Object Reference for Salesforce and Lightning Platform
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API Data Types and Salesforce Field Types
Generally, API data types and field types in the user interface have the same names. For example, a date field is represented by a date data type in the API. However, some field types are represented differently depending on whether you are inspecting an object via the API or the user interface. The following table contains the mapping for field types and data types that are different:
| API Data Type | Corresponding Field Types in the User Interface |
|---|---|
| ID | Lookup relationship, master-detail relationship |
| string | Auto number, email, phone, picklist, multi-select picklist, text, text area, long text area, rich text area, data category group reference and URL. Different maximum lengths are specified in the WSDL for text, text area, and long text area. |
| boolean | Checkbox |
| double | Currency, formula, number, percent, and roll-up summary |
| Varies by type | When formula fields are created in the user interface, a type must be specified. This type corresponds to the API data type of the same name: currency, date, date/time, number, percent, or text. |
All other fields that you can create in the user interface fall into one of the following categories:
- The field is not available in both the user interface and the API. For example, the BusinessHours object has fields of API data type time, but you cannot create a custom field of this type.
- Field types are the same as their corresponding API data type. For example, if you create a date field in the user interface, that field is the date data type in the API.
For more information about API data types, see Primitive Data Types and Field Types.