Custom Field

A "Custom Field" is a field that the district defines that is seen in the different interfaces when creating, editing, or querying a record.  Custom fields are also available for reporting purposes. 

Create Custom Field

1. From the System menu select 'Custom Field Definition'

2. Click on

3. Select the 'Type' of custom field from the drop down

4. Select the record that this custom field will apply to from the 'Applies To Record' drop down

5. Click on

6. Enter in desired information

7. Click on to save the custom field to the system, click on to not save the custom field and return to the Custom Field Grid.

Examples of Custom Field Types

Code

Custom Field Code Type will appear as a drop down when editing the record.

Date

Custom Field Date Type allows either entering the date or selecting the date from a popup calendar

Money 

Custom Field Money Type will not accept commas, or dollar signs.

BooleanType

Custom Field Boolean Type creates a checkbox

Search Custom Field

The  custom field grid allows the user to search for existing custom fields on the system by clicking in the filter row in the grid columns and entering in the desired information. Click on any row of the search results to see a summary view of the record. Click on beside a custom fieldt to see the full details.  The Advanced Search can be utilized by clicking on the in the upper right side of the grid.

Note: To filter the grid result by the Applies To property you have to surround your search criteria with wildcards (%).  So to limit the grid to all custom fields that apply to vendors, you enter %vendor% in the filter box.  This does a 'starts with' query, so you can enter all or part of the word vendor, but you need to surround it with %.  

Edit Custom Field

Click on  in the grid beside the custom field to edit the custom field. Only fields that are allowed to be edited will be displayed.

Inactivate Custom Field

Click on the   in the grid beside the custom field or when viewing the record. Uncheck the active box and save your changes. The custom field will no longer appear in the 'applies to' interface.

1. From the System menu select 'Custom Field Definition"
2. Search for and select desired custom field
3. Click on the beside the custom field and uncheck the active box
4. Click on  to save the changes, (the custom field will no longer appear in the 'applies to' interface), click  to remove the changes and leave the record as it was.

Delete Custom Field

Click on the   in the grid beside the desired custom field.  A confirmation box will appear and you will be asked to confirm that you really do want to delete this custom field.

More Information

Each Custom Field has a Display Name and a Property Name.  The Display Name is what appears as the field label when viewing, creating, or editing a record.  The Property Name is intended to be a shorter abbreviation of the field which is used other places in the software where the field may be selected, such as in the advanced query and report properties selection boxes.

A Custom Field may be a code, date, money, text, web address, email address, user or a Boolean (true/false) field, as defined by the "type" selected when the Custom Field is created.  Each Custom Field applies to a single type of data, for example, Vendor.   A Custom Field which has an "applies to" of Vendor will only appear in the Vendor interface and when generating Vendor reports.

Some of the types have unique restrictions or capabilities:

Money - will not accept dollar signs or commas

WebAddress - http:// or https:// is required at the beginning

BooleanType - will typically be represented as true or false, or as a checkbox which may be checked (true) or unchecked (false) 

Code - Allows optional entry of a list of valid codes and their related description.  When this Custom Field is used in a create or edit, the user is presented with a dropdown list allowing them to select from the list of valid codes.  If no valid codes are entered, then this is just a text box where the user can enter their desired code.

DateTime - is considered read-only and cannot be entered via the create/edit options.  This type can only be updated by the system via the rules engine.

Email Address - must be in a valid email address format

User - allows selecting a valid username from a dropdown list

In addition, a custom field with a type of CreatedUser or LastModifiedUser will cause the user who created or last updated the applies to record to be automatically recorded in the custom field.  Similarly, a field with a type of CreatedDateTime or LastModifiedDateTime will cause the date that the applies to record was created or last updated to be recorded in the custom field.

You may set a Custom Field to inactive if you wish to stop using it.  The Custom Field may be reactivated at a later time if desired by changing it's active flag.

Custom Field Video