Next up in our series of the Top 10 topics that you should know inside and out for the Texas High School UIL Computer Applications contest regional and state meets is….APPEND & DELETE QUERIES!  This list of 10 topics is focused more on advanced formulas and applications of the programs than it does on basics (e.g. basic math formulas in Excel, letter formats and other Word templates, etc).  To date, the top 5 that we’ve covered have been:

1. IF Statements, Nest IF Statements, COUNTIF, SUMIF in Excel

2. Dates & Times in Excel

3. Select Queries in Access

4. Pivot Tables in Excel

5. VLOOKUP & HLOOKUP formulas in Excel

6. Update Queries in Access

The append and delete queries are frequently tested on the Access portion of regional and state Computer Applications tests. It’s helpful to think of these two types of queries as “opposites.” An Append query allows you to append (tack on) additional records to an existing table. A delete query allows you to delete records (that meet your stipulated criteria) from an existing table.

We created a video on append and delete queries this year (previewable below) that will walk you through the nuts and bolts of these types of queries. In the video, you’ll learn about how update queries work, how they differ from other types of queries, what to watch out for when designing and running them, etc. There are some watch-outs for both of these types of queries given that they fundamentally alter an existing table. That said, they are awfully helpful on a pretty frequent basis:

This video along with 4 others that cover select queries, append queries, delete queries, make table queries and crosstab queries in Microsoft Access is also available in a discounted bundle through our comprehensive five-video series on queries and query basics in Microsoft Access.