..  include:: /Includes.rst.txt
..  _columns-flex:

==============
FlexForm field
==============

..  versionadded:: 13.0
    When using the `flex` type, TYPO3 takes care of
    :ref:`generating the according database field <t3coreapi:auto-generated-db-structure>`.
    A developer does not need to define this field in an extension's
    :file:`ext_tables.sql` file.

Renders a :ref:`FlexForm <t3coreapi:flexforms>` element. Essentially, this consists in a
hierarchically organized set of fields which will have their values saved into a
single field in the database, stored as XML.

The general idea is: There is a data structure that defines which and how single
fields should be displayed, re-using all the TCA column type possibilities. The
actual values of single fields are then stored in an XML representation within
this "flex" field.


..  toctree::
    :titlesonly:

    AboutDataStructures
    FlexformSyntax
    Examples
    Properties/Index