Field Types and Record Schema 📕

Read on to learn how record data can be configured. With a variety of field types to choose from, these fields are used to construct your record schema.

First, let's take a look at what makes up a field. Each field will be created with the following attributes:

Field Name

The name of the field. (Field Name can be the same value as the primary language Display Name.)

Display Name

The name of the field, as it will be displayed to users. (Display Name translations for multiple languages can be added.)

Type

Field type determines what sort of data can be stored in this field.

Class

Field class determines which class this field belongs to.

Placeholder

This is the placeholder text, as it will be displayed to users.

Inline Help

The help text shown for this field.

Content Language

The language of this field.

Default Value

This is the default value for the field if no data is entered when the record is created. For numerical fields, ensure this is a number.

Parent Field

This is the parent field that controls how this field is displayed when a record is edited.

Details

Read-only	This field cannot be changed when creating records
Mandatory	This field is required to create a record
Multiline	This field will allow for multiline text input
Unique	The value of this field must not match any existing records. This could be used for an external GUID

Now that we understand the underlying attributes that constitute each field, let's take a look at the different field types that are available:

Text	This field is a free-text field, that can hold any Text or Numbers
Date	This is a standard Date field, that will be recorded in the database as [yyyy-mm-dd]
Datetime	This is a standard Datetime field, that will be recorded in the database as [yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss]
Single Select	With this field, you can choose one unique value from a list of predefined terms
Multi Select	With this field, you can choose multiple unique value from a list of predefined terms
CSV	Unlike the single and multi-select fields, the CSV (comma separated values) field can accept new values to populate the database.
Time	This is a standard Time field, that will be recorded in the database as [hh:mm:ss]
Number	This field will hold numerical values only
GUID	This field holds unique values, where no two records can hold the same value. This could be used to integrate legacy GUID data

Title	The title field is shown on each page, in the same place, and with the same styling.
Date	The master date field will be shown on each page in the same way as the Title class. This can be very useful for searching and sorting.
Summary	This field details the record, which can be very useful when searching, as this could provide a brief description of the media to a user whilst they browse your collection

Here is a fully functional record schema example. This information could be passed to your Imagen contact to build the schema to your requirements.

If you could like to see how your data will translate to Imagen field types and classes please download Imagen's field mapping template

Field Name	Display Name	Field Type	Class	Notes
film_title	Film Title	Text	Title	This is the main text field, used to quickly identify your media information
film_synopsis	Film Synopsis	Text	Summary	This is a text field that could be useful for shorter descriptions (but with no imposed character limits)
full_summary	Full Summary	Text	-	This is a text field that could be used to include the full version of the description
release_date	Release Date	Datetime	Date	This is a Date-time field that is often helpful when sorting and ordering records
production_date	Production date	date	-	You can add as many date or Date-time fields as required, even without a class
film_genre	Film Genre	Single Select	-	Single-select field (e.g., select one unique value from a predefined list)
film_tags	Film tags	CSV	-	This field allows multiple selections from a predefined list
cast_members	Cast Members	Multi Select	-	This field also allows multiple selections which are not limited to a predefined list (i.e., new values can be added by users as free text).
Custom_field_1	Custom field 1	Any	-	This is where you would place custom metadata. You can add as many as you need.
Custom_field_2	Custom field 2	Any	-

👩‍🎓 Now you understand the Imagen Record Schema, follow this link to see how XML can be used to create records: Mapping Files & the Imagen XML Schema