Field data types
Every field has a type, and the type does quiet work for you: it decides how the field is checked, entered and shown. Money gets a currency picker, a date gets a calendar, an SSN is masked, a dropdown offers a list — all without any setup on your part.
You rarely set a type by hand. Sheetward reads it from the field's name and your sample data — a column called Unit Price holding dollar amounts becomes a currency field on its own. To be explicit, put the type in the Rules sheet's Data type column (many friendly spellings work). Here is the full catalogue:
| Type | What it accepts and shows |
|---|---|
| text / textarea | Free text. Cap the length with text(20) — at most 20 characters (works for textarea too). |
| integer | Whole numbers only — counts of things you can't split, like seats or boxes. |
| number / decimal | Numbers with decimal places (also accepted: numeric, decimal, float). Shows 2 decimals by default; write decimal(4) for more. |
| quantity | A decimal amount with a unit of measure — "12.50 kg". The field gets a Unit picker so each record can choose its own unit. See Currencies & units for how units are detected and shared. |
| currency / amount | Money (also accepted: amount, money). The field gets a Currency picker so each record can choose its currency; left blank, the app's default currency applies. See Currencies & units for how the picker is detected, shared and placed. |
| percent | A percentage, shown with a % sign (15 → "15%"). |
| rating | A star rating for scores and reviews. Renders as five clickable stars (blank until rated); the grid and print show read-only stars. Stored as a whole number 1–5. Auto-detected from a column named Rating or Stars. On dashboards a rating is always averaged, never summed — an average of 4.2 stars means something, a sum of stars doesn't, so sum isn't offered. Need a different scale? Declare rating(n) in the Rules sheet's Data type column for any whole number of stars from 2 to 10 — rating(7) gives seven stars, rated 1–7. A bare rating means the standard 5. |
| date | A calendar date (YYYY-MM-DD), entered with a date picker. |
| year | A 4-digit year, e.g. 2026. Shown as a year dropdown; auto-detected from a whole-number column named Year, Fiscal Year or FY. |
| month | A month with its year, stored as YYYY-MM (e.g. 2026-07). Shown as a month picker; auto-detected from a date column named Month. |
| datetime | A date plus a time of day, e.g. 2026-07-13 14:30. Shown as a date-and-time picker; auto-detected when the sample cells carry a real time. |
| time | A time of day, HH:MM (e.g. 09:30). Shown as a time picker; auto-detected from time-of-day cells. |
| Email address. | |
| boolean | A yes/no answer, shown as a checkbox. |
| dropdown | A value chosen from a list — a List_ sheet you provide, or a built-in standard list. |
| multi | Pick several options from a list — shown as checkboxes. Declare multi in the Data Type column and bind a List_ sheet the same way a dropdown does (by field name, or name the sheet in the Value column). Required means at least one pick; exports write the selections as A; B; C. Include an Other (please specify) option in the list and Sheetward adds a text box beside the field, required exactly while Other is selected. |
| ssn | A US Social Security number, masked on screen. |
| zip | A 5-digit US ZIP code, or ZIP+4. |
| phone | A phone number with a country-prefix dropdown (default +1). |
| credit_card | A card number — 13–19 digits with a validity check (the Luhn check), masked on screen. Only the last 4 digits are kept: the full number is checked once when the record is saved and never stored, so it can't leak later. |
| upc / routing_number | A UPC-A barcode or a 9-digit US bank (ABA) routing number, each verified by its check digit. |
| url | A web link. |
| file | Any file attachment (the size limit is shown under the field). Images, PDFs and text preview in the browser; scripts are refused. For a specific kind of media, use the image / video / audio / doc types below. |
| image | An image (jpg, png, webp, gif, bmp — no SVG). Shows a thumbnail; click for full size, or download. |
| video | A video (mp4, mov, webm). Shows a thumbnail; click to play in place, or download. |
| audio | An audio clip (mp3, wav, ogg, m4a). Plays inline, with a download button. |
| doc | A document, read-only. PDF, text and CSV preview in the browser; Word, Excel and PowerPoint download. Only safe document types are accepted. |
| relation | A link to a record in another form of the same app — an order line that points at a product, a claim that points at an employee. Shows as a searchable record picker that stores the chosen record's key (that form's business key). |
| ulid / nanoid | An identifier the app generates and fills in when the record is created — read-only, so ids are never mistyped or reused. ulid is a 26-character id that sorts by creation time; nanoid is a compact random id, 21 characters unless you choose otherwise (nanoid(10) → 10). Both use Crockford base32 — uppercase letters and digits with the look-alikes I, L, O and U left out. |
| Checked in this order | Where the type comes from |
|---|---|
| 1 · The Rules sheet | An explicit Data type entry always wins — e.g. rating(7) or text(20). |
| 2 · The field's name | Names carry meaning: date → date; price, amount, total, cost, fee → currency; quantity / qty → quantity; count / number_of → integer (a unit column is a quantity's unit picker, not a count); rating / stars → rating; likewise ssn, zip, phone, email and file; and for media, image / photo → image, video → video, audio / sound → audio, document / pdf → doc. |
| 3 · Your sample data | The values and cell formatting decide: whole numbers → integer, numbers with decimals → number, and a cell formatted as money ($ € £ …) → currency. |
| Otherwise | The field is plain text. |
The Unit and Currency dropdowns need no type of their own. They are dropdown fields bound to the built-in standard lists, so leave the Rules sheet's Data type column blank on any row that targets one — whatever you write there is ignored. What matters is the type on the value column beside it: quantity is what summons a Unit picker and currency is what summons a Currency picker. Declaring integer or number instead gives you a plain number with no picker at all — the usual reason an expected dropdown never appears.
How the type is decided (highest wins): (1) an explicit Data type in the Rules sheet; (2) the field name — names with
date → date, price/amount/total/cost/fee → currency, quantity/qty → quantity, count/number_of → integer, rating/stars → rating, plus ssn, zip, phone, email, image/photo → image, video → video, audio/sound → audio, document/pdf → doc, and file; (3) the sample data's values and cell formatting — whole numbers → integer, numbers with decimals → number, and a cell formatted as money ($ € £ …) → currency; (4) otherwise text.That's every field type. For the built-in standard lists (countries, currencies, units…), region-aware formatting, and everything a relation can do, see the Data type reference.