Custom Field Type: Select One - Dropdown List
Contents
General Description
Displays as a set of values in a dropdown list. The user can select a single value.
Field Illustrated
Setting the values for the Select One - Dropdown List, in Custom Field Settings
Select One - Dropdown List, in Edit Mode
Select One - Dropdown List, in View Mode
Predefined Options | The values you want to be listed within your dropdown list, delimited by semi-colons with no spaces. |
---|---|
|
Feature Options
Option | Description | Format |
---|---|---|
Track Changes | Keeps track of changes made to this field. | Not Applicable |
Show Display Value in List Views | By default, the stored value is shown when fields are referenced in List Views. Selecting this option will display the display value. | Not Applicable |
Referencing the Value
- @fieldname@
- @fieldname.combovalue@
or
- @#fieldid#@
- @#fieldid.combovalue#@
When trying to reference the values of this custom field type, you must use @fieldname@ or @fieldname.combovalue@, depending on how the field is setup. Typically, you can use @fieldname@ but there is a special case where you must use @fieldname.combovalue@ when the values in the combo box are 1=Yes;2=No;3=Maybe.
Using @fieldname@ will return the Yes, No, or Maybe. But using @fieldname.combovalue@ will return 1, 2, or 3.
Using @fieldname.value@ will display the full HTML of the field; in other words, a dropdown box containing the values of the field will be displayed.
Notes
Allow Empty
Because the values in a Combo Box Custom Field are restricted to the semi-colon delimited list in the Values field, the Allow Empty field has a slightly different behaviour than usual. It controls whether or not the record can be saved with the default value (which is the first value listed in the Values section):
- If Allow Empty is checked, the record can be saved with the default value.
- If Allow Empty is not checked, the record cannot be saved with the default value. In this way you can force the user to select a value different from the default value.
- Important: Because the record cannot be saved with the default value, the first item listed in the Value section should be either a space followed by a semi-colon (if you want the field to start out blank) or an instruction to the user such as -----Select One-----; Please choose; or similar. You do not want an actual value as the first item, since the record can never be saved with the first value if Allow Empty is deselected.