Making a Database - 3 - Formatting Fields

Use Design View to format fields correctly

Using the import data wizard means the computer does not always guess the correct formats for the fields.

1. Right Click on the data table and choose Design View

2. This displays the Field Name and Data Type for every field.  You need to check that each data type is correct and that the field size is appropriate. 

3.  For example, the longest entry in the location field is "Home Counties" with 13 spaces required.  Click on the location data type 'text' and change 255 to 13.

4.  The year group is a maximum of two digits, so change the field size to double integer.

5. Make similar judgements and changes on the other fields.

6. Click File -> Save.