Data Dictionaries: Typical FieldsA data dictionary is a table providing a comprehensive description of each field in the database. Data dictionaries (are used) to describe the characteristics of data including: field name: the name of the field as it appears in the database. data type: includes text, number, date, currency, yes/no (boolean). data format: any special formatting applied to the field; e.g. number of decimal places in number fields, short, medium and long date and time formats. field size: the number of characters allowed for a given field. description: a simple description of field contents. example: a typical field entry.
Sample: an excerpt from a data dictionary | Field name | Data type | Data Format | Field Size | Description | Example | | UserID | Text | NNNNNNNN | 8 | Unique eight digit number represented as text | 0001539 | | FirstName | Text | | 25 | First name of employee | Bill | | Surname | Text | | 25 | Surname of employee | Smith | | DOB | Date | DD/MM/YYYY | 10 | Date of birth as a short date format | 15/07/1982 | | HourlyPayRate | Currency | #####.## | 8 | Rate of pay expressed in dollars per hour | 34.50 | | Height | Real | #.## | 3 | Height in metres, with two decimal places | 1.58 | | FeesPaid | Boolean | | 1 | Y or N for Yes or No | Y
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