>>What is the difference between field validation and record validation in the table designer?
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>I find both of these problematic, and prefer to do all validation either (a) at the form level, or (b) when it is more important not to violate a certain rule, as table triggers.
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>The problem, the way I see it, is that validation, especially at the field level - and to a lesser degree also at the record level - is done too early. For example, the user clicks "Tab" in a TextBox, and can't get out of the TextBox until a valid value is entered (not even to press a "Cancel" button on the same form!). I prefer to allow the user to input data in any order he desires, and postpone any validation for the moment he decides to save.

As a user I prefer feedback on incorrect data input to be as soon as possible, not after I have keyed in a number of other fields. As long as the field validation does an immediate check for the Esc key, bailing out if it was pressed, the user is not trapped in the field with no way out.