Metadata Field Types

These field types extend the field types described in the Salesforce Object Reference.

Where possible, we changed noninclusive terms to align with our company value of Equality. We maintained certain terms to avoid any effect on customer implementations.

Important

Field Type	Objects	What the Field Contains
CustomField	Custom object Custom field	Represents a custom field.
DeleteConstraint	Custom field	A string that represents deletion options for lookup relationships. Valid values are: `SetNull` `Restrict` `Cascade`
DeploymentStatus	Custom object Custom field	A string which represents the deployment status of a custom object or field. Valid values are: `InDevelopment` `Deployed`
FieldType	Custom field	Indicates the type of a custom field. Valid values are: `Address` (beta) `AutoNumber` `Lookup` `MasterDetail` `MetadataRelationship` `Checkbox` `Currency` `Date` `DateTime` `Email` `EncryptedText` This page is about Classic Encryption, not Shield Platform Encryption. What's the difference? Note `ExternalLookup` `IndirectLookup` `Number`¹ `Percent` `Phone` `Picklist` `MultiselectPicklist` `Summary` `Text` `TextArea` `LongTextArea` `Url` `Hierarchy` `File` `Html` `Location` (use for geolocation fields) `Time` ¹ A `Number` custom field is internally represented as a field of type double. Setting the scale of the `Number` field to 0 gives you a double that behaves like an int.
Gender	Custom object	Indicates the gender of the noun that represents the object. This is used for languages where words need different treatment depending on their gender. Valid values are: Masculine Feminine Neuter AnimateMasculine (Slavic languages—currently Czech, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Ukrainian) ClassI, ClassIII, ClassV, ClassVII, ClassIX, ClassXI, ClassXIV, ClassXV, ClassXVI, ClassXVII, ClassXVIII (African languages—currently Afrikaans, Xhosa, and Zulu) The following genders are displayed on the Rename Tabs and Labels page in Setup but are stored internally as “Feminine”. When setting them through the Metadata API, use “Feminine”. Euter (Swedish) Common (Dutch) Note
Picklist (Including Dependent Picklist)	Custom field	(This field type isn’t used in Metadata API. CustomField includes this field type for Tooling API support). Represents a picklist, a set of labels and values that can be selected from a picklist.
SharingModel	Custom object	Represents the sharing model for the custom object. Depending on the object, valid values are: `Private` `Read` `ReadWrite` `ReadWriteTransfer` `FullAccess` `ControlledByParent` `ControlledByCampaign` `ControlledByLeadOrContact` For example, the User object supports `Private` and `Read` values. Accounts, opportunities, and custom objects support `Private`, `Read` and `ReadWrite` values. Campaign members support `ControlledByCampaign` and `ControlledByLeadOrContact`.
StartsWith	Custom object Custom field	Indicates whether the noun starts with a vowel, consonant, or is a special character. This is used for languages where words need different treatment depending on the first character. Valid values are: Consonant Vowel Special (for nouns starting with z, or s plus consonants)
TreatBlanksAs	Custom field	Indicates how blanks should be treated. Valid values are: `BlankAsBlank` `BlankAsZero`
ValueSet	Custom field	Represents a set of values that can be selected from a custom picklist field. Defines the valueSet of a custom picklist field.

ValueSet

Represents a set of values that can be selected from a custom picklist field. Defines the valueSet of a custom picklist field.

Field Type	Field Type	Description
controllingField	string	The fullname of the controlling field if this is a dependent picklist. A controlling field can be a checkbox or picklist field, but in this case it’s a picklist. The controlling picklist filters the available values in the dependent picklist.
restricted	boolean	Whether the picklist’s values are limited to only the values defined by a Salesforce admin. Values are `true` or `false`.
valueSetDefinition	ValueSetValuesDefinition	Defines value-specific settings for a custom dependent picklist. Indicates whether the value set of the custom picklist field is sorted alphabetically.
valueSetName	string	The masterLabel of the global value set to be used for this picklist field.
valueSettings	ValueSettings	Used for the settings that describe a value in a custom picklist field. The picklist can have its own unique value set, or inherit the values from a global value set. You can add field dependency values via Metadata API but not remove them.

ValueSetValuesDefinition

Field Name	Field Type	Description
sorted	boolean	Whether the picklist’s value set is displayed in alphabetical order in the user interface.
value	CustomValue	Required. The list of values for this local, custom picklist.

ValueSettings

Field Name	Field Type	Description
controllingFieldValue	stringstring[]	Applies only to dependent custom picklists. A list of values in the controlling or parent picklist (that the custom picklist values depend on).
valueName	string	Defines the values in the custom dependent picklist.

Metadata API Developer Guide

Metadata Field Types

ValueSet

ValueSetValuesDefinition

ValueSettings