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| Data Type | Usage | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Text or combinations of text and numbers in the
field, such as addresses. Numbers that do not require calculations, such as phone numbers, part numbers, or postal codes. | Up to 255
characters. Note: Access stores only the characters that are entered in the field. Access does not store space characters for unused positions in a Text field. To control the maximum number of characters that can be entered in the field, set the Field Size property to the value that you want. |
| Memo | Lengthy text and numbers, such as notes or descriptions. | Up to 64,000 characters for Access 97, Access 2000, and Access 2002. Up to 65,536 characters for Access 2003. |
| Number | Numeric data that can be used for mathematical calculations, except calculations involving money (use Currency type). Set the Field Size property to define the specific Number type. | 1, 2, 4, or 8 bytes. 16 bytes for Replication ID (GUID) only. |
| Date/Time | Dates and times. | 8 bytes |
| Currency | Currency values. Use the Currency data type to prevent rounding off during calculations. Accurate to 15 digits to the left of the decimal point and 4 digits to the right of the decimal point. | 8 bytes |
| AutoNumber | Unique sequential (incrementing by 1) or random numbers that are automatically inserted when a record is added. | 4 bytes. 16 bytes for Replication ID (GUID) only. |
| Yes/No | Fields that will contain only one of two values, such as Yes/No, True/False, On/Off. | 1 bit |
| OLE Object | Objects (such as Microsoft Word documents, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, pictures, sounds, or other binary data) that are created in other programs by using the OLE protocol that can be linked to or embedded in an Access table. You must use a bound-object frame in a form or in a report to display the OLE object. | Up to 1 gigabyte (limited by disk space). |
| Hyperlink | A UNC path or a URL path. | Up to 64,000 characters. |
| Lookup Wizard | Creates a field that permits you to pick a value from another table or from a list of values by using a combo box. When you select the Lookup Wizard in the data type list, a wizard starts automatically so that you can define the lookup field. | The same size as the primary key field that is also the Lookup field (typically 4 bytes). |
| Field Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Field Size | You can use the Field Size property to set the maximum size for data that is stored in a field that is set to the Text data type, the Number data type, or the AutoNumber data type. |
| Format | You can use the Format property to customize the way that numbers, dates, times, and text appear and print. The Format property only controls how the information in the field appears. The property does not store the information as formatted. |
| Input Mask | You can use the Input Mask property to make data entry easier and to control the values that users can enter in a Text Box control. |
| Caption | You can use the Caption
property to provide helpful information to the user through captions on objects
in various views: Field captions specify the text for labels that are attached to controls. You can create the field caption by moving the field from the field list. The field caption acts as the column heading for the field in a table or in a query in Datasheet view. Form captions specify the text that appears in the title bar in Form view. Form captions specify the text that appears in the title bar in Form view. Button captions and label captions specify the text that appears in the control. |
| Default Value | You can specify a value for a field that is automatically entered in the field when a new record is created. For example, in an Addresses table, you can set the default value for the City field to New York. When you add a record to the table, you can either accept this value or you can enter the name of a different city. |
| Validation Rule | You can use the Validation Rule property to specify requirements for data that are entered in a record, in a field, or in a control. When data is entered that violates the Validation Rule setting, you can use the Validation Text property to specify the message that you want to appear when the violation occurs. |
| Validation Text | You can specify a message that must appear when a validation rule is violated. |
| Required | You can use the Required property to specify if a value is required in a field. If this property is set to Yes, when you enter data in a record, you must enter a value in the field or in any control that is bound to the field, and the value cannot be Null. For example, you may want to make sure that a LastName control has a value for each record. When you want to permit Null values in a field, you must not only set the Required property to No, but if there is a Validation Rule property setting, that setting must also explicitly state validationrule Or Is Null. |
| Allow Zero Length | You can use the AllowZeroLength property to specify if a zero-length string (" ") is a valid entry in a table field. |
| Indexed | You can use the Indexed property to set a single-field index. An index speeds up queries on the indexed fields. An index also speeds up sorting operations and grouping operations on the indexed fields. For example, if you search for specific employee names in a LastName field, you can create an index for this field to speed up the search for a specific name. |
| Unicode Compression | Microsoft Access 2000 and later
use the Unicode character-encoding scheme to represent the data in a Text
field, in a Memo field, or in a Hyperlink field. Unicode represents each
character as two bytes. Therefore, the data that is in a Text field, in a Memo
field, or in a Hyperlink field requires more storage space than is required in
Microsoft Access 97 and earlier. In Access 97 and earlier, each character is
represented as one byte. To offset the effect of Unicode character representation and to make sure performance is optimized, the default value of the Unicode Compression property for a Text field, a Memo field, or a Hyperlink field is set to Yes. When the Unicode Compression property for a field is set to Yes, any character whose first byte is 0 is compressed when it is stored and then uncompressed when it is retrieved. Because the first byte of a Latin character (a character of a Western European language such as English, Spanish, or German) is 0, Unicode character representation does not affect how much storage space is required for compressed data that consists completely of Latin characters. |
| Smart Tags | In Access 2003, you can use the Smart Tags property to add the available smart tags to the field. If you add smart tags to a field, each value that is specified for the field is analyzed. If the value is recognized as one of the specified smart tags, you can perform various actions as defined by the smart tag for the value of the field. |
| Decimal Places | You can use the Decimal Places property to specify the number of decimal places to display numbers. |
| New Values | You can use the New Values property to specify how AutoNumber fields increment when new records are added to a table. Only AutoNumber fields can use the New Values property. |
Keywords: KB824263, kbinfo, kbproperties, kbdatabase, kbfield, kbdesign