Fields Tab

Use the Fields tab to add and remove fields, configure field properties, and configure validation rules for the data in the selected table.

The Fields tab is displayed when the Data view is displayed and is hidden when the Design view is displayed. The Fields tab is not available when you are configuring a phrase library.

The following options are available:

Add Field: Adds a new field to the table. Click , and then select the data type that you want for the new field.
Remove Field: Deletes the selected field from the table.

Data Type: Specifies the data type for the selected field. Use this option to change a field's data type.

When you change to a new data type, a NULL value might result. Therefore, the Required check box is cleared when you change the data type.

Format: Specifies the format of the data in the field. The available formats depend on the field's data type.

Default Value: Specifies the default value of the selected field.
Auto Number Start Value: Specifies the start value. Available for the auto-incrementing ID data type.
Auto Number Increment: Specifies the increment interval. Available for the auto-incrementing ID data type.
Field Size: Specifies the size of the field. Available for the text data type.
Choices: Specifies the choices that you want to be available for the field when you are entering data. Click Choices to open the Enter / Edit Choices dialog, where you can specify the choices that you want. Available for the multiple choice data type.

Required: Specifies that the Required property for the selected field is set to True (when selected) or False (when not selected).
Unique: Specifies that the Unique property for the selected field is set to True (when selected) or False (when not selected).
Validation: Provides options to open the Edit Validation dialog for either rows or columns, which you can use to enter an expression to validate the table data in the selected row or column. You can also use this dialog to add an optional error message.

and : Switches the ribbon between the Simplified and Classic views. The Simplified view changes the icons and makes them smaller. This view also hides the icon label text, but you can point to the icon to view the label text.