# Records

Records are the most commonly used data structure in a typical Caplin Platform installation.

A record consists of a [subject](datasource-subjects-symbols-and-fields.md), and one or more [fields](datasource-subjects-symbols-and-fields.md) that contain different types of data. For example, a record containing foreign exchange data could have several price fields (such as the last bid and ask prices) together with time and date fields, whereas an index record would have a price field but no bid or ask values.

You can structure the data in a record in one of three different ways:

* [Type 1 records](datasource-type-1-data.md)
* [Type 2 records](datasource-type-2-data.md)
* [Type 3 records](datasource-type-3-data.md)

Records can be grouped into [containers](datasource-containers.md), which are especially useful for displaying tabular data in a window on the client.

Records are used for [trade messages](../liberator/liberator-trade-messaging.md) too.

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**See also:**

* [Field definitions](datasource-field-definitions.md)
* [Field definitions format](datasource-field-definition-format.md)