How to choose custom property’s data type
1. String type
2. Big String type
3. DateTime type
4. Double type
5. Boolean type
6. Integer type
7. Image type
8. Duration type
9. Enum type
10. Entity type
1. String type
If you need to create a custom property that contains any symbols (letters, numbers, special characters, etc.), for example, Code, Name, Address, Phone, Email, etc., you need to select String data type:
Tip: You can set the maximum number of symbols the property can contain:
2. Big String type
If you need to create a custom property that contains an unlimited number of any symbols, for example, Notes, Comments, etc., you also need to check the Big String option:
Tip: You can select RTF editor for the Big String type to use reach text formatting features and even create MS Word-like documents in Full Mode:
3. DateTime type
If you need to create a custom property that contains date and/or time, for example, Order Date, Deadline, Departure Time, etc., you need to select DateTime data type:
If such a property should be filled in automatically, you can use any of available functions in Expression editor, for example, Initial Expression with function “Now()” will automatically fill in this property with current System.DateTime value and there will be no need to manually enter the current date and time to such property as Date Created:
Tip: You can set the format in which DateTime property will be displayed:
Hint: Here are some other formats you can set:
yy - The last two digits of the year (11)
yyyy - Four digit year (2011)
MM - The number of the month (02)
MMM - The short text description of the month (Feb)
MMMM - The full name of the month (February)
dd - The number of the day (01)
ddd - The short text for the day of the week (02)
dddd - The full name of the day of the week (Tue)
/ - Date separator is used depending upon the regional settings
hh - hours
mm - minutes
ss - seconds
tt - using of AM/PM format
: - Time separator is used depending upon the regional settings
4. Double type
If you need to create a custom property that contains a floating point number, for example, Cost, Weight, Size, Percent, etc., you need to select Double data type:
Tip: You can set the format in which Double property will be displayed:
5. Boolean type
If you need to create a custom property that contains a checkbox (if checked - the property value is true, if empty - the property value is false), for example, Paid, Approved, Fixed, etc., you need to select Boolean data type:
6. Integer type
If you need to create a custom property that contains positive or negative numbers (without fractions) or zero, for example, Quantity, you need to select Integer data type:
Tip: You can set the format in which Integer property will be displayed (for example, in order to add thousand separators or display “zero” instead of 0):
7. Image type
If you need to create a custom property that allows to upload and display an image file (in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF formats), for example, Client Photo, Company Logo, Product Image, etc., you need to select Image data type:
Tip: You can select Picture or Image editors depending on the way you want the image to be displayed:
8. Duration type
If you need to create a custom property that displays duration in minutes, hours, weeks or months, for example, Estimated Duration, Remaining Duration, etc., you need to select Duration data type:
Tip: If you check “Apply duration settings to summary”, the program will use duration settings of this particular database to summarize the property values…
…and display total duration depending on Options settings (for example, task duration will be automatically calculated by its subtasks duration):
9. Enum type
If you need to create a custom property that contains an enumeration (drop down list of members, elements, etc), for example, list of Client names, Issue types, Article categories, etc., first of all you need to create a custom Enum (and its values)…
…and then select this Enum in the list of property data types (it will appear there as soon as you create it):
10. Entity type
If you need to create a custom property that refers to a default entity, for example, Task, Project, File, etc., you need to select Default Entity data type:
If you need to create a custom property that refers to a custom entity, for example, Order, Customer, Issue, etc., you need to select Custom Entity data type:
P.S. Other data types, such as: Char, Byte, BigInteger, Decimal, Binary, and Guid are used mainly for integration with other software products via programming.
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