Data field formats serve several purposes, helping you create, display, and reference data fields.

Data field formats:

• Provide metadata about a field.
• Serve as data field templates.
• Reference validation criteria and field options.

Field metadata

Data field formats provide metadata about a field, which external systems can use to better handle or display fields.

Field templates

You can use data field formats as templates for creating common data fields. When you create a new field, instead of manually entering all of a field’s parameters, you can use data field formats to pre-fill field labels, reference names, and types.

Field references

You can use data field formats to reference the field validation criteria or options based on a certain format.