Examples of manipulating text values

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.