Microsoft KB Archive/824263

= Information about data types and field properties that can be used in an Access database =

Article ID: 824263

Article Last Modified on 5/30/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office Access 2003

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

This article applies only to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb).



SUMMARY
This article discusses the different data types that are available for you to use for the fields in a table in a Microsoft Office Access database. This article also discusses the field properties that are available for you to use when you design a table.



Decide what data type to use for the field in a table
You must decide the data type that you will use for the field. The data type that you select must be based on the following considerations:
 * What kind of value do you want to permit in the field?

You cannot store text in a field that has a Number data type.
 * How much storage space do you want to use for the value that is in the field?

Some data types require more storage space than others.
 * What types of operations do you want to perform on the value that is in the field?

Access can sum values in a Number field or in a Currency field. Access cannot sum values in a Text field or in an OLE Object field.
 * Do you want to sort the field or to index the field?

You cannot sort or index OLE Object fields.
 * Do you want to use the field to group records in queries or in reports?

You cannot use OLE Object fields to group records.
 * How do you want to sort values in the field?

If you put numbers in a Text field, the numbers are sorted as strings of characters (1, 10, 100, 2, 20, 200), not as numeric values. Use a Number field or a Currency field to sort numbers as numeric values. Also, many date formats cannot be sorted correctly if they are entered in a Text field. Use a Date/Time field to make sure that dates are sorted correctly.

Information about data types
The following table summarizes all the field data types that are available in Access, the usage of the data type, and also the storage size for each data type.

Information about field properties
You can control how you want to store, to handle, and to display data in a field. To do this, you can use a set of field properties that correspond to the field. For example, you can control the maximum number of characters that can be entered in a Text field by setting the Field Size property for the field. You can set the properties for the fields in a table in Design view. You can select the field in the upper portion of the window, and then select the property that you want for the field in the lower portion of the window.

The properties that are available for each field are determined by the data type that you select for the field. The following table lists the available field properties in an Access database. If a certain property does not appear in the property sheet for a field, the property is not available for the data type of that field.

For additional information about any field property, you can move the focus to the property in Design view for the table, and then press F1. The Help topic for the property appears in the new help window.



Access 97, Access 2000, and Access 2002
For more information about working with field properties, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type field properties in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.

Access 2003
For more information about how to set the data types or the properties for a field, click Microsoft Office Access Help on the Help menu, type Set or change the data type or the size for a field (.mdb) in the Search for box in the Assistance pane, and then click Start searching to view the topic.

Keywords: kbdesign kbfield kbdatabase kbproperties kbinfo KB824263

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