Working with Picklists
A Picklist is a field that can contain a list of values. It appears as a dropdown list when displayed.
Create a Picklist
- Click Designer > Data > Objects > {object} > Fields
- Click [New Field]
- Provide the information in the sections that follow.
- Click [Save]
The field is added, and the field-definition is shown. You can now Manage and Reorder Values to specify display text and colors, images, and grouping labels.
Basic Information
In the Basic Information section, specify the basic characteristics of the field:
- Label - The text that appears as the field name
- Display Type - Picklist
- Picklist Values - For a simple Picklist that displays the same values it returns with no colors, images, or groups, you can simply enter the values, as shown here:
- Otherwise, wait until the Picklist has been created, then Manage and Reorder Values, as described below.
- Maximum Storage Length - The String length of the longest value in the list.
- Use First Value as Default - Otherwise, the field is initially empty.
- Sort List Alphabetically - Otherwise, you manually arrange the order.
- Always Required - A selection must be made when adding or updating a record.
- Field Name - Automatically created by the system (but you can change it here)
Display Attributes
- In the Display Attributes section, show where the field is displayed in the default form, and whether or not a selection is required when adding or updating a record.
Default Value
In the Default Value section, you can specify a default value.
- Learn more: Default Value
Role Based Permission Control
Select a Role Based Permission Control for each of the roles in the list
Description Information
Include a description of the field and it's use. This information is only visible to users with rights to customize this field.
Specify a Default Value
Default Value for an Enumerated Field
Manage and Reorder Values
Specify Display Text, Colors, Images, and Grouping Labels
The Enumerated Values section of the field-definition page lets you specify display-text, colors, images, and grouping labels, as well as the values returned by user selections:
Click [Manage Values] to specify display text, color, images, and grouping labels.
- Fields
- Alphanumeric Characters are allowed in labels and values, including special characters (+ / ' - _) and spaces.
- Display Label - The label to display in the list.
- Value - The actual value that is stored in a record (or returned to a program) when this item is chosen from the list.
- Image - Specify an image to display (learn more below)
- Show only Image in View mode - Whether to show the image alone, or together with the label.
- Font color - Foreground color
- Background color - Color of the area in which the text is displayed
- Use Label for grouping - The specified label becomes a heading in the list, rather than a selectable value (learn more below)
- Specify images
- To specify images, first upload them to the platform as Documents. This example shows records that were created after selecting such images from a picklist:
- Specify grouping labels
- Click Use Label for Grouping to use a label as a group indicator, rather than making it a selection the user can click.
- This option is useful when a picklist is long, and can be organized into groups.
- Considerations
-
- The Use Label for grouping option is available only for Picklists
- After the Use Label for grouping option is selected, the Sort List Alphabetically option is reset to No (otherwise, the label won't be helpful).
- If the Use Label for grouping option is selected, the enumerated values are not available for dependent field associations.
Reorder Values
In the Enumerated Values section of the field-definition page, click [Reorder Values] to change the order in which the values appear: