text: what is the difference between validation text and validation rule?   validation rule : when you design a table in a database and you create a field that is supposed to hold a certain type of information, you may want to create an input mask to complement that field. what an input mask does is specifies an exact format for the information to be entered into the database. for example, a field such as phone # would be a good candidate for an input mask.  validatiion text : this property is related to the validation rule property and is used to specify an error message that will be displayed in case the validation rule is not satisfied.