Odoo Field Types: Complete Reference Guide

Field Types Overview

Common Parameters

# Parameters available on ALL field types:
name = fields.Char(
    string='Display Name',     # Label shown in UI
    help='Tooltip text',       # Help text on hover
    required=True,             # Cannot be empty
    readonly=True,             # Cannot be edited
    index=True,                # Create database index
    default='value',           # Default value
    copy=True,                 # Copy when duplicating record
    groups='base.group_user',  # Only visible to this group
    tracking=True,             # Log changes in chatter
    store=True,                # Store in database (for computed)
    compute='_compute_name',   # Compute method
)

Char & Text

name = fields.Char(string='Name', required=True, size=128)
email = fields.Char(string='Email')
notes = fields.Text(string='Notes')
description = fields.Html(string='Description', sanitize=True)

# Char: single line, VARCHAR in DB, optional size limit
# Text: multi-line, TEXT in DB, no size limit
# Html: rich text with WYSIWYG editor, sanitized for XSS

Numbers

quantity = fields.Integer(string='Quantity', default=1)
weight = fields.Float(string='Weight (kg)', digits=(10, 3))  # 3 decimal places
price = fields.Monetary(string='Price', currency_field='currency_id')
currency_id = fields.Many2one('res.currency', default=lambda self: self.env.company.currency_id)

# Integer: whole numbers only
# Float: decimal, digits=(precision, scale)
# Monetary: like Float but with currency widget in UI

Date & Datetime

birth_date = fields.Date(string='Birth Date')
created_at = fields.Datetime(string='Created At', default=fields.Datetime.now)

# Date: stored as Python date object
# Datetime: stored in UTC, displayed in user's timezone

# Useful methods:
fields.Date.today()           # Today's date
fields.Datetime.now()         # Current datetime (UTC)
fields.Date.to_string(date)   # Convert to string
fields.Date.from_string(str)  # Convert from string

Selection

status = fields.Selection([
    ('draft', 'Draft'),
    ('confirmed', 'Confirmed'),
    ('done', 'Done'),
    ('cancelled', 'Cancelled'),
], string='Status', default='draft', required=True)

priority = fields.Selection([
    ('0', 'Normal'),
    ('1', 'Low'),
    ('2', 'High'),
    ('3', 'Urgent'),
], string='Priority', default='0')

# Stored as VARCHAR in DB (the first value in each tuple)
# Displayed as dropdown in UI

Relational Fields

# Many2one: link to ONE record of another model
partner_id = fields.Many2one(
    'res.partner',
    string='Customer',
    ondelete='restrict',  # restrict, cascade, set null
    domain=[('is_company', '=', True)],  # Filter options
)

# One2many: reverse of Many2one (virtual field)
order_line_ids = fields.One2many(
    'sale.order.line',    # Related model
    'order_id',           # Many2one field on related model
    string='Order Lines',
)

# Many2many: link to MANY records
tag_ids = fields.Many2many(
    'project.tags',       # Related model
    'project_task_tag_rel',  # Relation table name (optional)
    'task_id',            # Column for this model (optional)
    'tag_id',             # Column for related model (optional)
    string='Tags',
)

Binary & Image

# Binary: file upload
attachment = fields.Binary(string='File', attachment=True)
attachment_name = fields.Char(string='Filename')

# Image: auto-resizes to multiple sizes
avatar = fields.Image(string='Avatar', max_width=1920, max_height=1920)

# attachment=True: store in filestore (not database)
# attachment=False: store as base64 in database (not recommended for large files)

Json (Odoo 16+)

# Store structured data as JSONB
metadata = fields.Json(string='Metadata')

# Usage:
record.metadata = {'color': 'red', 'sizes': ['S', 'M', 'L']}
color = record.metadata.get('color')  # 'red'

Common Patterns

# Name + code pattern:
name = fields.Char(required=True)
code = fields.Char(required=True, index=True)

# Active flag (soft delete):
active = fields.Boolean(default=True)

# Sequence (ordering):
sequence = fields.Integer(default=10)

# Company field (multi-company):
company_id = fields.Many2one('res.company', default=lambda self: self.env.company)

# User field (assignment):
user_id = fields.Many2one('res.users', string='Responsible', default=lambda self: self.env.user)

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