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Creating a database
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 168
• ,(comma), +, -, *, /, ^, &, =, ≠, >, <, ( ), [ ], { }, ", ; (semicolon), : (colon), :: (relational
indicator), $ (variable indicator)
• AND, OR, NOT, XOR, TRUE, FALSE, or the name of any FileMaker Pro function
• Don't begin a field name to be used in a calculation formula with a space, period (.), or
number.
• Use _ (underscore) in place of a space to avoid restrictions in ODBC, exporting, web
publishing, and other operations.
• If you're exchanging data with another application, check the field naming restrictions in the
file formats supported by that application.
• If you're using ODBC or JDBC to share FileMaker Pro data, avoid using SQL keywords in
field names.
Related topics
Using a reserved word or symbol for a field or table name
Changing field names
About choosing a field type
When you define a field, you select a field type based on the kind of information the field will contain.
The field type determines what kind of data can be entered and what kinds of operations
FileMaker
Pro can perform with the data.
FileMaker Pro uses the field type to interpret the data for tasks like sorting records and performing
calculations. For example, if you create a text field and enter numbers, you can sort the data only in
alphabetical order. (The first character sorts, then the second, so that 11 sorts before 2.) You must
use a number field, or a calculation or summary field with a numeric result, to sort data in numerical
order.
Important Be sure to use a date field (instead of a text or number field) to store dates. To avoid
confusion when using dates in FileMaker
Pro, always use four-digit years. See Defining field
validation and Conversion of dates with two-digit years.
You select the field type in the Fields tab of the Manage Database dialog box. To select the field
type in Table View, right-click the column heading, choose Field
> Field Type > and select one of
the options for Field Type.
Select this type If the field data will be
Tex t Up to approximately 2 GB of letters, symbols, and/or numbers used as text per field
repetition, limited by available RAM and disk space. Indexes nominally based on the
first 100 characters of each word or value. Text fields may contain carriage returns.
See
About text fields.
Number Values up to 800 digits or other characters, and the negative values of the same
range. Index is based on the first 400 significant digits. Number fields can also
contain
Boolean values, to indicate, for example, true, false, yes, and no. Number
fields can't contain carriage returns. See About number fields.
Date Dates only. Gregorian calendar with a range of 1/1/0001...12/31/4000. Month, day,
and year order is based on system settings when the file is created. See
About date
fields.