Software managing long names in an application programming interface receives a request to perform a requested operation on one or more fields, the application comprising a first operation operable to perform the requested operation on at least one field type. The software determines whether the field type of any of the fields is incompatible with the first operation. If the field types of the one or more fields are compatible with the first operation, then the software performs the requested operation on the one or more fields using the first operation. If the software determines that the field type of at least one of the fields is incompatible with the first operation, then it converts the request into a call for a second operation operable to perform the requested operation on the one or more fields and performs the requested operation using the second operation.