Enter data into fields

An Aspen page is comprised of fields which store particular information. A collection of fields is called a record or table. Aspen contains over 300 tables. Every table has a set number of fields.

For example, the Student table is comprised of 254 fields: 27 of them are system-defined, and 227 are user-defined. Some system-defined fields on the Student table include:

  • student's name
  • student's address
  • student's phone number

A field is comprised of two parts:

  • field name
  • entry field

Type of Fields

Aspen's fields can be one of the following general types:

Entry fields

Users enter data into these two types of entry fields:

  • Required: The user must enter data in order to proceed and save the data entered on the page. Required fields have a red asterisk * next to the name. If you define a user-defined field as required, it will also display the red asterisk.

  • Required field example

Aspen system administrators can define system-defined and user-defined fields as required.

See Create User-Defined Fields.

Note: Not all samples of pages and fields shown in Aspen's online help and user guides show the red asterisk indicating a required field.
  • Optional: The user is not required to enter data in order to proceed. User can enter data or leave it blank.

  • Optional field example

Display-only fields

User cannot enter data into these two types of fields. These fields cannot be edited. They display information.

  • Calculated: The user does not enter data here. This field's data is derived from a formula involving other fields. Aspen automatically determines the correct value. This is a display-only field.

  • The GPAClosed grade point average is an example of a calculated field.

  • Read-only: The user does not enter data here. These fields are for displaying internal system information that cannot be changed, such as the object identifier (OID), the system's internal name for the field which is used when exporting, importing, and writing reports and templates.

Most fields have attributes associated with them which determines the type of data that can be entered in the entry field. For example, fields can be numeric, textual, long text, or short text. These are defined by system administrators in the Data DictionaryClosed organizes the tables and fields that house all of your district's administrative information and references tables, which work together to allow administrators to control what data is stored in fields and what type of data users can enter.

See Create User-Defined Fields.