---
title: "Typed field values — Forms for Laravel | Roundly"
description: "Each field type maps to a value type, so answers read back as int, bool, dates or arrays and mismatches fail validation."
url: https://roundly-consulting.com/open-source/docs/forms-for-laravel/typed-values
language: en
---

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# Typed field values

Each field type maps to an attributes AttributeType (see forms.field\_types), so stored values read back as real PHP types instead of raw strings, and submitted values are type-checked during validation:

```php
Forms::submissions($form)->first()->values;
// ['age' => 42, 'subscribed' => true, 'born' => CarbonImmutable, 'tags' => ['a', 'b']]

// One per-field row (a `Submission`) reads its own value the same way:
$row = $form->fields->firstWhere('key', 'age')->submissions()->first();
$row->typedValue();                      // 42 (int); true (bool) for a `checkbox` row
```

## Default mappings

| Field types | AttributeType | Reads back as |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `number, range` | integer | int |
| `float, decimal` | float | float |
| `checkbox, boolean, toggle` | boolean | bool |
| `date, datetime` | datetime | CarbonImmutable |
| `multiselect, checkboxes, tags` | array | array |
| `time and anything else` | string | exactly as stored |

## Type checking

After Laravel’s rules pass, each visible, non-null value whose field maps to a non-string type is checked against that type. A mismatch fails Forms::validate() (and finalize) with a ValidationException under the field’s path, like any other rule — a decimal in a number() field is one. The message names the expected type in words, in the current locale — “must be a valid list”, not “a valid array” — from forms::messages.types.\*. Unlisted field types — time among them — keep the free-form string behaviour:

```php
use Illuminate\Validation\ValidationException;

// 'age' => '3.5' posted to a number() field in the contact form's details group
try {
    Forms::validate($form, $request);
} catch (ValidationException $e) {
    $e->errors(); // ['contact.details.age' => ['The Age field must be a valid integer.']]
}

$field->attributeType(); // the AttributeType mapped from the field's type
```

A stored value that no longer converts — data written before a type change, or straight through createSubmission() — reads back exactly as stored instead of breaking the reader.

## Adding your own types

Valid AttributeType values are string, integer, float, boolean, array and datetime. The published field\_types array replaces the defaults, so keep the entries you still need. number and range are whole numbers — use a decimal or float field for fractions; a time field is unmapped on purpose (validate it with e.g. date\_format:H:i):

```php
// config/forms.php — keep the defaults and add your own field types
'field_types' => [
    'number' => 'integer',
    'checkbox' => 'boolean',
    // ...
    'rating' => 'integer',   // a custom field type, cast and checked as an int
],
```

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