Access 2016 Intermediate

Lesson 1 – Setting Field Properties

Access 2016

U SING F IELD P ROPERTIES

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Discussion

Each field has a set of properties that control the way it stores, handles, and displays data. Since forms and reports you create use the fields in your tables, setting field properties in the early stages of building a database can save you time later on; you will have less design work to do in later stages if you set the desired field properties before you create any forms and reports.

You normally set field properties when you create a table in Design view. If you create and save a table using default field properties, you can open the table in Design view to change its property settings.

The properties available in the Field Properties pane depend on the data type assigned to the selected field. Some of the property types you can set include:

Property type

Description

Field Size

Limits a Text field to a specific number of characters; limits a Number field to a specific type of number Controls the way values appear in Datasheet view Available for Number and Currency fields only, determines how many decimal places will appear in the field; this property type has no effect on Number fields using the General format Creates a pattern for data entered into the field (such as adding hyphens within a telephone number) Creates a label other than the field name; the caption appears in the table and on forms and reports Specifies the value you want to appear in the selected field in all new records Forces data entered into the selected field to meet a specified requirement; for example, you can specify that the Credit Limit field not be over $10,000

Format

Decimal Places

Input Mask

Caption

Default Value

Validation Rule

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