Each field description has to contain a datatype declaration which describes what data are to be store in the field. The general format for such a declaration is
datatype [ options ... ]text [ matching { "regexp" [ "regexp" ... ] } ]text datatype is the most commonly used type; it is a
one-line text string.
If the matching qualifier is present, the data in the field must
match at least one of the specified regexps. This provides an easy and
flexible way to limit what text is allowed in a field. If no
matching qualifier is present, no restriction is placed on
what values may appear in the field.
multitext [ { default "string" } ]If the default option is present, the field will default to the
specified string if the field is not given a value when the PR is
initially created. Otherwise, the field will be left empty.
enum { values { "string" [ "string" ... ] } [ default "string" ]}values option. The values option is
required for an enumerated field.
If a default option is present, it is used to determine the
initial value of the field if no entry for the field appears in an
initial OR (or if the value in the initial PR is not one of the
acceptable values). However, the value in the default statement
is not required to be one of the accepted values; this can be used to
allow the field to be initially empty, for example.
If no default option is specified, the default value for the
field is the first value in the values section.
multienum { values { "string" [ "string" ... ] } [ separators "string" ] [ default "string" ]}multienum datatype is similar to the enum datatype,
except that the field can contain multiple values, separated by one or
more characters from the separators list. If no separators
option is present, the default separators are space ( ) and colon
(:).
The values in the default string for this field type should be
separated by one of the defined separators. An example clarifies this.
If we have a field named ingredients where the default values
should be sugar, flour and baking powder and the
separator is a colon :, the following sets these defaults:
default "sugar:flour:baking powder"
enumerated-in-file { path "filename" fields { "name" [ "name" ... ] } key "name" [ allow-any-value ]}enumerated-in-file type is used
to describe an enumerated field with an associated administrative
file which lists the legal values for the field, and may optionally
contain additional fields that can be examined by query clients or used
for other internal purposes. It is similar to the enum datatype,
except that the list of legal values is stored in a separate file. An
example of this kind of field is the built-in Category field with its
associeted categories administrative file.
filename is the name of a file in the gnats-adm
administrative directory for the database.
The format of the administrative file should be simple ASCII. Subfields within the file are separated with colons (:). Lines beginning with a hash sign (#) are ignored as comments. Records within the file are separated with newlines.
The field option is used to name the subfields in the
administrative file. There must be at least one subfield, which is used
to list the legal values for the field. If the administrative file is
empty (or does not contain any non-empty non-comment lines), the PR
field must be empty.
The key option is used to designate which field in the
administrative file should be used to list the legal values for the PR
field. The value must match one of the field names in the field
option.
If the allow-any-value option is present, the value of the PR
field is not required to appear in the administrative file — any value
will be accepted.
Note that there is no default keyword for
enumerated-in-file. These fields get their default value from
the first entry in the associated administrative file.
multi-enumerated-in-file { path "filename" fields { "name" [ "name" ... ] } key "name" [ default "string" ] [ allow-any-value ] [ separators "string" ]}multi-enumerated-in-file is to multienum what
enumerated-in-file is to enum. Its options have the
same meaning as their counterparts in the multienum and
enumerated-in-file fields.
NOTE: Keywords may appear in any sequence, with one exception –
the separators keyword, if present, has to come last. This rule
only applies to fields of type multi-enumerated-in-file.
datedate datatype is used to hold dates. Date fields must either be
empty or contain a correctly formatted date.
No defaults or other options are available. The field is left empty if no value for the field is given in the initial PR.
integer [ { default "integer" } ]If the default option is present, the field will have the value
of integer if the field is not given a value when the PR is
initially created. Otherwise, the field will be left empty.