You can specify properties of fields that have been added to the project. Explanations of these options follow.
| Use this | To do this |
|---|---|
| Data type | Specify the type of data the field contains. If you don’t know what kind of data the field contains, select Unknown. The following table describes the Microsoft English Query data types and their equivalent SQL data types:
Integer—int,smallint, tinyint Float—real, decimal, numeric, money, small money Date—datetime, smalldatetime String—char, varchar Bit—bit Text—-text Other—binary, image, varbinary, timestamp |
| Data capitalization | Specify the case in which the data was entered: For example, all lowercase, initial caps, and so on. If you don’t know how the data was entered or the data is inconsistently capitalized, select Unknown.
The effect of using this option depends on whether Add values of this entity to the domain is selected. For all values of Data Capitalization other than Unknown: Regardless of how the user types in the data value in the question, the SQL generated by English Query matches the data capitalization values. For example, if the user asks, "Who sold the most widgets," and the data capitalization on the product_name field is "UPPERCASE", then the SQL will contain "product_name = 'WIDGET'". An exception to this can occur when the values of product_name are loaded into the domain. If there are any data values that violate the capitalization convention, these are memorized so that the correct capitalization will be used in the SQL. For data capitalization that is unknown: The capitalization in the SQL generated by English Query matches the user's capitalization exactly, whether or not the data values have been loaded into the domain. For example, if the user asks, "How many Oscars did Gone With the Wind win?", the SQL is "movie_name = 'Gone With the Wind'. In cases in which users are unlikely to know the correct capitalization to use, pick the closest data capitalization value other than Unknown, and load values of the entity into the domain so that all capitalization is memorized by English Query. |
| Part of primary key | Specify that the field is part of the primary key for the table. |
| Computed field | Specify that the value of this field is derived from a computation, rather than occurring in a database table. Click Edit Computation to add or edit an SQL expression associated with this field. |
| Caption (optional) | Specify the label for this field, if one exists. For example, the LastName field may have a caption of Last Name, which is used on forms and reports. |
| Units of measure | Specify (in singular, rather than plural form) the units of measure in which the field data —-if any—-is stored: for example, year, inch, or kilometer. |
| Date type | Specify the date type of the data in the field, if any. If this field contains a fiscal year, click the This field contains a fiscal year check box. |
| Name structure | Specify the type of name data contained in the field, if any. If you don’t know what type of name data is in this field, select Unknown. In the last two selections, [Middle] indicates that the middle name is optional. |
| Perform Automatic wildcard search | Specify that searches on this field will automatically include wildcards in the SQL statements. For example, the question Who wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? will include the following clause in its corresponding SQL statement:
title like %Adventures% Huckleberry%Finn% |
| Show Entities | Display a list of entities that use this field. |