What is an expression?

Expressions are a fundamental part of many Microsoft Access operations. An expression is a combination of symbols — identifiers, operators, and values — that produces a result.

For example, you can use the following expression in a control on a form or report to display the sum of the values in the Subtotal and Freight controls:

= [Subtotal] + [Freight]

Here are a few common examples of operations where you use expressions:

• Setting a property that defines a calculated control, establishes a validation rule, or sets a default field value.
  
  
• Entering a criteria expression, creating a calculated field, or updating records in a query or filter.
  
  
• Setting a condition for carrying out an action or series of actions in a macro, or specifying arguments for many actions.
  
  
• Specifying arguments for many functions, statements, and methods in Visual Basic for Applications procedures.
  
  
• Editing an SQL query in SQL view of the Query window, or using an SQL statement in a property setting or argument.

For information on creating an expression, click .

To see examples of expressions, click .