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About naming fields Field names must be unique, and can contain up to 100 characters. Follow these guidelines when naming fields: • Do not use any of the following symbols and words in the field name: • ,(comma), +, -, *, /, ^, &, =, ≠, >, <, ( ), [ ], { }, ", ; (semicolon), : (colon), :: (relational indicator), $ (variable indicator) • AND, OR, NOT, XOR, TRUE, FALSE, or the name of any FileMaker Pro function • Don't begin a field name to be used in a calculation formula with a space, period (.), or number. • Use _ (underscore) in place of a space to avoid restrictions in ODBC, exporting, web publishing, and other operations. • If you're exchanging data with another application, check the field naming restrictions in the file formats supported by that application. • If you're using ODBC or JDBC to share FileMaker Pro data, avoid using SQL keywords in field names. Related topics Using a reserved word or symbol for a field or table name Changing field names