Selection

Selection Fields let a User choose one or multiple Field values from a pre-determined finite Select List. This list can be created in Settings or via the 'Add/Update' button below the 'Select List' property, which is what will be detailed here. A select list will require a unique system ID and a name for the user to find their created list by. 

Examples

From Left to Right: Select, Listbox, Checkbox and Radio type Select Lists

Configuring a new Selection Field

To create a new Selection Field, you must first be in the 'Fields' section of AppStudio, here you will be able to click the 'Add Field'  button in at least one of the highlighted locations below.

This will open the following page where you can scroll down and select the the Selection Field tile or search for it in the  top right bar:

Once selected you will be presented with the configuration options below:

Note: If you intend to create a New Selection via this path, do not enter a Label and ID, as these will be lost upon refreshing the page in order for the Newly Created Selection to appear under 'Select List'. - Go straight to the '+' to the right of 'Select List'.

• Label: Visible in the App above the entry box it makes clear to the user what data is being displayed in the Field.
• Identifier: This should reflect the label. The identifier is a system ID for referencing a Field. This ID must be unique per Field and must contain only letters and numbers starting with a letter. It must also be a minimum of three characters.
• Type: The sort of Field that is being configured - With some types this can be edited in the future providing the data type is cross-compatible.
• Required: Does this Field have to have data in it before the Record can be created? If this is set and it's left blank a Validation Error will occur preventing the Record from creating / updating.
• Read Only: Makes the data in the Field non-editable (Read Only) - This shouldn't be used for Fields that require manual data entry as this makes such impossible!
• Select List: This is where you can select a pre-configured Select List if desired, or create a new selection by clicking the '+'.

This will take you to the 'Select Lists' area where you can configure new Selections as show at the bottom

1. Give the new Selection a Name and Identifier.
2. Add Selection options via the 

• Select List Type - Choose from:
  • Checkbox
  • Listbox
  • Radio
  • Select 

Select: This allow the User to make one choice from the list of options in the selection Field. The user will click a drop down that will show all of the available selections and then they will choose one. They can then remove their selection back to 'Select an item..' if they desire.

Radio: This Selection type shows all of the options to the user and then they can make a selection of one option. Choosing another option will remove the previous selected option. Once a value has been selected, the user can only choose a new option. They cannot clear their selection.

Checkbox & Listbox: This presents all options to the User and they can then select or deselect the options as they would like. The only difference is in how the data appears. See the image below for an example. For the checkbox this is by clicking the box to the left of the value. For the List box multi-selection and deselection can be made by holding 'Ctrl' whilst making the selection.

Note: If there are seven or more options for the user then the Radio and Checkbox Fields will change to show the options horizontally across the page instead of vertically.

The selection type can depend on what you want to use the data for. Checkbox and Listbox will store the data as an array of items. This is fine if the Field value is only viewed within the Record but does mean that it cannot be used in Reporting. If the values are needed to report against then restricting the User to one selection is advisable.

Note: When using the checkbox sub-type for a select list, this will mean that the field is not sortable at the report level due to the field storing multiple values.

• Select List Sub Type - Choose from:
  • Numeric - Use if you have assigned numeric backing Values to the Text that appears in the Selection i.e. Low, Medium and High have Values of 1, 2 and 3. With a numerically stored backing 'Value' means the Selection Field can be referenced in Expressions, furthermore, this can simplify the construction of Report Filters also.
  • Text - Stores a text-based backing 'Value', this can still be referenced in non-numerical Expressions by referencing the _Text Field ID in the form: [SelectionFieldID_Text]
• Expressions: These are logic statements that are capable of determining the value for a Field and can perform an extremely wide range of tasks. For more information see here.
• Include in Free Text Quick Filter: Makes the Field searchable from within a Report in order to filter down Records. It will return all Records that contain the Search Text in Fields that have this property checked.
• Exclude This Field From Templated Record Copies?: If toggled, the data in this Field will be excluded from future copies of Records, whenever 'Template Copy' is selected for the copy.

*You must click 'Save' to commit the configuration to the system.*

Creating a select list

Creating a select list is similar to creating an image list, it requires a name and ID, the name is what shows when selecting your select list from the selection drop-down in the field. You can then start to add options to the list, each option requires:

• Text: This is what will be seen when the select list drop down appears and can be referenced in expression with [FieldID_Text]
• Value: This is the value stored against the text, this tends to be a smaller version of the text to make it easier to reference in expressions. This also allows you to store numbers value against text as well for scoring. This value cannot change after it is added for data consistency

These are ordered the same way as reports are by using the 6 dots icon to drag and drop up and down the list

The state column is similar to how the one in grid fields work where it shows you which items have been added, changed or unchanged.

Under utilities you also now have the option to import and export select lists, this can save large amounts of time when creating a select list based on counties or countries

-After saving a Newly made Selection, go back to the original creation tab and refresh the page in order for the New Selection to become available for selection under 'Select List'.

Make sure to click the 'Save' button when making any changes in order for them to be added to the next app version. Once you have made all the changes you need to an application you are then ready to publish it to workspace.