Conventions for Naming Custom Objects
When you create a custom object, such as a custom field, custom record, custom list, and so on, you can specify a unique alphanumeric identifier. You should establish naming conventions for your customizations so that users can identify the correct object to use. Before you enter an ID, consider the purpose of the custom object and the location where it will be used. Create IDs for custom objects that will have meaning to your users. If you leave the ID or Script ID field empty, the system automatically creates an ID when you save the custom object.
If your company name is First Software and your team decides to use the prefix “_fs_” with all custom objects, your list of custom objects would resemble the following:
-
custentity_fs_travel_approval_limit
-
custitem_fs_gift_wrap_price
-
custrecord_fs_system_role
For all custom objects except for custom segments and integration records, you can change an existing ID value using the Change ID button at the top of the page. However, changing the value of an ID that is being used in a script can cause the script to break with no warning messages. You can avoid the need to change IDs in the future by planning your naming conventions before creating the IDs.
When you create an ID for a custom object, the system automatically prepends the file name with a standard string of text. This string varies by custom object type and cannot be changed. As a best practice, you should enter a unique ID name that begins with an underscore. Including the underscore provides a separation between the prepended string of text and your ID.
When planning your naming conventions for custom object IDs, consider including a prefix. For instance, you may want to identify all custom fields by the department to which the custom field applies. We’ll assume your company has the following departments: Marketing, Customer Support, Service, and Sales. When creating the unique IDs for each department, you should add prefixes such as _mktg for Marketing, _cs for Customer Support, _serv for Service, and _sales for Sales. For example, you want to create a new Keyboard Style item field to be used by the Sales department. The automatic prepended string of text for custom item fields is custitem, and you enter an ID of _sales_keyboard_style. If we follow the naming conventions mentioned previously, the final ID for the custom field would be custitem_sales_keyboard_style.
The following table lists the prepended string used for each custom object type ID or Script ID. It also shows the character limit for the ID or Script ID field.
|
Custom Object |
Prepending String |
Character Limit |
|---|---|---|
|
List |
customlist |
28 |
|
Record Type |
customrecord |
28 |
|
Custom Segment |
cseg |
15 |
|
Transaction Type |
|
23 |
|
Field |
|
30 |
|
Transaction Body Field |
custbody |
30 |
|
Transaction Line Field |
custcol |
30 |
|
Transaction Item Options |
custcol |
30 |
|
Item Number Field |
custitemnumber |
30 |
|
Other Record Fields |
custrecord |
30 |
|
Other Sublist Fields |
custrecord |
30 |
|
Sublist |
custsublist |
30 |
|
Subtab |
custtab |
40 |
|
Forms |
|
91 |