Examples of manipulating text values in forms, reports, and data access pages

The following table lists examples of expressions that you can use in calculated controls on forms, reports, and data access pages.

Expression	Description
="N/A"	Displays N/A.
=[FirstName] & " " & [LastName]	Displays the values of the FirstName and LastName fields separated by a space.
=Left([ProductName], 1)	Uses the Left function to display the first character of the value of the ProductName field.
=Right([AssetCode], 2)	Uses the Right function to display the last 2 characters of the value of the AssetCode field.
=Trim([Address])	Uses the Trim function to display the value of the Address field, removing any leading or trailing spaces.
=IIf(IsNull([Region]), [City] & " " & [PostalCode], [City] & " " & [Region] & " " & [PostalCode])	Uses the IIf function to display the values of the City and PostalCode fields if Region is Null; otherwise, it displays the values of the City, Region, and PostalCode fields, separated by spaces.

Notes

In the ControlSource property of a calculated control, precede the expression with the = operator. On a data access page, you can omit the = operator, and type an alias instead; for example, type FullName: [FirstName] & " " & [LastName].
When you set the Name property of a calculated control in a form or report, or set the ID property of a calculated control in a data access page, make sure to use a unique name. Don't use the name or ID of one of the controls that you used in the expression.
In an expression on a form or report, you can use the name of a control or field in the underlying record source. In an expression on a data access page, you can use only the name of a field that's in the data definition of that page.