What means «type» attribute for a backend configuration's form field?

dmitry_fedyuk · November 17, 2015, 7:42am

The type is an optional attribute for a backend configuration form field.

An example for the core PayPal module’s option «Sales» → «Payment Methods» → «PayPal Payment Solutions» → «Required PayPal Settings» → «Express Checkout» → «API Certificate»:

github.com

magento/magento2/blob/2335247d4ae2dc1e0728ee73022b0a244ccd7f4c/app/code/Magento/Paypal/etc/adminhtml/system/express_checkout.xml#L59


</field>
<field id="api_signature" translate="label" type="obscure" sortOrder="50" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1">
    <label>API Signature</label>
    <config_path>paypal/wpp/api_signature</config_path>
    <backend_model>Magento\Config\Model\Config\Backend\Encrypted</backend_model>
    <attribute type="shared">1</attribute>
    <depends>
        <field id="api_authentication">0</field>
    </depends>
</field>
<field id="api_cert" translate="label" type="file" sortOrder="60" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1">
    <label>API Certificate</label>
    <config_path>paypal/wpp/api_cert</config_path>
    <backend_model>Magento\Paypal\Model\System\Config\Backend\Cert</backend_model>
    <attribute type="shared">1</attribute>
    <depends>
        <field id="api_authentication">1</field>
    </depends>
</field>
<field id="api_wizard" translate="button_label attribute sandbox_button_label" sortOrder="70" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1">
    <button_label>Get Credentials from PayPal</button_label>

The type attribute is optional and has the default value text:

github.com

magento/magento2/blob/2335247d4ae2dc1e0728ee73022b0a244ccd7f4c/app/code/Magento/Config/Model/Config/Structure/Element/Field.php#L145-L148


public function getType()
{
    return isset($this->_data['type']) ? $this->_data['type'] : 'text';
}

Magento 2 supports the following standard values for the type attribute: Magento 2 standard form field types

A type value could also be a full class name.

Magento 2 creates a field instance based on its type: How does \Magento\Framework\Data\Form\Element\Fieldset::addField() work?