Object Reference for the Salesforce Platform

Overview of Salesforce Objects and Fields
Release Notes
Primitive Data Types
Field Types
API Field Properties
Required Fields
System Fields
Frequently Occurring Fields
Compound Fields
Address Compound Fields
Geolocation Compound Field
Compound Field Considerations and Limitations
Custom Objects
Custom Fields
AppExchange Object Prefixes and the API
Relationships Among Standard Objects and Fields
Factors that Affect Data Access
Field and Type Differences in Salesforce Apps and APIs
External Objects
Big Objects
Object Interfaces
Reference
PDF

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Compound Fields

Compound fields group together multiple elements of primitive data types, such as numbers or strings, to represent complex data types, such as a location or an address. Compound fields are an abstraction that can simplify application code that handles the values, leading to more concise, understandable code.

Address compound fields are available in the SOAP and REST APIs in API version 30.0 and later. Geolocation fields are available in the SOAP and REST APIs in API version 26.0 and later, with some limitations on SOAP for API versions below 30.0.

Compound fields are accessible as a single, structured field, or as individual component fields. The values contained within the compound field and the values in individual fields both map to the same underlying data stored in Salesforce; they always have identical values. Code that references individual component fields is unaffected by the new compound fields.

Compound fields are read-only. Changes are performed by writing to the individual component fields. This maintains a single, consistent method for performing updates, and avoids the possibility of conflicts. For example, if both the BillingAddress compound field and BillingCity individual component field were updated in the same API call, it would be unclear which value should be saved.

Compound fields are available only through the SOAP and REST APIs. Compound fields are described in both the Enterprise and Partner WSDLs. Update your WSDL to at least API 30.0 to access the new compound data types.