Field.DefaultValue property (DAO)

Applies to: Access 2013, Office 2013

Sets or returns the default value of a Field object. For a Field object not yet appended to the Fields collection, this property is read/write (Microsoft Access workspaces only).

Syntax

expression .DefaultValue

expression A variable that represents a Field object.

Remarks

The setting or return value is a String data type that can contain a maximum of 255 characters. It can be either text or an expression. If the property setting is an expression, it can't contain user-defined functions, Microsoft Access database engine SQL aggregate functions, or references to queries, forms, or other Field objects.

Note

You can also set the DefaultValue property of a Field object on a TableDef object to a special value called "GenUniqueID( )". This causes a random number to be assigned to this field whenever a new record is added or created, thereby giving each record a unique identifier. The field's Type property must be Long.

The availability of the DefaultValue property depends on the object that contains the Fields collection, as shown in the following table.

If the Fields collection belongs to an	Then DefaultValue is
Index object	Not supported
QueryDef object	Read-only
Recordset object	Read-only
Relation object	Not supported
TableDef object	Read/write

When a new record is created, the DefaultValue property setting is automatically entered as the value for the field. You can change the field value by setting its Value property.

The DefaultValue property doesn't apply to AutoNumber and Long Binary fields.

Example

This example uses the DefaultValue property to alert the user of a field's normal value while prompting for input. In addition, it demonstrates how new records will be filled using DefaultValue in the absence of any other input. The DefaultPrompt function is required for this procedure to run.

    Sub DefaultValueX() 
     
     Dim dbsNorthwind As Database 
     Dim tdfEmployees As TableDef 
     Dim strOldDefault As String 
     Dim rstEmployees As Recordset 
     Dim strMessage As String 
     Dim strCode As String 
     
     Set dbsNorthwind = OpenDatabase("Northwind.mdb") 
     Set tdfEmployees = dbsNorthwind.TableDefs!Employees 
     
     ' Store original DefaultValue information and set the 
     ' property to a new value. 
     strOldDefault = _ 
     tdfEmployees.Fields!PostalCode.DefaultValue 
     tdfEmployees.Fields!PostalCode.DefaultValue = "98052" 
     
     Set rstEmployees = _ 
     dbsNorthwind.OpenRecordset("Employees", _ 
     dbOpenDynaset) 
     
     With rstEmployees 
     ' Add a new record to the Recordset. 
     .AddNew 
     !FirstName = "Bruce" 
     !LastName = "Oberg" 
     
     ' Get user input. If user enters something, the field 
     ' will be filled with that data; otherwise, it will be 
     ' filled with the DefaultValue information. 
     strMessage = "Enter postal code for " & vbCr & _ 
     !FirstName & " " & !LastName & ":" 
     strCode = DefaultPrompt(strMessage, !PostalCode) 
     If strCode <> "" Then !PostalCode = strCode 
     .Update 
     
     ' Go to new record and print information. 
     .Bookmark = .LastModified 
     Debug.Print " FirstName = " & !FirstName 
     Debug.Print " LastName = " & !LastName 
     Debug.Print " PostalCode = " & !PostalCode 
     
     ' Delete new record because this is a demonstration. 
     .Delete 
     .Close 
     End With 
     
     ' Restore original DefaultValue property because this is a 
     ' demonstration. 
     tdfEmployees.Fields!PostalCode.DefaultValue = _ 
     strOldDefault 
     
     dbsNorthwind.Close 
     
    End Sub 
     
    Function DefaultPrompt(strPrompt As String, _ 
     fldTemp As Field) As String 
     
     Dim strFullPrompt As String 
     
     ' Ask user for new DefaultValue setting for the specified 
     ' Field object. 
     strFullPrompt = strPrompt & vbCr & _ 
     "[Default = " & fldTemp.DefaultValue & _ 
     ", Cancel - use default]" 
     DefaultPrompt = InputBox(strFullPrompt) 
     
    End Function