I am totally new to this but have been tasked with fixing an issue with our Access Data base (that was written by someone else) that is part of a SQL Server. We have a student table with First, Middle Initial and Last Names. These data types were all set up as nvarchar. When we go to print out a certificate the query takes FNAME+N' '+Initial+ n' '+LNAME and puts that info into FULLNAME. The issue is this: If a person does not have a middle initial and that field is left blank nothing prints out on the certificate (or any other query using that information). If you put a period in to the "INITIAL" field it will print out as "Jane . Doe" When I run across someone without a middle name I have to go into the query and remove reference to INITIAL and print out just that certificate. Is there a way I can give "INITIAL" another data type designation that will recognize a blank space? Also there are some 8,000 records in the student data base now. If I change the "INITIAL" field's data type will that mess up the existing table for any future info that may need to be taken from it. Desperately needing some guidance.