The text input field is designed for entering a single line of text. If you need to enter additional lines of text use the text area field field instead.

Text input attributes and terminology

The text input field, like other Identity Cloud fields, provides a number of attributes you can use when creating and formatting the field. Also like other Identity Cloud fields, the terminology used to represent these attributes in Console’s Registration Builder sometimes differs from the terminology required when using the Configuration APIs, which, in turn, sometimes differs from the terminology used if you view the underlying flow.

Needless to say, that can be confusing at times. With that in minds, the following table shows the different text input attributes and how they are referenced in Registration Builder, the Configuration API, and the flow; click the appropriate link in the flow column for more information about that attribute. Attributes highlighted in yellow are auto-generated when the field is created, and shouldn’t be referenced when making an API call (and can’t be accessed in Registration Builder).

Option used in Registration Builder	Member used when making an API call	Property name used in the flow
Name	name	name
Field Type	type	type
Schema Attribute	schemaAttribute	schemaId
Label	label	label
Placeholder Text	placeholder	placeholder
Tip	tip	tip
Default Value	value	value
Prep-populate with data from identity provider	socialProfileData	engageData
Submit blank field values as null	emptyMeansNull	emptyMeansNull
Ignore updates submitted to this field	ignoreUpdate	ignoreUpdate
Data Validations	validation	validation
Forms	forms	forms
		element

Create a text input field by using the Configuration API

If you’re using the Configuration APIs to create a text input field, you must include all the desired attributes and attribute values within the request body of your API call. That request body will look similar to the one shown below (depending, of course, on the number of attributes you use):

{
 "type": "text",
 "name": "testFieldText",
 "schemaAttribute": "displayName",
     "label": {
          "key": "0101d77af7cc8a51563a8deec47443fa"
     },
     "tip": {
          "key": "23502f5298fd0e6d18bdf59565c5fa38"
     },
     "socialProfileData": "profile.displayName",
     "placeholder": {
          "key": "0101d77af7cc8a51563a8deec47443fa"
     },
     "forms": ["traditionalRegistrationForm"],
     "emptyMeansNull": true,
     "ignoreUpdate": false,
     "value": "John Doe"
}

If you’re using Postman, your request body will look like this:

There are at least three things to keep in mind when creating the request body:

The request body must be formatted using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). If you get the following error, that often means that your request body isn’t using valid JSON:
```
400 Bad Request. The browser (or proxy) sent a request that this server could not understand.
```
The label, placeholder, and tip attributes must be formatted as JSON objects; that is, you must start with the attribute name (e.g., tip) followed by a colon and a set of curly braces ({ }). Inside those curly braces, use the key member followed by the id of a translation key containing the text you want to use for the label/tip/placeholder. For example:
```
"label": {"key": "352a99f1e9442568706468966749f1e9"}
```
Note that you must reference a translation key (i.e., a previously-defined piece of text) when creating a label or tip. Suppose you try defining your text within the API call:
```
"label": "Alternate Address"
```
That’s going to result in an invalid syntax error. Instead, use the ID of an existing translation key. If you don't have a translation key that uses the string value Alternate Address then you must create one before you can create the text input field.
The forms member must be formatted as a JSON array, with the form names configured as a comma-separated list between square brackets. For example,
```
"forms": ["traditionalRegistrationForm", "socialRegistrationForm"]
```

A complete Curl command for creating a text input field will look similar to this:

curl -L -X POST \
  'https://v1.api.us.janrain.com/config/79y4mqf2rt3bxs378kw5479xdu/flows/fieldExamples/fields' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic eTR4Zmc2ZjQ0bXNhYzN2ZXBqanZ4Z2d6dnQzZTNzazk6OTVjY3hrN2N6YnZ1eng2ZHB0ZTVrOXA2ZGo1Ynpla3U=' \
  --data-raw '{
     "type": "text",
     "name": "testFieldText",
     "schemaAttribute": "displayName",
     "label": {
          "key": "0101d77af7cc8a51563a8deec47443fa"
       },
     "tip": {
          "key": "23502f5298fd0e6d18bdf59565c5fa38"
       },
     "socialProfileData": "profile.displayName",
     "placeholder": {
          "key": "0101d77af7cc8a51563a8deec47443fa"
       },
     "forms": ["traditionalRegistrationForm"],
     "emptyMeansNull": true,
     "ignoreUpdate": false,
     "value": "John Doe"
}'