields of a single record in a neat layout with labels, boxes, drop-down lists and buttons, so the person entering data never has to work directly in the raw grid of a table. Option A, a table, is where the data is actually stored, as records in rows and fields in columns, and it can be edited in Datasheet View, but it is not a friendly entry screen. Option B, a query, is the object that asks a question of the data, selecting, sorting, filtering or changing records according to the conditions set in it. Option D, a report, is the object meant for printing and summarising, with grouping, totals and headers, and it is not used for entering data. The six Access objects to remember are tables, queries, forms, reports, macros and modules.

The correct answer is C, Office 2007. Office 2007 introduced the Ribbon, a band of tabs such as Home, Insert and Page Layout, each divided into groups of related commands, in place of the drop-down menus and floating toolbars of earlier releases. The same release introduced the Office Open XML file formats, which is why the extensions gained a letter and became .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and .accdb. Option A, Office 97, is remembered for introducing the Office Assistant, the animated paperclip, and for command bars. Option B, Office 2003, was the last widely used release with the old menu and toolbar design and the older file formats. Option D, Office 2013, brought a flatter look and tighter integration with OneDrive, but the Ribbon was already six years old by then. Microsoft Office itself was first released in 1990.