Data Integrity Question when forcing existing data in a character field to a drop-down list

[kalataw@drivezone.n…]

If I want to force an existing charater field to a drop-down list and there are many records that already have data, will the existing data in the field be erased or forced to be changed when selected?  I just want to make sure that I am not causing any integrity problems.

Example: We use a field to record initials of a person making the entry, but there's initials for older people that are no longer with the company and their initials exist in the field.  Will that information remain?  If the field happens to be selected, is it required to be changed to the forced drop-down list or can the "ESC" key be used to back-out of the operation?

-Wes

[klock]

I tested on my 2011 version - looked up on a specific drop down value, went into list and removed that value, scrolled through records with the deleted value - did not prompt me to change.  One thing, though - is that if it isn't in the list, you'll have to remember the removed values in order to accurately pull records, etc. Or maybe change the drop down item to Initials-DO NOT USE so any future ones will show that if selected, and you can still do a look up starts with Initials to get old employee records. 

Just a thought.