>first, in principle I might open the table directly in one place, and >through a view in another place.

In our app all data access is through local views so that has not been an issue for us.


>Second, I was hoping to continue using the view designer, and I don't see how to assign a default value to a field in the view designer.

In the View Designer, Fields Tab, click the 'Properties' button. A default value can be entered in the Field Validation area.

Bruce