Format and FormatName columns

Format and FormatName are the columns that store the format values and are used by the controls and UI to know how to display the contents.

Format is the older column that stores the values used by Microsoft Dataverse. To maintain backward compatibility, new formats were not able to be introduced. Because of this, some of the API responses won't align with the new format. For Text and Multiline Text columns, it is recommended to use the FormatName column.

FormatName is the new column that is used to specify the format for Text and Multiline Text column data types. FormatName column provides a more accurate response for the format selected and supports newer format types.

API behavior

• On Create operation, if the incoming payload contains both Format and FormatName information, the FormatName value is considered first. If the payload contains only one value, the system considers whatever is present in the payload.

• On Retrieve operation, a data type with a defined format may provide different values for the Format and FormatName API responses based on compatibility. For example, a text column set to RichText format returns the following:

  • Format: 'Text'
  • FormatName: 'RichText'.
  • Retrieve operation corrects any incompatible Format or FormatName values present on a data type by changing the values to default. For example, if a Text column is changed to Date Only in Dataverse, the retrieve operation corrects the format to the following values:
    • Format: 'Text'
    • FormatName: 'Text'.

• On Update operation, system only considers the FormatName value. The value of Format is NOTconsidered even if the FormatName value is not present.

The following table provides the Format and FormatName values and API responses for each type:

Column type	Platform format / Value in solution XML	Format SDK Definition	FormatName SDK Definition	API response value	Remarks
Text	Text	StringFormat.Text	StringFormatName.Text	Format: Text FormatName: Text	Default format value for String column.
	Email	StringFormat.Email	StringFormatName.Email	Format: Email FormatName: Email
	Text Area	StringFormat.TextArea	StringFormatName.TextArea	Format: TextArea FormatName: TextArea
	URL	StringFormat.Url	StringFormatName.Url	Format: Url FormatName: Url
	Ticker Symbol	StringFormat.TickerSymbol	StringFormatName.TickerSymbol	Format: TickerSymbol FormatName: TickerSymbol
	Version Number	StringFormat.VersionNumber	StringFormatName.VersionNumber	Format: VersionNumber FormatName: VersionNumber
	Phone	StringFormat.Phone	StringFormatName.Phone	Format: Text FormatName: Phone
	JSON	StringFormat.Json	StringFormatName.Json	Format: Text FormatName: Json
	Rich Text	StringFormat.RichText	MemoFormatName.RichText	Format: Text FormatName: RichText	Only allowed for non-SQL data provider.
Memo/Multiline Text	Text	StringFormat.Text	MemoFormatName.Text	Format: Text FormatName: Text	Default format value for Memo/Multiline column.
	Email	StringFormat.Email	MemoFormatName.Email	Format: Email FormatName: Email
	Text Area	StringFormat.TextArea	MemoFormatName.TextArea	Format: TextArea FormatName: TextArea
	InternalExtentdata	StringFormat.Te	StringFormatName.Text	Format: Text FormatName: Text
	Json	StringFormat.Json	MemoFormatName.Json	Format: Text FormatName: Json	Only allowed for non-SQL data provider.
	Rich Text	StringFormat.RichText	MemoFormatName.RichText	Format: Text FormatName: RichText
Whole Number	None/String.Empty	IntegerFormat.None	N/A	Format: None	Default format value for Integer column.
	Duration	IntegerFormat.Duration	N/A	Format: Duration
	TimeZone	IntegerFormat.TimeZone	N/A	Format: TimeZone
	Language	IntegerFormat.Language	N/A	Format: Language
	Locale	IntegerFormat.Locale	N/A	Format: Locale
Date and Time	DateTime	DateTimeFormat.DateAndTime	N/A	Format: DateAndTime	Default format value for DateTime column.

Related articles

Data type format conversions
Format validations