From the course: Access 2007: Shortcuts

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Understanding number field sizes

Understanding number field sizes - Microsoft Access Tutorial

From the course: Access 2007: Shortcuts

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Understanding number field sizes

When you assign the data type number to a field you have several considerations to take into account. Understanding the different Number Field Sizes can help keep your file size down. The first question is what is a number? Your phone number or ZIP code, are made up of numbers but they're truly text fields. You don't add your ZIP code and my ZIP code together to create a new location. We use the number data type when you'll potentially perform some sort of mathematical calculation on that field. A good example would be a Quantity field where you would add and subtract your orders, or your inventories. Let's take a look at our Orders table in Design View. Click on your Quantity and you can see that it has a Number data type. Look down in the Field Properties, and the default Field Size is Long Integer. But if I use this dropdown arrow I have many different options. Let's take a look at what each of these means. You have different options because it's important to reserve the space in…

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