Force.com Platform Fundamentals

Preface
Introducing the Force.com Platform
About the Sample Recruiting App
Reviewing Database Concepts
Building a Simple App
Get Familiar with the Setup Area
Introducing Apps
Introducing Objects
Introducing Tabs
Becoming Familiar with Setup Detail Pages and Related Lists
Introducing Fields
Try It Out: Add Text Fields
Try It Out: Add Currency Fields
Try It Out: Add Checkbox Fields
Try It Out: Add Date Fields
Look at What We've Done
Taking Our Simple App Mobile
Enhancing the Simple App with Advanced Fields, Data Validation, and Page Layouts
Expanding the Simple App Using Relationships
Securing and Sharing Data
Collaborating with Chatter
Automating Business Processes
Analyzing Data with Reports and Dashboards
Moving Beyond Point-and-Click App Development
Learning More
Glossary
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Try It Out: Add Text Fields

First let's define a few text fields. We already created a basic text field for Position Title when we defined our Position custom object. Looking at our screenshot, the only text fields that remain are the text fields under the Description heading. We'll start by defining the Job Description field.

  1. From Setup, enter Objects in the Quick Find box, then select Objects.
  2. Click Position.
  3. In the Custom Fields & Relationships related list, click New.

Every time you create a custom field, you'll first choose a data type from the field type selection page.

The platform allows us to choose between different types of text fields.
  • Basic text fields allow users to enter any combination of letters and numbers on a single line, up to as many as 255 characters.
  • Text area fields also have a 255-character limit but also allow carriage returns so the text can be formatted on separate lines.
  • Long text fields allow as many as 131,072 characters, on separate lines.
  • Rich text fields allow user to enter as many as 131,072 characters of formatted text, including images and hyperlinks.
  • Encrypted text fields allow users to enter any combination of letters and numbers that are stored in encrypted form, up to as many as 175 characters.

Since job descriptions can be lengthy, let's choose a long text area.

  1. Choose the Text Area (Long) data type, and click Next.

Carefully consider the data type you choose for each of your custom fields, because once you set it, it isn't always the best idea to change it later. See “Notes on Changing Custom Field Types” in the Salesforce Help for details.

Tip

The second page of the custom field wizard allows us to enter details about our long text area field. The fields that appear in this step change depending on the data type that we selected in the previous page.

  1. In the Field Label field, enter Job Description.

Like the other labels we've seen in the platform so far, Field Label specifies the text that appears when the field is rendered in the user interface. Notice that when we enter a value for Field Label, Field Name is automatically populated with the same text but with all spaces and punctuation replaced by underscores. The value for Field Name is a unique name that is used to refer to the field when writing a custom formula or using the API.

Within the platform, Field Name is actually stored with __c appended to the end as a suffix (for example, Job_Description__c). This identifies it as a custom field.

Note

The Length field allows us to restrict the maximum number of characters that are allowed. Since we don't get any benefit from this kind of restriction, leave this value set to 131,072.

  1. In the Length field, enter 131,072.
  2. In the # Visible Lines field, enter 3.

This field allows us to specify how large our text box will appear on the page.

  1. In the Description and Help Text fields, enter High-level description of the job and its duties.

While the description is displayed only in the details for this custom field in Setup, this help text is displayed on record detail and edit pages when users hover over the field's label. Its purpose is to assist users in filling out the field correctly. It's optional to add help text for a field, but it's a good idea if you have fields that you think might confuse users.

There's no obvious default value for a text field, so just leave Default Value blank.

  1. Click Next.

The third page of the Custom Field wizard allows us to restrict access to this field from certain user profiles. We'll learn more about profiles and field-level security in Securing and Sharing Data, so for now, just accept the defaults.

  1. Click Next.

The last page of the wizard allows us to automatically place our field on the Position page layout. Again, we'll learn about page layouts in the next chapter, so for now, just accept the defaults.

  1. Click Save & New.
Instead of clicking Save and returning to the Position object detail page, clicking Save & New saves a few clicks and allows us to finish up the other text area fields that we need. Here's what you need to know to define them.
Table 1. Position Object Long Text Area Fields
Data Type Field Label Length # Visible Lines Default Value
Text Area (Long) Responsibilities 131,072 3 Leave unspecified
Text Area (Long) Skills Required 131,072 3 Leave unspecified
Text Area (Long) Educational Requirements 131,072 3 Leave unspecified

Now that we've wet our feet with text fields, let's quickly create a few more fields of other types. You'll find that with few exceptions, they're all very similar to one another.