Creating an object and adding fields

This article covers how to create the Arcade Games custom object and set up some custom fields.

For this example, we need to first create the Arcade Games custom object and then create some custom fields so we can enter the required data.

Creating the Arcade Games object

To create the custom Arcade Games object in Skedulo Platform:

  1. In the Skedulo web app, navigate to the Settings > Data management > Objects and fields page.

  2. On the Objects and fields page, click the Create custom object button to display the Create Custom Object modal.

  3. Enter a label, name, and description for your object. In this example, we want to be able to keep track of our stock of arcade game machines, so we will enter the following:

    • Label: Arcade Games
    • Name: ArcadeGames
    • Description: Arcade game machines in stock.

  4. Click Create. By default, all objects have a UID field that generates a unique identifier for the object whenever a new entry is created.

The new Arcade Games object can now be found on the Objects and fields page.

Objects and fields page showing a new object created

In addition to this, a set of default page templates and config files are created. For this example, the page templates we are interested in are the -create, -edit, -view, and -list templates. They can be accessed from the Settings > Platform Pages page, but before we do that, we should add some custom fields to the object.

Adding custom fields to the Arcade Games object

Add custom fields to your object so that you can record the required data.

  1. Navigate to the Settings > Data management > Objects and fields page.
  2. On the Objects and fields page, click Arcade Games to open the custom object’s page. Arcade games object page
  3. Click Add custom field to display the Create Custom Field modal. Create custom field modal
  4. Select Text and click Next.
  5. Complete the required information. In this example, we will enter the following for the first field:
    • Field label: Make
    • Field name: make
    • Description (optional): Enter the machine’s make
    • Field length: 255
  6. Select the Display settings for the field.
  7. Click Create. The custom field is added to the Arcade Games object page. arcade games object page one field added
  8. Add the rest of your fields. You can add as many as are required and choose between ten different field types. The order in which you add them is not important as this can be changed when we configure the pages later.

For the Arcade Games example, we will add the following fields:

Field label Field name Field type Details
Make make Text
Cost per day costperday Number
Name name Text
Category category Picklist (with multi-select) Add options to categorise the games, such as: First-person shooter, Sports simulation, Driving simulation.
Style style Picklist Add options to define the style of the machine, such as: Cockpit arcade machine, Freestanding cabinet arcade machine, Bartop arcade machine.
Maintenance due maintenancedue Date
Status status Picklist Add options to define the status of the machine, such as: Available, Rented, Needs repair.
Repair history repairhistory Text area
Last seen by lastseenby Text
Theme theme Text
Image imageurl Text
ID number Id Text
Lookup lookup Lookup relationship
Web page linkurl Text

Note: The Label is the value which is displayed in the web app, the Name is used to identify the field within the object.

On the default arcade-games-create template, these fields will render as follows:

Create page before customization

To change the order in which the fields appear and the way in which they’re set out on the page, you can configure the default arcade-games-create template.

Field types

The following field types are available to select from the Field type tab of the Create Custom Field modal when creating a custom field:

Field type Field description Additional fields to define
Text A standard string field Field length. Set the field length, up to a maximum of 255.
Text area (long) A long text field allowing line breaks. Field length. Set the field length up to a maximum of 131072 characters.
Number A numeric field that can include decimals. Field length and Field decimal places. The combined length of these two values cannot exceed 18.
Date A date field where you can enter a date or pick one from the calendar pop-up. N/A
Checkbox A standard boolean field that can be selected or deselected. Set the default behavior for the checkbox.
Picklist A dropdown list field from which one value can be selected from the predefined options. Add picklist values, each one on a separate line.
Picklist (with multi-select) A dropdown list field from which multiple values can be selected from predefined options. Add picklist values, each one on a separate line.
URL Enter a website URL. N/A
Time (beta) A time-picker field where you can select the time of day in 15 minute increments. N/A
Lookup relationship A lookup for a field in another object Object. Set the object that contains the field.

Field details

The following fields are available from the Field details tab of the Create Custom Field modal when creating a custom field:

Property Description
Object The name of the object to which the field is being added.
Field label The identifier used whenever the field is shown in the web app.
Field name A name used to identify the field within the object.
Description Enter a description for the field to make it easier to identify.
Field length Available if you’re creating a Text, Text area, or a Number field.
Field decimal places Available if you’re creating a Number field. Enter the number of decimal places you want to include. The Field length and Field decimal places values cannot exceed 18 when combined.
Display settings These settings dictate whether the field will be visible on the mobile and desktop versions of the web app. It also determines whether the field is ‘required’ as well as allowing the resource to edit the field when using the mobile app.