Field types

Each field has a type that decides what it captures, how it validates, and how it renders. You choose the type when you add a field from the palette. This page is a reference to the types, grouped by what they record.

The field types you can add, grouped by what they capture.

Text

Text: a single line of text. Options: minimum and maximum length.
Long text: multiple lines of text. Options: minimum and maximum length.

Numbers

Whole number: an integer. Options: minimum and maximum.
Decimal number: a number with a fractional part. Options: minimum, maximum, and how many decimal places to allow. It can also carry a unit of measure, so the crew enters in a working unit (a depth in fathoms) while the value is stored in one canonical unit.

Text, Whole number, and Decimal number fields can be marked unique across records, so a value like a tag number cannot repeat.

Choice

Yes / No: a yes, a no, or unanswered. “No” is a real recorded value, not an empty one. Options: show it as a checkbox, a switch, or a Yes / No radio.
Single choice: pick one option from a list you define (each option has a stored value and a label in English, French, and Spanish).
Multiple choice: pick any number of options from your list. Options: minimum and maximum number of selections.

Date and time

Date: a calendar date. Options: earliest and latest allowed, and “no future dates”.
Date and time: a date with a time (stored in UTC). Same options as date.
Time of day: a wall-clock time, with no date. Options: earliest and latest allowed.

Reference and location

These draw on data your organization manages, so entries stay consistent.

Species: a species, matched against your organization’s species list. Options: limit it to one taxa group (for example, fish), and allow a name that is not yet in the list.
Lookup value: a value from one of your controlled lists (gear types, crews, stations, and so on). You set the list key the field reads from. Option: allow a value not in the list.
Station: a pick from your organization’s survey stations (the geolocated sites in Locations). Storing the station binds the record to it for spatial checks. See The station picker. Option: allow a station typed by hand when it is not in the list yet.
Trip: a pick from your organization’s planned trips, linking the record to the trip it was collected on (per-station progress on the trip page, a Trip column on the records page). See The Trip field. Option: allow a trip typed by hand.
Location: a point, line, or polygon, in longitude and latitude. Options: restrict the kind (point, line, or polygon), and require a coordinate uncertainty. At entry a coordinate can be typed in decimal degrees, degrees and decimal minutes, or degrees, minutes, and seconds, with a display that switches between those notations (storage is always decimal degrees). A point can also warn when it is too far from another Location field of the record.

Media and groups

Photo / file: one or more attached files. Options: allow multiple files, and a maximum size.
Repeat group: a set of sub-fields that repeats, so one survey event can hold many entries (for example, many fish). See Repeat groups.