Datasheet

Field properties
After entering field names, data types, and descriptions, you can set individ-
ual field properties for each column, which will affect how the data is stored
and presented, among other things. The list of field properties is dependent on
the data type chosen for that field. Some field properties are specific to Text
fields, and others are specific to Number fields. The field properties are located
in the Design view of a table on the General tab at the lower left. The following
sections cover the more important ones.
NOTE Note that the properties shown on the General tab change to reflect
the data type you choose.
Field Size
You encountered Field Size before, when working with the Number data type.
This property also exists for the common Text data type. This property allows
you to set a maximum size limit on data entered in that column. For the Text
data type, size refers to the length (number of characters and spaces) of the
Text data in that column. For example, if you look at the Employees table, you
see a field for State. Your company tells you that the names of states should be
recorded using their two-letter designation. If you therefore set the field size to
“2” for the State column, the user will be unable to type any text longer than
two characters. So with Access, you are not only able to force a certain data
type in a particular column, but you can also customize that individual col-
umn to accept data only in the rigid format that you specify.
Format
The Format property enables you to customize the way numbers, dates, times,
and text are displayed and printed. As with the Field Size property, the format
available for selection will depend on the data type of that column. For exam-
ple, with a Currency field, you can display the data in a form that uses a dollar
sign, or a Euro sign, or no sign at all. The data itself will not be changed with
these settings, just how the data is displayed. Format is especially useful when
it comes to Date/Time data types. Whether you want to display data in the
long format or short format, this property allows you to set that option.
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