Question
A company is implementing a data model by using Dataverse.
The company requires the following columns in a new custom table:
You need to choose the column type that uses the least amount of database storage for each column.
Which column types should you choose? To answer, select the appropriate options in the answer area.
NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
| Column name | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Special Notes | Must contain string data that stores 100 characters and be rendered as a multiline control. |
| Specification | Must contain string data that stores up to 8,000 characters and be rendered as a multiline control. |
| Student | Must contain an input control that can store a reference to an account or a contact in the system. |
| Course Type | Must contain a list of predefined options. Users must be able to select only one option. |
Explanation
Special Notes: Text Area — Text Area is a format of the Single Line of Text column type, so it is stored as an nvarchar column sized to the maximum length you set (default 100, up to 4,000 characters) while still giving users a multi-row editing box in the form. Multiline Text is the Multiple Lines of Text (memo) type, which reserves storage for a far larger value, so for a notes column that only needs a few lines Text Area is the cheaper choice; plain Text would store the same amount but does not provide the multi-row entry experience the column calls for.
Specification: Multiline Text — a specification can exceed the 4,000-character ceiling of Single Line of Text, and Multiple Lines of Text supports up to 1,048,576 characters, so it is the only type here that can hold the value at all. Text and Text Area are both Single Line of Text under the covers and cap out at 4,000 characters, so neither can be used regardless of storage efficiency.
Student: Customer — the Customer data type is a single polymorphic lookup that can point at either an Account or a Contact record, so one column covers both cases. Using Lookup would require two separate lookup columns (one to Account, one to Contact) to get the same coverage, which consumes more storage than the single Customer column.
Course Type: Choice — a Choice (option set) stores one selected value as a single integer in the column, which is the smallest footprint of the available options. Choices is the multi-select option set, which stores a delimited string of multiple integer values and therefore uses more space, and a Lookup would require a separate related table plus a GUID reference just to hold a fixed list of course types.
