When building or customizing business applications in Odoo, understanding field types is fundamental to creating robust and efficient modules. Mastering Odoo fields is essential for accurate data management, smooth workflows, and a scalable system architecture.
What are Fields in Odoo?
Fields in Odoo represent the basic building blocks of your database structure. They define what type of information can be stored in your models and how that data behaves within the system. Each field type serves a specific purpose, from storing simple text to managing complex relationships between different business objects.
Essential Fields Types in Odoo
Character Fields (Char)
The Char field is one of the most commonly used field types in Odoo. It stores short text strings, typically up to 255 characters. This field type is perfect for names, email addresses, reference numbers, or any single-line text input.
Common use cases:
- Product names
- Customer email addresses
- Invoice numbers
- Short descriptions
name = fields.Char(string='Product Name')
Text Fields
Unlike Char fields, Text fields accommodate longer content without character limitations. They're ideal for descriptions, notes, comments, or any multi-line text entry. Text fields provide flexibility for detailed information that doesn't fit into a single line.
Best practices:
- Use for product descriptions
- Customer notes and comments
- Internal memos
- Detailed specifications
description = fields.Text(string='Product Description')
Integer and Float Fields
Numerical fields are crucial for business operations. Integer fields store whole numbers, while Float fields handle decimal values. These field types in Odoo support mathematical operations and are essential for calculations, quantities, and measurements.
Integer applications:
- Quantity on hand
- Number of employees
- Days until delivery
- Stock levels
Float applications:
- Product prices
- Discount percentages
- Measurements and dimensions
- Tax calculations
qty_on_hand = fields.Integer(string='Qty') product_price = fields.Float(string='Price')
Boolean Fields
Boolean fields represent true/false values, making them perfect for yes/no questions or toggle switches. They're memory-efficient and provide clear binary options for your data model.
Practical examples:
- Active/Inactive status
- Is taxable?
- Published/Unpublished
- Confirmed/Pending
is_taxable = fields.Boolean(string='Is Taxable')
Date and Datetime Fields
Time-sensitive data requires specialized fields. Date fields store calendar dates, while DateTime fields include both date and time information. These fields are critical for scheduling, tracking, and time-based workflows in Odoo.
Essential uses:
- Order dates
- Delivery schedules
- Appointment times
- Contract expiration dates
- Creation and modification timestamps
order_date = fields.Date(string='Order Date') scheduled_date = fields.Datetime(string='Scheduled Date', default=fields.Datetime.now)
Selection Fields
Selection fields, also known as dropdown fields, limit user input to predefined options. They ensure data consistency and make reporting more reliable by preventing free-form entry errors.
Implementation example:
state = fields.Selection([
('draft', 'Draft'),
('confirmed', 'Confirmed'),
('done', 'Done'),
('cancelled', 'Cancelled')
], string='Status', default='draft')
Binary Fields
Binary fields store file data directly in the database, while Image fields are specialized binary fields optimized for image handling. These field types in Odoo enable document management and visual content storage.
Applications:
- Product images
- Company logos
- PDF attachments
- Employee photos
attachment = fields.Binary(string='Attachment') image = fields.Image(string='Product Image')
Monetary Fields
Specialized for handling currency values, Monetary fields work in conjunction with currency fields to ensure proper financial calculations. They automatically handle decimal precision and currency conversions when needed.
amount_total = fields.Monetary(string='Total Amount', currency_field='currency_id')
Relational Field Types in Odoo
Many2one Fields
The Many2one field creates a relationship where many records can link to one record in another model. This is the most common relational field type, establishing parent-child relationships throughout Odoo.
Example scenario: Multiple sales orders (many) can belong to one customer (one). This relationship allows efficient data organization and prevents redundancy.
partner_id = fields.Many2one('res.partner', string='Customer')
One2many Fields
One2many fields represent the inverse of Many2one relationships. They display all records from another model that reference the current record. This field type is essential for showing related items in a hierarchical structure.
Common implementations:
- Invoice lines within an invoice
- Order items in a sales order
- Employee tasks within a project
- Comments on a blog post
order_line_ids = fields.One2many('sale.order.line', 'order_id', string='Order Lines')
Many2many Fields
When you need flexible relationships where multiple records can connect to multiple other records, Many2many fields provide the solution. This field type creates a junction table behind the scenes to manage complex associations.
Use cases:
- Products with multiple categories
- Users with multiple roles
- Projects with multiple tags
- Courses with multiple students
tag_ids = fields.Many2many('product.tag', string='Tags')
Field Attributes
Fields in Odoo support numerous attributes that control behavior:
- string: Value will be shown on the UI
- required: Makes the field mandatory
- readonly: Prevents field modification
- default: Sets initial values
- help: Provides user guidance
- domain: Filters relational field options
Conclusions
Understanding field types in Odoo is crucial for developing scalable and efficient business applications. Choosing the right fields not only ensures data integrity and optimal system performance but also enhances overall user experience.
By mastering these fundamental building blocks, developers can build robust Odoo implementations that align with business requirements while maintaining clean, maintainable, and future-ready code. The field types discussed here form the backbone of every Odoo module, making them essential knowledge for developers at all levels.
Ready to put this into practice? Start by analyzing your data requirements, selecting the most suitable field types, and applying best practices to achieve efficient, high-performing Odoo solutions.