• Add Fields to List Dialog Box
• Alpha Five Basics
• Automatic Backup and Revision Control of Layouts and Field Rules
• Automatically Populating Linking Field Values when Doing Data Entry
• Calculated Fields
• Calculated Values
• Changing the Caseof Words
• Coded Fields
• Controlling a Field's Width
• Copy Previous Field
• Creating a Field Rule Event
• Creating a Posting Field Rule
• Creating a Simple List
• Creating and Using a Summary Field
• Creating and Using an Email Smart Field
• Creating and Using Calculated Values
• Data Field Control Properties
• Default Values
• Defaulting a Date Field to Today's Date
• Define an Alpha Five View Query
• Dial Phone Number in Field
• Display Help Topic
• Exporting Fields from a Table
• Expression Builder
• F1 Context Sensitive Help
• Field Rule Field Events
• Field Rule Record Events
• Field Rules
• Field Rules Table Lookups
• Field Rules: Field Types
• Filtering Records to Exclude a Single Field Value
• Find Tables that Contain a Field Name
• Form Level Field Rules
• How Auto-Increment Fields Work
• Improvements V9
• List Box Table Lookup
• Mask Style
• Microsoft Word Integration
• Modifying a Form Field on the On Change Event
• Multi Field Quick Filter Dialog Box
• Override Field Definitions Dialog
• Overview of Field Rules
• Parent-Child Dialog Example
• Placing a Calculated Value on a Form
• Placing a Data Field on a Form
• Placing Bitmap and JPEG Image Fields
• Placing Image File Reference Fields
• Placing Smart Fields on a Form
• Query Builder
• Quickly Sorting and FilteringRecords
• Re-EvaluatingField Rules
• Recalculating Calculated Fields
• Required Fields
• Resize Fields to Fit Data
• Retrieving Distinct Field Values
• Returning a Different Field Than You Display
• Right-Click Menus
• Select Fields Dialog - Generic
• Select Text in a Field
• Skipping Over Fields
• Sorting and Selecting Overview
• Specify Filter Dialog
• Specify Order Dialog
• Specify Table Name Dialog
• Tracking Changes to Table Fields
• Types of Field Rules
• Update Example
• Using a Coded Lookup Field
• Using Field Rules to Generate A Table Lookup
• Using Field Statistics
• Using Object Properties for Table Lookups
• Using the Fields Panel
• Validation Rules
• When Calculated Fields are Calculated
• Xbasic View Record

Overview of Field Rules

Description

Alpha Anywhere offers great flexibility for controlling data entry in your database. You can create Field Rules to govern how you enter data in a table or set, and help ensure that data entry is accurate, consistent, and complete. You use Field Rules to control the information that you can enter in a field.

For example, you have a phone number field in a customer table, and you want to require that a phone number be entered for each new customer in a specific format, (000) 000-0000. Here you would use mask and template field rules to define the format of the phone number. You would then specify the field as required to force field entry in order to save a new record. With sets, you can define and modify Field Rules for all fields in the set's component tables simultaneously. However, the rules defined for each field are stored only at the table level; a set does not have its own Field Rules.

You can use Field Rules to perform the following tasks:

• Insert calculations or incrementing values

• Validate, format, and insert field values

• Change field entry case

• Ensure reasonable and accurate values

• Create table lookups for filling-in data

• Post data from one table to another

• Define Xbasic scripts for different events

Opening the Field Rule Editor

1. Right-click on a table in the Control Panel.

2. Select Edit Field Rules from the right-click menu to display the Field Rule Editor.

3. Use the drop-down box at the top to switch between fields.

4. Use the tabs to switch between groups of Field Rules. Field Rule Editor:

   

Deleting a Field Rule

To delete a field rule:

1. Display the Tables/Sets tab of the Control Panel.

2. Select the table that contains the field rule.

3. Select Design > Field Rules.

4. Select the field that has the field rule from the drop-down list box.

5. Select the tab that implements the rule.

6. Click Rules > Delete Rule. If you want to delete all rules, select Rules > Delete All Rules.

Overview of Field Rules

The following tables provide a brief description of each Field Rule.

Field Types

• Extended field types

  Assigns Calculated or Auto-Increment values to fields as records are entered.

• Default Descriptive Name

  Changes the default field name; for example, F_Name to First Name.

• Field Description

  Provides the status bar text that appears when a field is selected.

Data Entry

• Required

  Specifies that a field must contain data.

• Masks/Templates

  Inserts formatting characters, like dashes and spaces, and determines whether a number or letter can be entered in a particular location in the field. The commonly used template (000) 000-000 defines a phone number field. The 000000-0000 template defines the Zip + 4 field.

• Auto-Advance

  Moves the cursor to the next field when the current field is full; for example, after you enter both characters in a two-character state abbreviation field, the cursor moves to the next field.

• Default Mode

  When creating a new record, fills a field with a default value, which can be either a constant or the result of a expression.

• Skip

  Causes the cursor to skip over the field, when you press the Tab or Enter keys.

• Position Cursor

  Places the cursor at the beginning or end of selected or non-selected text, when the field gets focus.

Transformations

• Case Convert

  Converts values to uppercase, lowercase, or a combination of both.

• Speed Typing Glossary

  Fills in a longer word or phrase, when you enter a user-defined keyword. (Included for V4 compatibility.) The preferred method is to use the Tools > Speed Glossary command,

Validations

• Double Entry

  Requires that a field value be entered twice, to ensure data entry accuracy.

• Min/Max Value

  Specifies the minimum and maximum field values.

• Uniqueness Test for a Field

  Prohibits a field value from being entered in the same field for another record.

• Uniqueness Test for Multiple Fields in a Record

  Forces multiple fields in a record to be unique.

• Cross file Validation

  Cross-checks a field value to a field value in another table.

• Custom Validation

  Checks the validity of a field value using a validation expression or user-defined function.

Lookups

• Simple List

  Presents a pre-defined list of values for field entry.

• Cascading List

  Presents a pre-defined list, which can include multiple sub-lists, for field entry.

• Table Lookup

  Presents selections from an existing table, for field entry.

• Conditional Table Lookup

  Presents values for field entry, based on a conditional expression.

• Previous Values

  Presents values from a list of previously entered values.

Posting

• Posting

  Posts data from the current field to a target field, allowing you to add to, subtract from, or replace the target field value. Posting does not create new records. Posting is useful for keeping a running total, by using the add option, or for tracking inventory levels, by using the subtract option.

Events

• Field Event

  Lets you execute Xbasic code for the following field events: CanEditField, OnEditField, CanWriteField, and OnWroteField.

• Record Event

  Lets you execute Xbasic code for the following record events: CanEditRecord, OnEditRecord, CanChangeRecord, OnChangeRecord, CanSaveRecord, OnSaveRecord, CanMarkRecord, OnMarkRecord, CanUnmarkRecord, OnUnmarkRecord, CanDeleteRecord, OnDeleteRecord.