The Field Object

Each Field object usually corresponds to a column in a database table. However, a Field can also represent a pointer to another Recordset, called a chapter. Exceptions, such as chapter columns, will be covered later in this guide.

Use the Value property of Field objects to set or return data for the current record. Depending on the functionality the provider exposes, some collections, methods, or properties of a Field object may not be available.

With the collections, methods, and properties of a Field object, you can do the following:

• Return the name of a field by using the Name property.
• View or change the data in the field by using the Value property. Value is the default property of the Field object.
• Return the basic characteristics of a field by using the Type, Precision, and NumericScale properties.
• Return the declared size of a field by using the DefinedSize property.
• Return the actual size of the data in a given field by using the ActualSize property.
• Determine what types of functionality are supported for a given field by using the Attributes property and Properties collection.
• Manipulate the values of fields containing long binary or long character data by using the AppendChunk and GetChunk methods.

Resolve discrepancies in field values during batch updating by using the OriginalValue and UnderlyingValue properties, if the provider supports batch updates.