Yes/No required 2007/2003

[Guest]

I am creating a database in Access 2007 that needs to be backwards compatible
with Access 2003. I have a yes/no field in a table that needs to be
required. However, when I check the "Is Required" option in the Data Type &
Formatting section of the ribbon, it will not stay selected. Can a yes/no
field be required in 2007? I seem to remember being able to do this in
Access 2003...

 

[Allen Browne]

I'm not sure I have understood your question, as I can't see the Is Required
option on the Design tab of the ribbon in Table Design view.

Perhaps you were referring to the properties pane (lower pane of table
design?) The Required property doesn't seem to be there in Access 2007 as it
was in previous versions.

However, the property makes no difference. The Yes/No data type in Access
cannot store Nulls, so it is always True or False, and the setting of the
Required property is therefore meaningless. Perhaps that's why it is not
show in the new version.

IMHO, the fact that Access is incapable of handling nulls in a yes/no field
is a serious weakness in JET, not to mention the problems, bugs, and crashes
that result from this weakness. Here's an example:
http://allenbrowne.com/bug-14.html