Field Type Criteria in Creating Apps from Files

Article Number:040629

Field types are determined automatically depending on cell values in the first 100 lines of the imported file.

Default field types

The table below describes how the system determines field types depending on cell values.
If the cell values match multiple field types, the uppermost type in the table takes effect.

Values in cells of the first 100 lines Field type
If values in all cells are numbers or empty, with at least one cell containing a number Number
If values in all cells are dates*1 or empty, with at least one cell containing a date Date
If values in all cells are times*2 or empty, with at least one cell containing a time Time
If values in all cells are date and time values*3 or empty, with at least one cell containing a date and time Date and time
If values in all cells are links or empty, with at least one cell containing a link Link to (URL)
If values in all cells are e-mail addresses or empty, with at least one cell containing an e-mail address Link to (E-mail address)
If all of the following conditions are met:
  • No empty cells.
  • All values are in one row.
  • All values are no longer than 20 characters.
  • Values have not more than three types.
 Radio button
If all of the following conditions are met:
  • All values are in one row.
  • All values are no longer than 20 characters.
  • Values have not more than 20 types.
 Drop-down
If values of all cells are in one row, with no values longer than 255 characters. Text
If none of the above conditions are met: Text area

*1: A Date value is a value in one of the following formats:

  • YYYY-MM-DD (Example: 2014-12-20)
  • YYYY/MM/DD (Example: 2014/12/20)
  • YY/MM/DD (Example: 14/12/20)
  • MM/DD/YYYY (Example: 12/20/2014)
  • MM/DD/YY (Example: 12/20/14)
  • DD/MM/YYYY (Example: 20/12/2014)
  • DD/MM/YY (Example: 20/12/14)

*2: A Time value is a value in one of the following formats:

  • HH:MM:SS (Example: 23:20:30)
  • HH:MM (Example: 23:20)

Any value that indicates seconds is removed during the file import process.
AM or PM is removed if time has the format with AM or PM as shown below.
Example: 11:20 PM

*3: A Date and time value is a pair of a Date value and a Time value separated by a space.
Example: 2014/12/20 23:20
However, if the date and time value includes part that indicates seconds, the field type is not considered as Date and Time.

Available field types

When creating an app from a file, you can change the system-determined field types.
Available field types depend on the cell values.

Criteria for allowing users to make a selection Field type
All cell values do not include a line break Text
Link (Telephone number)
All cell values can be handled as a number Number
Any values Text area
Rich text
User selection
Group selection
Department Selection*1
All cell values are not longer than 128 characters and do not include a line break Radio button
Drop-down
All cell values can be handled as a date value Date
All cell values can be handled as a date and time value Date and time
All cell values can be handled as a time value Time
All cell values are URLs Link (URL)
All cell values are e-mail addresses Link to (E-mail address)
All cell values are not longer than 64 characters Category*2

*1: This is not available for apps in a guest space.
*2: A cell can contain a list of values, with each separated by a line break.

Unavailable field types

You cannot select the following field types to replace system-determined field types.

  • Label
  • Calculated
  • Check box
  • Multi-choice
  • Attachment
  • Related records
  • Lookup
  • Blank space
  • Border
  • Field group
  • Table
  • Record number
  • Created by
  • Created datetime
  • Updated by
  • Updated datetime