Attention

TYPO3 v7 has reached its end-of-life November 30th, 2018 and is not maintained by the community anymore. Looking for a stable version? Use the version switch on the top left.

There is no further ELTS support. It is recommended that you upgrade your project and use a supported version of TYPO3.

TYPE: "input"

The type "input" generates an <input> field, possibly with additional features applied.

Some simple input fields

A collection of simple input fields

Properties

Property

Data Type

autocomplete

boolean

checkbox

string

dbType

string

default

string

eval

string

format

string

is_in

string

max

integer

mode

string

placeholder

string

range

array

size

integer

type

string

wizards

array

Property details

type

Key:

type

Datatype:

string

Description:

[Must be set to "input"]

Scope:

Display / Proc.

size

Key:

size

Datatype:

integer

Description:

Abstract value for the width of the <input> field. To set the input field to the full width of the form area, use the value 48. Default is 30.

Scope:

Display

max

Key:

max

Datatype

:integer

Description:

Value for the "maxlength" attribute of the <input> field.

If the form element edits a varchar(40) field in the database you should also set this value to 40.

Scope:

Display

default

Key:

default

Datatype:

string

Description:

The default value

Scope:

Display / Proc.

eval

Key:

eval

Datatype:

list of keywords

Description:

Configuration of field evaluation.

Some of these evaluation keywords will trigger a JavaScript pre- evaluation in the form. Other evaluations will be performed in the backend.

The evaluation functions will be executed in the list-order.

Keywords:

alpha

Allows only a-zA-Z characters.

alphanum

Same as "alpha" but allows also "0-9"

alphanum_x

Same as "alphanum" but allows also "_" and "-" chars.

date

The field will evaluate the input as a date, automatically converting the input to a UNIX-time in seconds. The display will be like "12-8-2003" while the database value stored will be "1060639200".

datetime

The field will evaluate the input as a date with time (detailed to hours and minutes), automatically converting the input to a UNIX-time in seconds. The display will be like "16:32 12-8-2003" while the database value will be "1060698720".

domainname

Allows a domain name such as example.org and automatically transforms the value to punicode if needed.

double2

Converts the input to a floating point with 2 decimal positions, using the "." (period) as the decimal delimited (accepts also "," for the same).

email

This type adds a server-side validation of an email address. If the input does not contain a valid email address, a flash message warning will be displayed.

int

Evaluates the input to an integer.

is_in

Will filter out any character in the input string which is not found in the string entered in the key "is_in" (see below).

lower

Converts the string to lowercase (only A-Z plus a selected set of Western European special chars).

md5

Will convert the input value to its md5-hash (the JavaScript MD5() function is found in typo3/sysext/backend/Resources/Public/JavaScript/md5.js).

nospace

Removes all occurrences of space characters (chr(32))

null

An empty value (string) will be stored as NULL in the database. (requires a proper sql definition)

num

Allows only 0-9 characters in the field.

password

Will show "*******" in the field after entering the value and moving to another field. Thus passwords can be protected from display in the field.

Note

The value is visible while it is being entered!

required

A non-empty value is required in the field (otherwise the form cannot be saved).

time

The field will evaluate the input as a timestamp in seconds for the current day (with a precision of minutes). The display will be like "23:45" while the database will be "85500".

timesec

The field will evaluate the input as a timestamp in seconds for the current day (with a precision of seconds). The display will be like "23:45:13" while the database will be "85513".

trim

The value in the field will have white spaces around it trimmed away.

unique

Requires the field to be unique for the whole table. (Evaluated on the server only).

Note

When selecting on unique-fields, make sure to select using AND pid>=0 since the field can contain duplicate values in other versions of records (always having PID = -1). This also means that if you are using versioning on a table where the unique-feature is used you cannot set the field to be truly unique in the database either!

uniqueInPid

Requires the field to be unique for the current PID (among other records on the same page). (Evaluated on the server only).

upper

Converts to uppercase (only A-Z plus a selected set of Western European special chars).

year

Evaluates the input to a year between 1970 and 2038. If you need any year, then use "int" evaluation instead.

Vendor\Extension\*

User defined form evaluations. See below.

All the above evaluations (unless noted) are done by JavaScript with the functions found in the script typo3/sysext/backend/Resources/Public/JavaScript/jsfunc.evalfield.js.

"(TCE)" means the evaluation is done in the TCE on the server. The class used for this is TYPO3\\CMS\Core\\DataHandling\\DataHandler.

Examples:

Setting the field to evaluate the input to a date returned to the database in UNIX-time (seconds):

'eval' => 'date',

Trimming the value for white space before storing in the database (important for varchar fields!):

'eval' => 'trim',

By this configuration the field will be stripped for any space characters, converted to lowercase, only accepted if filled in and on the server the value is required to be unique for all records from this table:

'eval' => 'nospace,lower,unique,required'
User-defined form evaluations:

You can supply your own form evaluations in an extension by creating a class with three functions, one which returns the JavaScript code for client side validation called returnFieldJS() and two for the server side: deevaluateFieldValue() called when opening the record and evaluateFieldValue() called for validation when saving the record.

Example:

EXT:extension/Classes/Evaluation/ExampleEvaluation.php:

namespace Vendor\Extension\Evaluation;

/**
 * Class for field value validation/evaluation to be used in 'eval' of TCA
 */
class ExampleEvaluation {

   /**
    * JavaScript code for client side validation/evaluation
    *
    * @return string JavaScript code for client side validation/evaluation
    */
   public function returnFieldJS() {
      return '
         return value + " [added by JavaScript on field blur]";
      ';
   }

   /**
    * Server-side validation/evaluation on saving the record
    *
    * @param string $value The field value to be evaluated
    * @param string $is_in The "is_in" value of the field configuration from TCA
    * @param bool $set Boolean defining if the value is written to the database or not. Must be passed by reference and changed if needed.
    * @return string Evaluated field value
    */
   public function evaluateFieldValue($value, $is_in, &$set) {
      return $value . ' [added by PHP on saving the record]';
   }

   /**
    * Server-side validation/evaluation on opening the record
    *
    * @param array $parameters Array with key 'value' containing the field value from the database
    * @return string Evaluated field value
    */
   public function deevaluateFieldValue(array $parameters) {
      return $parameters['value'] . ' [added by PHP on opening the record]';
   }

}

EXT:extension/ext_localconf.php:

// Register the class to be available in 'eval' of TCA
$GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['SC_OPTIONS']['tce']['formevals']['Vendor\\Extension\\Evaluation\\ExampleEvaluation'] = '';

EXT:extension/Configuration/TCA/tx_example_record.php:

'columns' => [
   'example_field' => [
      'config' => [
         'type' => 'input',
         'eval' => 'trim,Vendor\\Extension\\Evaluation\\ExampleEvaluation,required'
      ]
   ],
],
Scope:

Display / Proc.

format

Key:

format

Datatype:

string (keyword)

Description:

When an input-type field is set as read-only, it actually gets rendered as a none-type field. This means that is is possible to use the format property of such field to format the value of the input-type field.

Read-only fields with eval set to "date" will be formatted as "date", "datetime" as "datetime" and "time" as "time". This overrides any value of format which might have been set.

renderType

Key:

renderType

Datatype:

string, allowed values: 'rsaInput'

Description:

Adds RSA encryption to a field prior to being submitted

Scope:

Display

is_in

Key:

is_in

Datatype:

string

Description:

If the evaluation type "is_in" (see eval) is used for evaluation, then the characters in the input string should be found in this string as well. This value is also passed as argument to the evaluation function if a user-defined evaluation function is registered.

Scope:

Display / Proc.

checkbox

Key:

checkbox

Datatype:

string

Description:

This setting is not used anymore since TYPO3 CMS 4.5.

Scope:

Display / Proc.

range

Key:

range

Datatype:

array

Description:

An array which defines an integer range within which the value must be.

Values for Key:

lower

Defines the lower integer value.

upper

Defines the upper integer value.

You can specify both or only one of them.

Note

This feature is evaluated on the server only so any regulation of the value will have happened after saving the form.

Examples:

Limit an integer to be within the range 10 to 1000:

'eval' => 'int',
'range' => array(
   'lower' => 10,
   'upper' => 1000
),

In this example the upper limit is set to the last day in year 2020 while the lowest possible value is set to the date of yesterday:

'range' => array(
   'upper' => mktime(0, 0, 0, 12, 31, 2020),
   'lower' => mktime(0,0,0,date('m'), date('d'), date('Y'))
)
Scope:

Proc.

disableAgeDisplay

Key:

disableAgeDisplay

Datatype:

boolean

Description:

Disable the display of the age (p.e. "2015-08-30 (-27 days)") of date fields. It will be respected if the field has the type input and its eval is set to date.

Scope:

Display

autocomplete

Key:

autocomplete

Datatype:

boolean

Description:

Controls the autocomplete attribute of a given input field

Example:
'title' => array(
   'exclude' => 1,
   'label' => 'LLL:EXT:lang/locallang_tca.xlf:sys_file_reference.title',
   'config' => array(
      'type' => 'input',
      'size' => '20',
      'eval' => 'null',
      'autocomplete' => false,
   )
),
Scope:

Display

placeholder

Key:

placeholder

Datatype:

string

Description:

(Since TYPO3 CMS 4.7)

Placeholder text for the input field. This can be a simple string or a reference to a value in the current record or another one. With a syntax like __row|field the placeholder will take the value of the given field from the current record.

Since TYPO3 CMS 6.2, this can be recursive. If the designated field is a relation to another table (i.e. is of type select, group or inline), the related record will be loaded and the placeholder searched within it.

Example:

Taken from the "sys_file_reference" table.

'title' => array(
   'l10n_mode' => 'mergeIfNotBlank',
   'exclude' => 1,
   'label' => 'LLL:EXT:lang/locallang_tca.xlf:sys_file_reference.title',
   'config' => array(
      'type' => 'input',
      'size' => '20',
      'eval' => 'null',
      'placeholder' => '__row|uid_local|metadata|title',
      'mode' => 'useOrOverridePlaceholder',
   )
),

In the above placeholder syntax, uid_local points to the related "sys_file" record and metadata points to the "sys_file_metata" of the related "sys_file" record. From there we take the content of the title field.

Scope:

Display

mode

Key:

mode

Datatype:

string (keywords)

Description:

(Since TYPO3 CMS 6.0)

Possible keywords: useOrOverridePlaceholder

This property is related to the placeholder property. When defined a checkbox will appear above the field. If that box is checked, the field can be used to enter whatever the user wants as usual. If the box is not checked, the field becomes read-only and the value saved to the database will be null.

What impact this has in the frontend depends on what is done in the code using this field. In the case of FAL relations, for example, if the "title" field has its box checked, the "title" from the related metadata will be provided.

For example code, see the placeholder property.

This is how the mode checkbox appears in the TYPO3 CMS backend:

Input fields with override checkboxes

Several input or text fields with their placeholder override checkboxes

Warning

In order for this property to apply properly, the field must be allowed to use "null" as a value (i.e the eval property must list "null" as a possible evaluation.

Scope:

Display / Proc.

wizards

Key:

wizards

Datatype:

array

Description:

See the wizards section for more information.

Scope:

Display

dbType

Key:

dbType

Datatype:

string

Description:

(Since TYPO3 CMS 6.0)

This field is only relevant when storing date or datetime values as Date or Datetime type in the database instead of an integer value.

When a model property is defined to be of type DateTime (PHP) and it is meant to be stored as a Date or Datetime type (for example like in MySQL) in the database, one has to set eval to date/datetime and additionally set the field dbType as well.

Examples:

ext_tables.sql:

CREATE TABLE tx_example_domain_model_foo (
   synced_at datetime default NULL
)

Configuration/TCA/tx_example_domain_model_foo.php:

'synced_at' => array(
   'config' => array(
      'type' => 'input',
      'eval' => 'datetime',
      'dbType' => 'datetime'
   )
),
Scope:

Proc

Examples

A "date" field

This is the typical configuration for a date field, like "starttime":

'starttime' => array(
   'exclude' => 1,
   'label' => 'LLL:EXT:lang/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.starttime',
   'config' => array(
      'type' => 'input',
      'size' => '13',
      'max' => '20',
      'eval' => 'datetime',
      'default' => '0'
   ),
   'l10n_mode' => 'exclude',
   'l10n_display' => 'defaultAsReadonly'
),

A "username" field

In this example the field is for entering a username (from "fe_users"). A number of requirements are imposed onto the field, namely that it must be unique within the page where the record is stored, must be in lowercase and without spaces in it:

'username' => array(
   'label' => 'LLL:EXT:cms/locallang_tca.xlf:fe_users.username',
   'config' => array(
      'type' => 'input',
      'size' => '20',
      'max' => '50',
      'eval' => 'nospace,lower,uniqueInPid,required'
   )
),

A typical input field

This is just a very typical configuration which sets the size and a character limit to the field. In addition the input value is trimmed for surrounding whitespace which is a very good idea when you enter values into varchar fields:

'name' => array(
   'exclude' => 1,
   'label' => 'LLL:EXT:lang/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.name',
   'config' => array(
      'type' => 'input',
      'size' => '40',
      'eval' => 'trim',
      'max' => '80'
   )
),

Required values

Here the field is required to be filled in:

'title' => array(
   'label' => 'LLL:EXT:cms/locallang_tca.xlf:fe_groups.title',
   'config' => array(
      'type' => 'input',
      'size' => '20',
      'max' => '50',
      'eval' => 'trim,required'
   )
),