Special Edition Using Microsoft® Office XP

Creating and Customizing Tables

A table is the basic unit for storing and organizing information in an Access database. One database can contain any number of tables, as well as links to tables stored in other locations and other formats. Data within a table is arranged in a basic grid: Each row contains all the data fields in a single record, and each column represents a field, where similar information (first name and last name, for instance) is stored in all the records. In turn, tables directly or indirectly form the basis for all other objects within an Access database, including queries, forms, and reports.

As a general rule, however, each field definition has four elements, all of them visible when you open a table in Design view and select ...