What are data names on form fields?

Explaining the function of data names in Fulcrum apps.

Cory MacVie avatar
Written by Cory MacVie
Updated over a week ago

A data name in form fields in Fulcrum is a property that functions as the system name for each attribute in the Fulcrum database. Think of them as you would column headers in a spreadsheet or relational database table. 

They replace the label when data is exported out of Fulcrum. So this is what will be used as the headers for your data columns. The Fulcrum system also uses the data names to match up the data to a field during import.

The Data Names for each field must be unique across all fields in an app.

The reason for this is that there will be errors in your export file if two or more fields have the same header. By default, the data name will use the value entered into the label field and replace spaces with underscores.

Data Name is available for all field types.

The Data Name allows the system to differenciate between fields with the same Label

From the screenshot above, the Type of Facility field, when exported, will be displayed in the CSV file as type_of_facility.

Notes

  • Data names accept lowercase characters (a through z), numbers (0 through 9), and underscores ( _ ). Capitalized characters, spaces, and special characters are not accepted and will result in an error being displayed if you try to save your app design.

  • When conducting imports or exports of data to or from your Fulcrum account, the data name attributes are used to structure the data for standardization.

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