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UPDATED TO 2023-2025 SYLLABUS

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SUMMARIZED NOTES ON THE THEORY SYLLABUS
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Remember to follow all the instructions given to avoid

1. Document Production losing easy marks
Type in the name of the style exactly as it is in the paper
Click on the drop-down arrow in the Styles section →
1.1. Word Processing (MS Word) select Create a new style
Always base your styles on the Normal font
Serif – with flicks, e.g. Cambria ­Setting the line spacing → click on format → then
Sans-serif – without flicks, e.g. Calibri, Time new Roman paragraph → select required options
One part of the document is 1 column, and the rest is in From the same tab, you can change the spacing before
two columns. a → section break. and after the paragraph
When you want to move text to the next column, a →
column break. Setting all capital letters → click on format → font → tick
To force all further text onto the next page → page break the option All Caps
A widow= single line that appears on the next page or
column, separated from the rest of the paragraph
An orphan = a single line that appears on the previous
page or column, separated from the rest of the
paragraph.
To add page numbers in the header/footer ------→ Place
your cursor where you want to put the number → Go to
insert tab → Quick parts → Select Numbering category
→ Select Page in field names → Click Ok
Add the file size/name (including file path) → click on
Quick Parts in the Insert tab → click on Field → select File
Size or File name. For file path →, check the box to
include file path. For file size →, choose whether
Kilobytes or Megabytes.
To set certain bullets to a list style → click on format →
Include date → click on Date & Time in Insert tab →
click on Numbering → Bullets tab → choose the required
choose an appropriate format as specified. (If the
option
date/month format is flipped →, change your region/
To indent text for a style → click on format → Paragraph
language settings on your computer to the United
and input required indents under the Indentation
Kingdom.)
section. Choose hanging indents to indent the whole
Update fields if required (select auto-update while
paragraph and the first line indents to indent only the
inserting fields.)
first line of a paragraph.

2. House Styles 3. Data Manipulation

2.1. House Styles 3.1. Data Manipulation (MS Access)

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While importing files, make sure you select text file and
not excel file, as .csv files are plain text.
When they ask for a set number of decimal places in a
field, choose Fixed in Format.

Ensure that the dates displayed in the table are in the

correct format under Table Design view.
Count the number of fields in a report =COUNT([Primary_field])
Always use the primary field as it is the unique field
Sum of fields in a report =SUM([Field_name])
Average of fields in a report =AVG([Field_name])
Minimum of fields in a report =MIN([Field_name])
Maximum of fields in a report =MAX([Field_name])
Yes Find values that are Yes/True
No Find values that are No/False
To form a relationship between two tables, go to the #01/01/2009# Find a specific date
Relationships section of the Database Tools tab and >01/03/2009 Find dates after a given date
<01/03/2009 Find dates before a given date
choose the required tables. Between 01/03/2009 and 31/03/2009 Find dates in a given range

4. Presentations
4.1. Presentation Authoring (MS
PowerPoint)
The calculations will ONLY work if placed in the report
footer. If Σ Total is used, then it appears automatically in
the report footer.

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DESCRIPTION FORMULA
Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide =A1+B1

5. Data Analysis SUM = Adding a range of numbers

AVERAGE - Find the average
MIN - Find the low value
=SUM(A1:A4)
=AVERAGE(A1:A4)
=MIN(A1:A4)
MAX - Find the highest value =MAX(A1:A4)

5.1. Data Analysis (MS Excel) COUNT - Finding how many numbers are in a
range =COUNT(A1:A4)
COUNTA - Counting the number of items in a =COUNTA(A1:A4)
range
INT - Converts to the lowest whole number =INT(A1)
ROUND - Rounding numbers =ROUND(A1,2) The 2 is the number of decimal
places
ROUNDUP - Rounding numbers up =ROUNDUP(A1,2) The 2 is the number of
decimal places
ROUNDDOWN - Rounding numbers down =ROUNDDOWN(A1,2) The 2 is the number of
decimal places
=VLOOKUP(A1,$B$1:$C$8,2)A1 is the cell to
VLOOKUP - Looking up what particular values check$B$1:$C$8 is the array to look in2 is
mean from a table arranged vertically column 2 from $B$1:$C$8 meaning return the
value in column 2 in that section.
=HLOOKUP(A1,$B$1:$G$2,2)A1 is the cell to
HLOOKUP - Looking up what particular values check$B$1:$G$2 is the array to look in2 is row 2
mean from a table arranged horizontally from $B$1:$G$2 meaning return the value in
row 2 in that section.
=SUMIF($B$1:$C$8,A1, $D$1:$D$8)Checks if
SUMIF – adding up specific values in a range any cells in $B$1:$C$8 = A1 and if they do then
it adds them together
=COUNTIF(A2:A4,">4") Checks that cells have a
COUNTIF - Counts the number of cells in a value greater than 4=COUNTIF(A2:A4, A1)
range that satisfy the given criteria Checks that the cells are equal to the value in
cell A1
IF – Deciding what will go into a cell =IF($B$1:$B$8=A1,”A”)IF the value in A1 appears
in the range of cells then write A
=IF($B$1:$B$8=A1,”A”, IF($B$1:$B$8=A2,”B”,
Nested IF IF($B$1:$B$8=A3,”C”,D)))IF the value in the
range equals A1 then write A, if it equals A2
write B, A3 write C and none of them D
Average IF – it searches for criteria and makes =AVERAGEIF($D$4:$D$64,G3,$E$4:$E$64)$D$4:
an average of the range according to the $D$64 is the range, G3 is the
criteria criteria, $E$4:$E$64 is the average range
SQRT – Square root of a number =SQRT(B3)B3 is the number

6. Website Authoring
6.1. HTML

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(RED, GREEN, BLUE)
Anchors: help navigate throughout a webpage Amount of Light (colour) Hex code
Highlight the destination of the anchor, and set a Fully on FF
¾ on C0
bookmark ½ on 80
You can use ¼ on 40
Off 00
tags in your code around this text
<div id="top"> Destination text </div> Examples:
Highlight the word or image that will be the hyperlink, Pure red is (FF0000)
click insert a hyperlink, and type the address of the Pure green is (00FF00)
website, the bookmark, or the email address Pure blue is (0000FF)
provided in the respective places. Pure yellow is (FFFF00)
If the link needs to open in a new window, select New Pure black is (000000)
Window from the target frame. This will give you a Pure white is (FFFFFF)
target setting of "_blank."
HTML tag
Opening/closing head tag
Page title
Attaching a CSS file <link rel=“stylesheet”
type=“text/css”href=“mystyle.css”>
Defining anchor tag
Setting default target window
Opening of the body/content
Table tag | border width as 1 | alignment
centre

6.2. CSS
What is CSS?
Cascading style sheet
Used to style webpages
If there are specified dimensions for a table, use the
Two types
table properties to set these values.
Embedded/inline
Check the code to ensure that the table is not set to
External
100% width, if there are other values given.
To hide bullets from your webpage, add hidden after
Embedded
your tag selector.
Font type h2 {font-family: “Times New Roman”} Used to apply style properties within HTML sheet
Text size h2 {font-size: 16pt} Format:
Aligning text h2 {text-align: center}
‘Bold’ text h2 {text-weight: bold} …style = “attribute: specification”>
‘Underline’ text h2 {text-decoration: underline} Inline CSS for e.g. <table border=”1” style=
Second choice of font h2 {font-family: “Times New Roman, Verdana”}
“width:200px”>
Adding generic fonts (either serif or sans-serif) h2 {font-family: “Times New Roman, serif”}h2

Changing colour
{font-family: “Calibri, sans-serif”}
h2 {color: #000000}
To add several attributes, add a semicolon to separate
Using classes to set styles. It can be used by right {text-align: right}
them and then use the same format
many selectors
Comment in HTML - text that is not read by the For e.g. < table style= “width:29%; margin-left:
computer, only for users
Comment in CSS - text that is not read by the
auto**;**”>
/* Enter comment here */
computer, only for users For inline CSS, adding -style= “….”- is mandatory.

Colour codes have three parts: External

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Table tags format
External CSS sheets are separate sheets that style the cell padding
cell spacing
Table { padding :40px;}
Table { spacing : 30px;}
webpage. Table { border-width:3px;}
Table { border-color: #000098;}
To use, they are required to be attached to the main borders Table { border-style: solid;}
Table { background-color: #009499;}
HTML file using the tag: td { font-size: 3;}
<link rel=“stylesheet” type=”text/css” Td/th tags td { font-family: Calibri;}
td { color: #000000;}
href=”sourcefile.css”> Dimensions table { width:50px;}
table { height:60px;}
The tag is placed in the head tag of the html file.
Several html sheets can be attached. body { background-repeat: no-repeat;}
Preference is given to the sheet placed last in the body {background-position: top/left/right/bottom;}
head tag h1 {text-align: left/right/top/bottom;}
Format for external CSS
h1 { property: value ;}
for e.g. h1 { color:#000000;} 7. Editing Images
↑ Element source is taken from HTML script
linked
7.1. Editing Images
CSS Tags
To save a picture with 8 bits - of colour depth, save it as a
Colours gif
Open it in Paint and save it as
Colours can be in hexadecimal To compress the size of a picture, open it in the picture
hashtag before the hexadecimal is mandatory manager
e.g. #000000 Edit picture
F full capacity Compress pictures
0 is the least capacity Choose the most suitable option
Some colours can be written in words. Such as black or To change the colour options of a picture, use picture
white. manager
Edit picture
Fonts Colour

Fonts are given priority from first to last in order

To add multiple fonts, add commas.
8. Answers to Theory
Eg. h1 { font-family: Arial, Calibri, sans-serif;}
Questions
Tables
8.1. Answers to Theory Questions
Tables have many attributes to help style them
Cell padding: creates space between text and cell
border
Cell spacing: creates space between individual cells
Borders
Background colour: background tags in the tables
only apply to the tables.
Individual td or th headings can also be specified in CSS

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18.1 Define and understand the terms primary and foreign
Enter data twice and compare them either after data has keys and their role in a relational database.
been entered or during the entry process.
Primary key: The key field of a table which is unique and
15.2 Explain the need for validation as well as identifies each record
verification: Foreign key: The field linked to the primary field of the
Validation only ensures that the data entered is in the table linked to a relationship
accepted format. Verification is needed to ensure
that the data entered is correct. Data entered may be
in the right format but of the wrong value. Or it may
be copied correctly but does not match the criteria.
17.1 Explain why it is necessary to use page, section and
column breaks, to adjust pagination and to avoid widows
and orphans?
Page breaks and column breaks help remove widows
and orphans by forcing text onto the next page/
column so it is all together.
It does not disrupt the reader by breaking the flow.
17.3 Explain why mail-merged documents are created
Mail merged documents save time typing out
individual letters, as the computer can personalize
them. Typing errors are also reduced since the
master document is only typed once. They can also
be emailed using the address in the source file.
18.1 Define the terms flat-file database and relational
database.
Flat-files databases are tables that have data sorted
in rows and columns.
Relational databases are several tables linked
together, preventing unnecessary repetition of data.
18.1 Explain that other field types, such as placeholders
for media, including images, sound bites and video clips
are used in commercial databases
They are not studied in depth in this syllabus. They
are used in web applications where a back-end
database holds the media to be displayed in another
application, such as a webpage.
18.1 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using
relational tables rather than a flat-file database
Relational Database Flat file Database
Better security Poor at complex queries
Cater for future requirements Poor at limiting access
Data is only stored once Harder to update, so it is inherently inefficient
Requires more planning Potential duplication
Easy to design
Non-unique records
It is harder to change the data format.

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Tables make the basic structure of a webpage and Used to upload website files to the web hosting space. To
organise page layout. upload these files successfully, the user needs:
FTP client software
21.2 Define and understand the terms relative file path All files in one folder
and absolute file path Host Name/URL/IP address for FTP
Relative file path: A path referring to a file in the Host port to be used for upload
same directory relative to the page the reference is Username and password
made in.
Absolute file path: The full path of a file which is not 21.4 Create a test plan to test a website including web
relative to anything. page elements are visible, navigation within/from a web
21.2 Explain why absolute file paths must not be used for page
hyperlinks to locally saved web pages/ objects Open the webpage in different browsers to check
Absolute paths always include the domain name of that all elements appear as they should.
the website Click all hyperlinks to ensure that they direct users to
These should not be used to refer to locally saved the correct pages, using functional testing. Check that
web pages as the computer the webpage is stored on both internal and external links are functional. Check
(the server) is not the same as where the webpage that fonts and background colours are appropriate to
was developed, and an absolute file path would point the purpose of the website and its users (audience)
to the wrong address. Perform user testing on a group from the target
21.3 Explain what is meant by the term cascading audience, gain feedback from their usage, and use it
stylesheets to improve the website before publishing it
CSS (cascading stylesheet) is a text-based language 21.4 Justify the choice of test plan
which is attached to web pages to set their format. The test plan used to test a webpage must be
CSS files have a “.css” extension justified based on the tested elements. e.g. If
21.3 Explain the hierarchy of multiple attached hyperlinks are being tested, it checks if all the
stylesheets and in-line styles within a web page hyperlinks are redirecting the user to the correct
Internal CSS have more preference over Inline CSS. webpage/ section of the webpage.
Inline CSS overrides externally attached stylesheets.
If several external stylesheets are attached to one
web page, the stylesheet attached last (at the bottom
of that part of the code) is given preference (over the
other ones). Priority increases as you go down a list.
21.3 Explain why relative file paths must be used for
the attached stylesheets
They should be attached using relative file paths, as
they are stored along with the webpage since they
are stored in the same folder.
21.4 Explain how to upload and publish the content of a
website using FTP

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