A typical use of a Memo field would be a detailed product description. Text or combinations of text and numbers stored as text and used as a hyperlink address. Note, Calculated fields were first introduced in Access 2010.Īttached images, spreadsheet files, documents, charts, and other types of supported files to the records in your database, similar to attaching files to e-mail messages. You would use the Expression Builder to create the calculation. The calculation must refer to other fields in the same table. Text or combinations of text and numbers that can be formatted using color and font controls.

Yes and No values and fields that contain only one of two values.ĭate/Time: Date and time values for the years 100 through 9999.ĭate/Time Extended: Date and time values for the years 1 through 9999. Note that there is a separate data type for currency. Note, beginning in Access 2013, Text data types have been renamed to Short Text. Short, alphanumeric values, such as a last name or a street address. The following tables show you the formats available for each data type and explain the effect of the formatting option. You can often use an expression to compare or convert values of different data types. For example, a field may seem to contain numeric values but may actually contain text values, such as room numbers. Tip: Sometimes, the data in a field may appear to be one data type, but is actually another. For example, values that are stored in a Text field can contain only letters, numbers, and a limited set of punctuation characters, and a Text field can only contain a maximum of 255 characters.

Think of a field's data type as a set of qualities that applies to all the values that are contained in the field. On the Modify Fields tab, in the Fields & Columns group, click Add Fields, Access displays a list of data types that you can select from. Use an existing field from another table, the data type is already defined in the template or in the other table.Įnter data in a blank column (or field), Access assigns a data type to the field based on the values that you enter or you can assign the data type and format for the field. For example, if you create a field from the Datasheet view and: How the field can be used in expressions.Ī field's data type can be predefined or you will select a data type depending on how you create the new field. Which formats can be used with the field. So, you have to know what properties are used with each data type.Ī field's data type determines many other important field qualities, such as the following: But a field whose data type is Number can store only numerical data. In this articleĭata types can seem confusing for example, if a field's data type is Text, it can store data that consists of either text or numerical characters. This article describes the data types and other field properties available in Access, and includes additional information in a detailed data type reference section. A field's data type is the most important property because it determines what kind of data the field can store. The properties of a field describe the characteristics and behavior of data added to that field. Every table in Access is made up of fields.

Basic data types in lists