String

Version

3.x

Updated

27 Jul 2026

View markdown

A text value. The most common property type, and the fallback shape several others render as.

Storage kind: column · Column: varchar(255)

Reach for it for any free text: names, codes, URLs, labels that are not customer-facing. Reach for something else when the text is not really free — translatable if the shop shows it to customers in their language, number if it is a quantity or a price, dropdown if there is a fixed set of valid values, json if the column holds a JSON document (a string HTML-escapes on the way in and would corrupt it).

Settings

Setting	Meaning
maxLength	maxlength attribute on the input. Was size; a shim still routes the old key
stringType	See below. 'stringOrNumber' accepts either a number or text
unique	The column carries a UNIQUE index — validated here, see below
copySuffix	true for "Name (1)", or function($value, $attempt). Permits copying a unique value
unit	A suffix shown next to the input, e.g. px, days
style	Inline CSS on the input — used sparingly, for narrow numeric-looking fields
editorWidth / editorHeight	WYSIWYG size, defaults 100% / 400px. Only with USE_HTMLEDITOR
options	USE_TEXTAREA, USE_HTMLEDITOR, ALLOW_RAW, ALLOW_HTML

One type, three widgets

The options flags decide what the form renders, and nothing else changes:

Flag	Widget	Use for
(none)	<input type="text">	Single-line values. maxLength applies here
USE_TEXTAREA	<textarea>	Multi-line plain text. Give the column a wider dataType
USE_HTMLEDITOR	The platform's WYSIWYG	Rich text. Pair with ALLOW_HTML or the markup is stripped on the way in

maxLength only produces a maxlength attribute on the plain input — it is a form hint, not a storage limit. The column width comes from dataType, and a USE_TEXTAREA field on the default varchar(255) will silently truncate.

stringType

Governs how the value is normalised on the way in and formatted on the way out:

Value	Behaviour
(unset) / 'string'	Plain text, untouched
'stringOrNumber'	If the input parses as a number, the localised decimal mark is normalised to a dot; otherwise it is left as text
'number'	Localised decimal mark normalised to a dot; empty stored as 0; localised again on output
'price'	As 'number', plus cbprice() formatting on output
'time'	Localised decimal mark on output only

Only stringOrNumber appears in any shipped definition. The others are still implemented, but stringType => 'number' and 'price' are how numeric fields used to be declared — those have all been converted to the number type, which gives you range validation, decimals, currency symbols and the right column type. Do not declare a new one. stringOrNumber is the case that genuinely remains: a field that holds either, such as a value that may be a literal or a formula.

unique and copySuffix

unique => true says the column carries a UNIQUE index, and turns two raw database errors into things the operator can act on:

• On save, check() queries whether the value is still free (excluding this record) and refuses with "Another record already uses the …" on the field, instead of letting MySQL answer Duplicate entry 'EUR' for key 'code' — an index name where a field name should be.
• On copy, the value has to be made distinct, which is what copySuffix is for:

'unique' => true, 'copySuffix' => true                                        // "Autumn Sale" → "Autumn Sale (1)"
'unique' => true, 'copySuffix' => function($value, $attempt) { … }            // your own scheme

Copying a record whose unique property has no copySuffix is refused with a reason, not attempted. That is often correct — a currency code is ISO 4217, and EUR (1) is not a currency.

Suffixing tries up to 100 candidates before giving up: if a hundred variants are all taken, something is wrong with the data and hammering the database further will not fix it. An empty value is never suffixed — a UNIQUE index is not usually guarding emptiness, and required is the key that governs that.

When a suffix is applied and the result would exceed maxLength, the original is shortened, not the suffix. The suffix is the part doing the work.

@see number.md — for anything numeric @see translatable.md — for anything a customer reads @see ../com_configbox_property_definition_settings.md §4