Java API:Field Type Reference

This table shows how to format input data for the various Field Display Types in platform objects when using the Java API.

Field Display Types	Description
Auto Number	n/a (read only)
Checkbox	Specify 1 for Yes/True, 0 for No/False
Currency	Specify a value in Database Format, with no currency symbol and no separators other than the decimal point.
Date	A date. The field definition and user's Locale Settings determine how to format the value.
Date time	A date and time. The field definition and user's Locale Settings determine how to format the value.
Dependent Picklist	Specify one of the picklist values. An error is thrown if the list (determined by the parent-field dependency) doesn't include that value.
Email Address	A string containing text in email-address format. For example: friend@somewhere.com
External Lookup	n/a
File Field	To upload a file, use the instructions to Submit data that includes a File attachment
Formula	n/a
Geolocation	A string containing a latitude and longitude, separated by a comma and a space. Ex: 37.403930662906106, -121.97971165820213
Global Picklist	Specify a picklist value.
Image Field	To upload an image, use the instructions to Submit data that includes a File attachment
1:N Lookup	Applies to a Lookup field in a One-to-Many relationship Specify a record ID from the target object.
M:N Lookup	Applies to a Lookup field in a Many-to-Many relationship Specify a comma separated list of record IDs from the target object.
Multiple Checkboxes	A comma-separated list of checkbox values.
Multi Object Lookup	The format is objectName:recordID. For example: cases:12345678
Multi Select Picklist & Multi Select Global Picklist	A comma-separated list of picklist values.
Number	Specify a value in Database Format, with no separators other than the decimal point. Possible values range -2,147,483,646 to 2,147,483,647 (-2147483646 to 2147483647).
Number with decimals	Specify a value in Database Format, with no separators other than the decimal point. The number of decimal places is specified in the field definition.
Percentage	Specify a value in Database Format, with no percent sign and no separators other than the decimal point. The value must be in the range 0 to 1. The number of decimal places is specified in the field definition.
Phone/Fax	If a string of digits is entered without formatting, that is the way it appears when editing, but the numbers are automatically formatted when the field is displayed: 7 digits ("1234567") displays as "123-4567". 10 digits "1234567890" displays as "(123) 456-7890". 11 digits ("12345678901") displays 1-234-567-8901 Note: If the field has more than 11 digits, they are displayed as entered. In that case, it's helpful to provide the desired formatting. Free-format text is displayed exactly as entered. For example: 123.456.7890 1-800-COMPANY +44 7123 456 789
Picklist	Specify one of the picklist values.
Radio Buttons	Specify one of the radio button values.
Rich Text Area	A string containing text and HTML tags Linebreaks can be encoded using \n (newline) to make the code readable <wbr> and </wbr> tags are not supported, as they are problematic when switching between edit and display modes. (To prevent issues, those tags are removed before the content is displayed.)
Text Area	A multi-line string that can contain alphanumerics (A-Z, a-z, 0-9) and special characters: / @ . - $ % Linebreaks can be encoded using \n (newline)
Text Field	A string containing a single line of text. Text can include alphanumerics (A-Z, a-z, 0-9) and special characters: / @ . - $ %
Time	A time. For example, "6:50 PM". The field definition and user's Locale Settings determine how to format the value.
URL	A string containing a web address. For example: http://yourCompany.com