Multiple lines of text

What it is

A Multiple lines of text column holds longer plain text in a box that spans several rows. It keeps line breaks and grows with its content. In the demo, the Text area field on the accelerator form stretches across two columns.

When to use it

Use it for notes, descriptions and comments where formatting is not needed. If people need bold text, lists or links, use the Rich text editor. If 4,000 characters is enough and you want the column to behave like short text elsewhere, a Single line of text with the Text Area format also works.

Licensing and configuration

No extra licence. Create a column with the Multiline Text data type and set a Maximum length, up to 1,048,576 characters. In the form designer you can set the size of the box on the form. Keep long text columns out of views, because a grid can only show the start of the value.

Pitfalls

• Pasted HTML shows as raw markup, because the column stores plain text.
• Lowering the maximum length on a column that holds longer values does not shorten existing data.
• A grid shows only the first part of the text. Open the record to read the rest.
• Do not use it for structured data such as lists of items. Use a related table instead.

Try it in the demo

1. Open the first accelerator and find the Text area field.
2. Type several lines and watch the box grow.
3. Save the record and reopen it to see the line breaks kept.