field type for telephone numbers

[pronate]

hi!

Sorry if this sound too elementary for most of you.

Anyway, for things like telephone, should i use a number field or a text field with limited chars? your arguments?

Cheers
Sam

 

[cmmrfrds]

As a text field, which you can format when it is entered and then display as is. If you make it a number you will need to format everytime you display it.

 

[LooneyToon]

It depends !
Are all the phone numbers going to have the same input mask ? ie. (000) 123456 ?
if so, you can use text and then have an "input mask" in the field e.g. (___) ___-____

I think that it is quicker and easier to enter data in that way!

Cheers
LooneyToon

 

[SgtJarrow]

The typical rule of thumb is ONLY use number fields if you plan to do math function with them.....in other words, as a phone number will never be added, subtracted, etc use a text field and format it the way you want it. The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein

Robert L. Johnson III, A+, Network+, MCP
Access Developer/Programmer
robert.l.johnson.iii@citigroup.com

 

[GHolden]

If you use number fields you will lose preceding zero's.

eg 0181 would become 181