I'm formatting a Personal Geodatabase on ArcGIS 10.1 and I came across a important issue. I have this particular field that I want to limit to 5 particular entries.
So, the result being that I don't want any user to insert different entries from those I established. Is it possible? If it is, can you point me towards it?
I believe database Domains will accomplish what you're looking for.
From Catalog, right click your gdb and select Properties, then go to the Domain tab. Start typing in the Domain name box to create a domain.
Below, Select the field type you want to apply the domain to. This is the type of values you want stored in the database.
In the next box down, type all the values you want stored in the database in the Code column. The description column will be what users see in the interface. So if your code was 1, and the Description was "Open", users would see the choice "Open", but the value 1 would be stored in the database.
To apply the domain, open arc toolbox, go to Data Management > Domains > Assign Domain to Field and choose the field you want to limit data entry on.
Once that is complete, users editing the field will be presented with a dropdown list of the values specified in the code/value pairs of the domain.
What you are describing is what is called a domain. Domains exist in geodatabases but not shapefiles.
You basically create a field (numeric or text) which stores the value but each value has a description. So for example you have a numeric field of type SHORT called "quality". The domain would be 1 = good, 2 = OK, 3 = bad. You assign that domain to that field. So when the user edits the attribute table and clicks in the cell they will be offered up a choice of good, OK or bad. What gets written into the table behind the scenes is either 1, 2, or 3.
Search the help file for Domains
