In Microsoft Access, setting effectivity rules is an important way to ensure data quality by helping you limit the type or scope of data that users enter. Here are the general steps to set up effectivity rules:
In Access, open the database for which you want to set effectivity rules.
In the navigation pane, right-click the table you want to add rules to and select Design View.
In the table design view, select the field to which you want to add an effectivity rule.
In the Field Attributes section, locate the Validation Rule attribute.
In the Effectivity Rule property, enter your rule. For example:
For numeric fields, if you want to limit the value to be between 1 and 10, you can enter it>=1 and <=10
For text fields, if you want to limit the input to specific texts, such as "male" or "female", you can enter them"Male" or "Female"
In the validation text attribute, enter the prompt that appears when the user enters invalid data. For example, for the number field rule above, the validity text could be "Please enter a number between 1 and 10".
Save the table design.
Switch to the table's datasheet view and try to enter some data to test if your effectivity rules are working as expected.
Validity rules should be concise and clear to ensure that users can easily understand and follow.
If your validity rule is more complex, consider breaking it down into a few simple rules.
Effectivity rules can be used not only at the field level, but also at the record level. At the record level, you can set up rules that involve multiple fields.
When using validity rules, take into account all potentially legitimate inputs to avoid unnecessary restrictions.
By using validity rules, you can maintain the accuracy and reliability of your data by preventing incorrect or inappropriate data entry into the database at the source.