Text type field is not available when creating field?

[Sant_Singh_Rath]

Hi There,

We are in the process of migrating one marketo instance to another. I was creating fields (with same name, API name and field type)  in new marketo instance but I noticed two things:

1. Text type is not available for field type (Do we have to use string instead and is it gonna work similar to text?)

2. In one of my field api name hyphen is used instead of underscore (accept-offer-defer_reason), this might have been supported earlier but now we can't use hyphen. Any suggestion for this? How I can create the field with same api name?

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Sant

[SanfordWhiteman]

1. String and Text Area are the current choices. However, the documentation for String field limitations is almost completely wrong. Many (though not all) String fields hold far more than 255 chars, so if you do not place strict controls on how data enters into, and in turn is archived from, your instance you must expect to end up with CLOB data in String fields. However, to the degree you have control, you should never deliberately store more than 255 characters in a String.
2. During any migration, you have to be prepared for changes in API names; setting up a name mapping dictionary should be the least of your worries!

[Sant_Singh_Rath]

Thanks Sanford Whiteman‌. I had a chat with support team as well and they suggested to use text area for any text field and they are saying API name should have been changed.

I am worrying about the API name because marketo person who is working with us in migration process said to create the field name with same API name then only historical data will be moved.

[SanfordWhiteman]

I am worrying about the API name because marketo person who is working with us in migration process said to create the field name with same API name then only historical data will be moved.

Well, I don't know what kind of process/platform they're using, but if they can't remap field names that's unacceptable... an ETL process must have a functioning "T" part (Transform)!

[Sant_Singh_Rath]

Totally agree with you. We have meeting tomorrow and will get clarity on that.