Text Box

A single-line text field. The most-used type in the platform and the right answer for most short values.

Where to find it

Architect Panel → Data:

Datastores — the datastore, then Table Designer to add or edit a field

What it stores

A single line of text, up to a length you set. No line breaks — pressing return moves to the next field rather than starting a new line.

When to use it

Names, references, titles, short codes.
Anything free-form that will not run past a line.
Values you will search or sort on — text boxes index and sort predictably.

When not to

The temptation is to use it for everything, because it always works. Two cases where it should not be:

A value from a fixed set. Use a dropdown or radios. Free text for a status field produces "Open", "open", "OPEN" and "Opne", and no report can group them.
A value with its own type. Dates, numbers, phone numbers and addresses all have proper types that validate, sort and format correctly. A date in a text box sorts alphabetically, which puts December before February.

Set the length deliberately

Long enough for real data and no longer. A 20-character surname field will fail somebody eventually; a 500-character one invites people to paste a paragraph into it.

Names and addresses need more room than English-language intuition suggests — allow for longer names, accented characters and double-barrelled surnames.

Use validation

Where the value has a shape — a reference format, a code — validate it. Catching a malformed value at entry is far cheaper than finding it in a report, and it is the difference between a field that stays clean and one that decays.

Watch for the notes field

A text box named "Notes" or "Other" becomes where everything that did not fit goes. When you find yourself reading one to answer a question, that is a signal a real field is missing — and the fix is to add it rather than to widen the box.

Worked example

A customer datastore uses text boxes for first name, surname and a purchase order reference, with the reference validated against the customer's format. Status is a dropdown rather than a text box, so the pipeline report groups cleanly — a decision made at design time that avoided a data-cleaning exercise later.

Recommendations

Use a proper type where one exists, rather than defaulting to text.
Set realistic lengths — generous for names, tight for codes.
Validate anything with a format.
Treat a growing notes field as a missing field.