Data Types

Overview

A data type is the single object that answers everything the DMS needs to know about one value: which input component edits it, which Zod schema validates it, which comparison modes its filter offers, and whether the field it sits on needs extra decorators. FormField.type and ColumnOptions.type both take one, which is why a form field and a table column of the same type behave identically.

import {
  CreateDataType,
  DataType,
  DefaultDataCompareTypes,
  DefaultDataTypes,
  RegisterDataType,
  serializeType,
} from "@antelopejs/interface-dms/base/data-types";

The data-types subpath re-exports the built-in catalogues, so DefaultDataTypes, DefaultDataCompareTypes and StatusType are all reachable from it. They also have their own modules — data-types/default-types, data-types/compare-types and data-types/status-type — which is how much of the DMS imports them.

Note that the data types are not re-exported from the base barrel — always import them from the data-types subpath.

Use a Data Type

Instantiate the type with its options and hand the instance to the field or the column.

import { Form } from "@antelopejs/interface-dms/base";
import { DefaultDataTypes } from "@antelopejs/interface-dms/base/data-types";

const form = Form({
  fields: [
    {
      id: "name",
      label: "Name",
      type: new DefaultDataTypes.StringType({ maxLength: 120 }),
      required: true,
    },
    {
      id: "status",
      label: "Status",
      type: new DefaultDataTypes.SelectType({
        items: [
          { label: "Draft", value: "draft" },
          { label: "Published", value: "published" },
        ],
      }),
    },
  ],
  submitUrl: "/api/articles/new",
});

An instance is reusable: the same object can back a form field and a table column, since it holds only its configuration.

The DataType Contract

abstract class DataType {
  constructor(
    readonly compareModes: Class<DataCompareMode>[] = [],
    readonly defaultCompareMode?: Class<DataCompareMode>,
    readonly options?: Record<string, unknown>,
  );

  protected abstract defaultInputComponent(): ComponentInfoSerialized;
  abstract getValidation(): z.ZodType;

  filter(context, proxy, key, value, mode, row): ValueProxyOrValue<boolean>;
  filterComponents(): Record<string, ComponentInfoSerialized> & { default: ComponentInfoSerialized };
  inputComponent(): ComponentInfoSerialized;
  decorateField?(target: unknown, key: PropertyKey, descriptor?: PropertyDescriptor): void;
}

Write a Custom Type

StatusType is the smallest complete example: a boolean rendered as an online/offline indicator whose labels and colours are configurable.

import { z } from "zod";
import { FormComponents } from "@antelopejs/interface-dms/base/form";
import {
  DataType,
  DefaultDataCompareTypes,
  RegisterDataType,
} from "@antelopejs/interface-dms/base/data-types";

@RegisterDataType("status")
export class StatusType extends DataType {
  constructor(
    public readonly options: {
      onlineLabel?: string;
      offlineLabel?: string;
      onlineColor?: string;
      offlineColor?: string;
    } = {
      onlineLabel: "$common.status.online",
      offlineLabel: "$common.status.offline",
      onlineColor: "primary",
      offlineColor: "neutral",
    },
  ) {
    super(
      [DefaultDataCompareTypes.Is, DefaultDataCompareTypes.IsNot],
      DefaultDataCompareTypes.Is,
      options as Record<string, unknown>,
    );
  }

  protected defaultInputComponent() {
    const component = FormComponents.InputCheckbox();
    component.options = this.options;
    return component;
  }

  getValidation() {
    return z.boolean();
  }
}

Three pieces make it a type: the @RegisterDataType("status") decorator puts it in the registry under an id, the super() call declares the compare modes and stores the options, and the two abstract members supply the input and the schema. StatusType itself is exported by the data-types subpath and is one of the three column types a kanban board can group by — see Tables.

The Registry

RegisterDataType

const RegisterDataType: (id: string) => ClassDecorator<Class<DataType>>;

Registers the decorated class under id, in both directions: CreateDataType looks up the class by id, and getDataTypeId recovers the id from an instance. An id must be unique — registering twice under the same string replaces the earlier class.

RegisterDataCompareMode

const RegisterDataCompareMode: (
  id: string,
  noInput?: boolean,
) => ClassDecorator<Class<DataCompareMode>>;

Registers a compare mode. The decorator instantiates the class immediately and keeps that single instance, so a compare mode is stateless. noInput marks a mode that needs no value from the viewer — serializeType replaces its filter component with the literal "noInput".

DataCompareMode is the interface a mode implements:

interface DataCompareMode {
  filter(
    context: RequestContext,
    proxy: ValueProxy<unknown>,
    key: string,
    value: unknown,
    row: ValueProxy<Record<string, unknown>>,
  ): ValueProxyOrValue<boolean>;
}

proxy is the database value proxy for the field being filtered and row the proxy for the whole row, both from @antelopejs/interface-database, so a mode builds a database-side predicate rather than filtering in memory.

CreateDataType

function CreateDataType(id: string, options?: unknown): DataType;

Instantiates a registered type by id, forwarding options to its constructor. It asserts on an unknown id with the message Unknown type <id>. Use it when the type is chosen at runtime — from configuration, or from a description produced by another module — rather than written in the source.

getDataTypeId

function getDataTypeId(instance: DataType): string | undefined;

Returns the id an instance's class was registered under, or undefined when the class is not registered. It resolves the class from the instance's own prototype, so a subclass of a registered type returns its own id, not its parent's.

Serialization

function serializeType(instance?: DataType): DataTypeSerialized | undefined;

serializeType is what turns a type instance into the description shipped to the frontend. It returns undefined when there is no instance, and also when the instance's class is not registered.

DataTypeSerialized:

FilterComponent is ComponentInfoSerialized | "noInput". The value-level counterpart, ComponentOrNoInput, is described in Shared Types.

Compare Modes

DefaultDataCompareTypes holds the built-in modes. Each entry is a class; you reference the class in a type's compareModes, and the string id is what appears in a serialized type and in a filter query.

IsEmpty and IsNotEmpty are the two registered with noInput. The namespace also exports escapeRegex(str: string): string, the helper the substring modes use to make a viewer-supplied value safe inside a pattern.

The Default Types

DefaultDataTypes is the built-in catalogue. Every class takes its options object as its only constructor argument, and most of them accept a fallback string used in place of an empty value.

Scalar Types

Notes on the ones whose behaviour is not obvious from the options:

• StringType renders a textarea instead of a single-line input when textarea is set, and passes rows to it.
• StringType with showCount shows the characters typed, out of maxLength when set ("4 / 60"), in its input or under its textarea.
• NumberType hands suffix (an i18n key with $, or a literal) to its input, which writes it after the field; the value stays a number. PriceType inherits it; PercentageType keeps its own %.
• DateType overrides filter so is, is_not and is_between compare whole UTC days rather than instants, and adds a range picker as the filter component for is_between. Its schema accepts a Date or an ISO-shaped string and transforms it to a Date; with multiple the value becomes an array, and with range it becomes { start, end }, end on or after start (a pair [start, end] is still read and validates to the same object).
• BooleanType uses a two-option select as its filter component, so a viewer picks "checked"/"unchecked" rather than typing a value.
• SelectType validates against the values of its items, as an enum or an array of that enum when multiple is set.
• PriceType is a NumberType whose options default to min: 0 and step: 0.01.
• PercentageType is a NumberType whose options default to min: 0, max: 1 and step: 0.01; the stored value is a fraction while the input works in whole percent.
• PhoneType only validates the E.164 pattern when requiredPrefix is set; otherwise any string passes.
• ColorType validates a six-digit #RRGGBB string.
• StringTimeType validates a number — a time of day expressed as a number, bounded by min and max.

Relations

RelationType<T> points a field at another data controller. Its input is a searchable picker whose searchUrl is the target controller's select endpoint, and — unless filterOnly is set — its decorateField installs a data-api Foreign join so list rows carry the resolved related row instead of the raw foreign key.

import { DefaultDataTypes } from "@antelopejs/interface-dms/base/data-types";
import { Column } from "@antelopejs/interface-dms/base/table-view";

@Column({
  name: "Customer",
  type: new DefaultDataTypes.RelationType({
    dataApiController: customerDataAPI,
    keyMapping: { label: "name", value: "_id" },
  }),
  filterable: true,
})
declare customerId: string;

When the target controller exposes a new endpoint and has form fields, the picker also carries an inline "add" form built from the target's new fields, plus the permission id of the target's add action.

CascaderRelationType<T> is the same idea for a self-referencing table: the target's select endpoint returns a flat list, and the widget rebuilds the tree client-side. Its keyMapping is required and adds parent — the field pointing at the parent row, which must itself carry @Select() — alongside the required label and value. It adds maxDepth and leafOnly to the relation options, and supports the same filterOnly behaviour. In a table cell it shows the path of the picked node ("Electronics / Audio"); a multiple one shows a badge per picked node, named by its own label with its path on hover, and folds those past three into +N.

Address

AddressType<T> stores a structured postal address. Its Address shape follows ISO 19160-1 and maps directly onto the UBL cac:PostalAddress used by EN 16931 / Peppol BIS Billing 3.0.

The type's options are placeholder (one string per address component), autocomplete, an optional dataApiController with a keyMapping of label / value for picking an existing address, and fallback. AddressAutocomplete configures the geocoder:

Files and Images

FileTypeOptions has multiple?, constraints?: UploadConstraints, path?, storage? and fallback?. ImageTypeOptions has multiple?, max?, constraints?, path?, storage? and resize?, the FormComponents.ImageResizeOptions the input applies client-side before uploading (Forms). Both accept attachmentField? for a stable native field identity and visibility?: "private" | "public", defaulting to private. constraints is the UploadConstraints type from @antelopejs/interface-file-storage; storage names the storage backend and path the prefix uploads land under.

A file value is the resource key as a string. Metadata-based validation checks configured constraints, matching allowedMimetypes patterns including the type/* form. A native field's save integration also validates upload provenance and canonical metadata before persistence. Existing unclassified legacy values may be retained, but cannot be introduced as new native attachments or read through the native metadata endpoint. A storage outage propagates as a server error rather than becoming a field validation error. An image value is an ImageValue — { key: string; alt?: string; principal?: boolean } — and ImageType defaults allowedMimetypes to ["image/*"], caps the array at max when multiple is set, and rejects a list with more than one principal image.

Both types enable the table view's native file handling: authorized saves promote staging keys, and successful edits or deletes clean removed native references. Failed saves retain promoted objects; cleanup is not reference-counted across records. See File storage for authorization, visibility, retries, and custom save routes, and Helpers for comparing references within records.

Next Steps

• Helpers - Search, export jobs, file references and the archive-mode defaults.