Persistent field components created with the Fields editor provide efficient, readable, and type-safe programmatic access to underlying data. Using persistent field components guarantees that each time your application runs, it always uses and displays the same columns, in the same order even if the physical structure of the underlying database has changed. Data-aware components and program code that rely on specific fields always work as expected. If a column on which a persistent field component is based is deleted or changed, Delphi generates an exception rather than running the application against a nonexistent column or mismatched data.

1. Place a dataset in a data module.
2. Bind the dataset to its underlying data. This typically involves associating the dataset with a connection component or provider and specifying any properties to describe the data. For example, If you are using TADODataSet, you can set the Connection property to a properly configured TADOConnection component and set the CommandText property to a valid query.
3. Double-click the dataset component in the data module to invoke the Fields editor. The Fields editor contains a title bar, navigator buttons, and a list box. The title bar of the Fields editor displays both the name of the data module or form containing the dataset, and the name of the dataset itself. For example, if you open the Customers dataset in the CustomerData data module, the title bar displays 'CustomerData.Customers,' or as much of the name as fits. Below the title bar is a set of navigation buttons that let you scroll one-by-one through the records in an active dataset at design time, and to jump to the first or last record. The navigation buttons are dimmed if the dataset is not active or if the dataset is empty. If the dataset is unidirectional, the buttons for moving to the last record and the previous record are always dimmed. The list box displays the names of persistent field components for the dataset. The first time you invoke the Fields editor for a new dataset, the list is empty because the field components for the dataset are dynamic, not persistent. If you invoke the Fields editor for a dataset that already has persistent field components, you see the field component names in the list box.
4. Right click in the Fields editor and choose Add Fields.
5. Select the fields to make persistent in the Add Fields dialog box. By default, all fields are selected when the dialog box opens. Any fields you select become persistent fields.

The Add Fields dialog box closes, and the fields you selected appear in the Fields editor list box. Fields in the Fields editor list box are persistent. If the dataset is active, note, too, that the Next and (if the dataset is not unidirectional) Last navigation buttons above the list box are enabled. 

From now on, each time you open the dataset, it no longer creates dynamic field components for every column in the underlying database. Instead it only creates persistent components for the fields you specified. 

Each time you open the dataset, it verifies that each non-calculated persistent field exists or can be created from data in the database. If it cannot, the dataset raises an exception warning you that the field is not valid, and does not open the dataset.