Access 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual

Validation Rules

Input masks are a great tool, but they apply to only a few specific types of information—usually fixed-length text that has a single, unchanging pattern. To create a truly bulletproof table, you need to use more sophisticated restrictions, like making sure a number falls in a certain range, checking that a date hasn't yet occurred, or verifying that a text value starts with a certain letter. Validation rules can help you create all these restrictions.

A validation rule's premise is simple. You set up a restriction that tells Access which values to allow in a field and which ones are no good. Whenever someone adds a new record or edits a record, Access makes sure the data lives up to your validation rules. If it doesn't, then Access presents an error message and forces you to edit the offending data and try again.

Figure 4-13. To add your own mask, use the record scrolling buttons (at the bottom of the window) to scroll to the end. Or you can use this window to change a mask. For example, the prebuilt telephone mask doesn't require an area code. If that's a liberty you're not willing to take, then replace it with the more restrictive version [phone].

Applying a Field Validation Rule

Each field can have a single validation rule. The following set of steps show you how to set one up. You'll start out easy, with a validation rule that prevents a numeric field from ...