In addition to simply specifying the data type and position of a Data Source column, we provide more advanced options that influence how rows will display in various screens and filtering scenarios.
These additional options can be accessed via the Data Source -> Rows page on the secure website – simply click the “cog” icon in the column headers as shown in the screenshot below:
This will open the Advanced Column Settings dialog.
The dialog contains powerful options such as:
Data Type
Specifying a data type will cause the Data Source to validate and reject data values that do not match the type selected.
The possible data types are:
| Data Type | Description & Examples |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | e.g., 2025-12-16T16:40:48Z |
| Email Address | e.g., hello@mycompany.com |
| GPS Coordinates | LAT, LON, ALT, ACC, HEAD e.g. Central Park, NY 40.782864 -73.965355 15 5 0 |
| Icon | It allows you to select an icon from a drop-down list in the data source |
| Image | It allows you to store and display an image in the data source |
| Long Text | It allows you to store text of up to 30,000 characters, displaying a multi-line field in the data source. |
| Number | It will enable you to store numbers |
| Short Text | It allows you to store text of up to 30,000 characters |
| URL | It allows you to store an URL e.g., eformsmobile.com |
Display Order
Controls the default position of this column when displayed in the portal and on the app. NOTE: This is zero-indexed (first column = 0).
Disable Filtering
Prevents the app user from filtering by this column.
Applies in the Listing and Mapping screens, among others.
Is Personal Data
Indicates that data captured in this column may contain personal or sensitive data, which in turn can be anonymized when exported from the platform.
NOTE: Use of this option does not grant or imply additional security, protection, or privacy for data.
Referring Data Source
Let’s you specify another Data Source that contains the set of possible values that can appear in this column. When you define a Referring source, the Filter screen in the app will automatically display those possible values as a drop-down list of options instead of defaulting to text entry.
Conditional Display Rules
This unlocks a whole new level of display customisation for Data Source values.
Based on a formula result, you can define rules that make column values appear in different colours and text styles.
For example, you might have a Status column with three possible values: Good, Bad, and Ugly. Defining rules for these will allow you to display those Status values in different colours to emphasize their meanings.
These rules can be leveraged on Mapping screens to colour pins, in Listing screens to vary the data value display, and are also automatically applied in Form screens when you use a Choices field with List of Choices display style.