Picklist Fields

Picklist fields allow users to select from a predefined list of values (a "picklist").

About Picklist Fields

When you create a Picklist field, you select the picklist that populates the field's values. Picklists are created and managed through the Picklist Manager (see Picklist Manager), and there are two types: 1) lists of user-defined values (user-defined picklists) and 2) lists of records in a given workspace (workspace picklists). Options for configuring a Picklist field vary with the type of picklist you use.

There are many benefits to using Picklist fields in forms. They reduce the time and effort it takes for users to complete a form and, by controlling the available choices, they help improve the quality of your data. The rich selection of Picklist field types in Fusion Manage provides many more benefits. The type of Picklist field you choose depends on what you want to achieve with it.

Creating Picklist Fields

A typical use of a Picklist field is a selection from a list of customers. You can create the field with a user-defined picklist or a workspace picklist.

With a user-defined picklist of customer names

Start by creating a user-defined picklist of customer names (Customers), and then create a Picklist field that points to it (Sold to:).

Because the field points to a user-defined picklist, the Select Workspace Field and Display as link options don't apply and are therefore unavailable. For the same reason, Latest Version and Filtered are unavailable as field Type. The Type that makes the most sense is the default Single Selection since you would most likely use the field to record a sale to one specific customer. You can choose other Types and still keep the field as a single selection. For example, you can choose to display selections as a set of radio buttons instead of a drop-down list (Radio Button). Or you can use a drop-down list but have the first value in the Picklist automatically selected as the field's default value (Show first value as default). After selecting a field Type, enter the remaining details following the input hints and click Save. Here's how the field would appear to the user:

With a workspace picklist of customer records

A more efficient way of creating a customer Picklist is to create a workspace picklist that uses records in a Customers workspace as its values ([WS] Customers). Like most organizations with a Fusion Manage tenant, you most likely have or want to create such a workspace. It then makes sense to use the workspace as the source of the Picklist field instead of a manually created duplicate list that could easily have errors or inconsistencies. Basing the field on a workspace picklist also gives you more options for how you want the field to appear and to display the saved selection.

Workspace Picklist fields use Item Descriptor by default as the values available for selection by the user. Using this field gives you the option of displaying the saved user selection as an active link to the associated workspace item.

However, Item Descriptors are not always relevant or meaningful to users within the context of how or where you use the field. Or they can provide more information than the user needs to make a valid choice. For example, let's assume the Item Descriptor of the Customers workspace consists of record number, name, geographical location, and region. While it makes sense to display this amount of information on the Workspace Page Item Header, the user does not need all of it to figure out which customer in the list is the one they want. A much better way to set up the field is to select Name as the workspace field whose values are available for selection.

There are two things to be aware of when choosing this way. One is that you can no longer show the saved selection as a link. The other is that, as soon as you select a field other than Item Descriptor, Type is set to Filtered and all the other Types become unavailable.

As you see next, this is not the only benefit of using Filtered Picklists.

Creating Filtered Picklist Fields

By creating a combination of fields populated by the same workspace picklist, you can more quickly and efficiently guide users to valid data selections as you incrementally filter the field choices available to them.

Building on the Customers example, let's say you want to make it easier and quicker for users to choose a customer when they create a new Sales Quote. You could simply create a Picklist field that points to the Customers workspace picklist and allows users to select the customer they want from the list. However, you could potentially have hundreds of customers located throughout the world, which would make for a very long list. A better approach is to create three more Picklist fields in addition to Customers, with all of them pointing to the Customers workspace picklist. Here's how the fields might appear on the Sales Quote Item Details form:

Although all four fields point to the same workspace picklist (Customers), each one uses a different field in the workspace as the source of its values: Geo, Region, Country, and Customer. By allowing users to select a geolocation, region, and country from the first three fields, you help them get to the right selection in the Customer field much more quickly. These images show how the fields are created and how they appear on the Workspace Layout page once setup is complete.

This next image shows examples of how selections help the users filter down to the customer they are looking for.

Controlling field visibility to show only important data

In the example above, the only piece of data that's important is the customer name. The three other Picklist fields are there only for filtering. It makes sense then to show only these fields when the user is adding or editing a Sales Quote. You can do this by setting the Visibility of the fields to Edit Only as shown here.

Questions? Something not working quite right?

Why are my Filtered Picklist fields not filtering each other?

For filtering to work across a group of Filtered Picklist fields, all the fields in the group must point to the same picklist.

I want to create a group of Filtered Picklist fields in the Item Details tab? Do all the fields need to be in the same section of the tab?

No. The fields still work if they are in different sections as long as they all point to the same workspace picklist. However, they do all need to be on the same tab.

Can I add Filtered Picklists to other tabs besides Item Details?

Yes. You can add Filtered Picklist fields to the Grid, Bill of Materials, and Sourcing tabs as well as the Item Details tab.

I'm trying to create a Filtered Picklist field. When I select the picklist I want the field to use, the Filtered option is grayed-out.

Make sure the picklist you are selecting is a workspace picklist and not a user-defined picklist. Filtered Picklist fields work only with workspace picklists.

I want to create two groups of Filtered Picklist fields that use records from the same workspace as their picklist. However, I don't want filtering in one group to affect filtering in the other. Is there some way I can do this?

Yes. Create two separate picklists, with different names, and have them both use records from the same workspace as their values. You can then use one of the picklists for the first set of fields and the second picklist for the second set of fields. What allows groups of Filtered Picklists to operate independent of each other is the picklist they use, not the workspace.