View Column Properties
There are two sets of view column properties: you can select the object in server explorer to see an abbreviated set or select the object from the dropdown list at the top of the Properties window to see a fuller set.Note The properties in this topic are ordered by category rather than alphabet.
Note
Your computer might show different names or locations for some of the Visual Studio user interface elements in the following instructions. The Visual Studio edition that you have and the settings that you use determine these elements. For more information, see Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio.
Properties for object selected in Server Explorer
Identity Category
Expands to show the Name property.Name
Shows the name of the selected column.Misc Category
Expands to show the remaining properties.Data Type
Shows the data type of the selected column.Is Identity
Shows whether the selected column is the identity column for the view. To change the property, open the view in Table Designer and edit the properties in the Properties window.Length
Shows the number of characters allowed for columns with character-based data types.Nullable
Shows whether or not the column allows null values.Precision
Shows the maximum number of digits allowed for numeric data types. This property shows 0 for nonnumeric data types.Scale
Shows the maximum number of digits that can appear to the right of the decimal point for numeric data types. This value must be less than or equal to the precision. This property shows 0 for nonnumeric data types.
Properties for object selected from the Properties window dropdown
Identity Category
Expands to show the Name property.Name
Shows the name of the selected column.Query Designer Category
Expands to show the remaining properties.Allow Nulls
Shows whether or not the column allows null values.Collation
Shows the collation setting for the selected column. To change this setting, click Collation and then click the ellipses (…) to the right of the value. (Applies to SQL Server 2000 or later only)Data Type
Shows the data type of the selected column.Length
Shows the number of characters allowed for columns with character-based data types.Precision
Shows the maximum number of digits allowed for numeric data types. This property shows 0 for nonnumeric data types.Scale
Shows the maximum number of digits that can appear to the right of the decimal point for numeric data types. This value must be less than or equal to the precision. This property shows 0 for nonnumeric data types.Size
Shows the size in bytes allowed by column's data type. For example, a nchar data type may have a length of 10 (the number of characters) but it would have a size of 20 to account for Unicode character sets.