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hi,<br />
<br />
a Validation Rule just validates data, it cannot change it. <br />
<br />
Normally, one would use a form to enter data, so there could be AfterUpdate event for the control, or BeforeUpdate event for the form, that trims the entry<br />
<br />
You could also validate with an event too<br />
<br />
have an awesome day,<br />
crystal
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I tend to not use validation rules on fields and use the Form_BeforeUpdate event to test for valid entries in all fields, similar to Crystal's comment above. &nbsp;I've found that validation rules can be difficult to format properly and get the effect you want, but putting VBA in the Form_BeforeUpdate event allows me to test for all of the required fields, and validation in a single place. &nbsp;It also allows you to manipulate text (like trimming that leading space).
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I have a form that has an email field. &nbsp;I have a validation rule of:<br />
<br />
Is Null Or ((Like &quot;*?@?*.?*&quot;) And (Not Like &quot;*[ ,;]*&quot;))<br />
<br />
to help ensure the email is entered fairly accurately. &nbsp;For the most part it works great. &nbsp;However if a user pastes text into the field that has a space at the start of the text the validation rule fails.<br />
<br />
Is there a way to incorporate trim into the validation rule or perhaps run after update VBA code to validate the form and trim it instead?
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I have a form that has an email field.  I have a validation rule of:

Is Null Or ((Like "*?@?*.?*") And (Not Like "*[ ,;]*"))

to help ensure the email is entered fairly accurately.  For the most part it works great.  However if a user pastes text into the field that has a space at the start of the text the validation rule fails.

Is there a way to incorporate trim into the validation rule or perhaps run after update VBA code to validate the form and trim it instead?

Trim a validation rule?

Microsoft Access is a rapid application development (RAD) relational database tool. Access can be used for both desktop and web-based applications, and uses VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) as its coding language.

Microsoft Access

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) enables building user-defined functions (UDFs), automating processes and accessing Windows API and other low-level functionality through dynamic-link libraries (DLLs). VBA is closely related to Visual Basic and uses the Visual Basic Runtime Library, but it can normally only run code within a host application rather than as a standalone program. It can, however, be used to control one application from another via OLE Automation. VBA is built into most Microsoft Office applications.