Microsoft KB Archive/94221

= ACC: Microsoft Access FieldSize for Text in Table Is Variable Length =

Article ID: 94221

Article Last Modified on 1/18/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 1.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 1.1 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 2.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q94221



Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.



SUMMARY
Microsoft Access will set the field length of a Text field to the length of the entered text if the text entered is shorter than the maximum field size.



MORE INFORMATION
When you set the FieldSize property of a table in design mode, you are setting the maximum length for the field. If text entered into that field is shorter than the specified maximum length, then the length of that field equals the length of the text that has been entered. This means whether you design a text column as 20 characters or 255 characters, it will only take up the amount needed to store the actual data entered into that field.

The difference between specifying 20 or 255 characters is that one is limited to 20 characters on entry while the other will allow up to 255 characters.

