Configuring link controls on forms

You can configure forms to include linking functions. For linking to work, you must include a link control on the forms where you want users to be able to link. A link control includes buttons for Link To, Create Linked, Open, and Unlink. At the right side of the Actions ribbon are buttons for Refresh and Update. Because this control is a predefined section, you can only see these details in the production environment.

Links can be configured to display values from a linked record, to manage updates in a linked record, or to view the details of a linked record.

The records that are listed for your users to select will vary by relationship type and side. For example:

• If you select a Master/Subtask: Master relationship, only Master Tickets linked to the current ticket are listed.
• If you select a Master/Subtask: Subtask relationship, only subtask tickets linked to the current ticket are listed.
• If you select a Related Tickets: Related Ticket relationship, all tickets linked to the current ticket are listed.

When planning how to configure Link Controls, give some thought to which fields your users need to see, which fields they would like to see, and in what order the fields should be listed. The fields available in a Link Control are based on the relationship selected for the Link Control and include fields from the other side of that relationship.

Although, the Make this field searchable check box is not selected for a field, the field can still be used to configure link controls on form.

For example, you want to add a link control to a ticket form in Workspace1. If you select the Related Tickets relationship from Workspace1 to Workspace2, and the relationship is configured from ANY items of Workspace1 to ANY items of Workspace2, then the Grid Columns list will include all available fields from all items defined in Workspace2.

The following topics are provided:

Before you begin

Make sure that you have already configured:

• The fields in the items that will be selected as link fields. These can be built-in fields or fields that you created. For more information, see Configuring fields.
• The relationship needed for the link control. For more information, see Configuring relationships.
• Understand how the fields used in link control work. For more information, see Behavior of linked fields.

To configure a link control on a form

1. Open the container where you want to add linking.
   1. Click the Administration tab.
   2. In the appropriate section, click the name of the container or click Manage to open the container Administration page. Then double-click the container.
      The container details page appears. 
   3. In the left pane, click the item link (such as Record Definitions for workspaces or Contacts for address books).
      The Items page appears. 
   4. Double-click the item.
      The item details page appears.
2. Double-click the form that you want to modify.
3. In the left pane, click Form Controls.
4. Drag a Link Control onto the form.
5. Configure the details for the control:
   

   1. In the Field Label field, enter the name that will appear on the form for this control.

   2. In the Link Type field, select one or more relationships and the side of the link from those configured for this container.

   3. Click Configure under Grid Columns and Linked fields.

      The Configure Link Control page is displayed. By default, the Grid Columns selection is displayed.

   4. Select the data fields to include in the list of grid columns, as required.

   5. Click Linked Fields. Select the Link type. 
      

      Note

      Click Apply to all to apply the selected fields to all link types.

       Select the data fields to include in the list of linked fields, as required.

6. Click Save.
7. Publish the container to implement your changes:

   1. In the breadcrumb trail, click the container link.

   2. Click Save and Publish.

      A confirmation message appears.

   3. Click Yes.

      The Publication Succeeded message appears, showing the number of errors and warnings.

Behavior of linked fields

Let's take the following scenario to understand how the linked fields behave in FootPrints:

A relationship is configured between a ticket workspace and contacts in address book. The First Name and Last Name are linked fields. The following points explain how the linked fields work:

• If you specify a value in the First Name field and press Enter or click Link To, the users displayed in the Search Lookup window are filtered. You can click to remove the filter to display all contacts in the Address Book.
  For example, if you specify John in the First Name field and click Link To, the users displayed in the Search Lookup window are filtered and only the contacts whose first name is John are displayed.
• If you specify a value for the First Name and Last Name fields, in the Search Lookup window, only the contacts with the specified first name and last name are displayed.You can remove the filter to display all contacts in the Address Book.
  For example, if you specify John in the First Name field and Doe in the Last Name field, in the Search Lookup dialog box, the contacts are filtered and only the contacts with first name as John and last name as Doe are displayed.
• If you remove the filters and select a contact with a different name, the values in the First Name and Last Name fields are overwritten with the details of the contact that you selected.
  For example, in the Search Lookup window, you select Micheal Summers instead of John Doe, the values in the First Name and the Last Name fields are overwritten as Micheal and Summers.
• If you select multiple contacts in the Search Lookup window, the values in the First Name and the Last Name fields are populated based on the latest contact that you select and link. The other contacts are displayed in the Link Control section.
  For example, you link John Doe first and then Micheal Summers, the values in the First Name and the Last Name fields are populated as Micheal and Summers.
• If you are creating a ticket for a new contact and you want to add the new contact to the linked Address Book, after entering the values in the First Name and Last Name fields, click Create Linked to add the user as a contact to the Address book. In this case, the values in the First Name and Last Name fields in the Contact Information form.
• While creating a linked contact, if you change the details on the Contact Information form, the same changes are applied on the Ticket form.
  For example, while creating a ticket you enter the name as John Doe but update it Jonathan Doy on the Contact Information form, after you save the contact, the name is changed to Jonathan Doy on the Ticket form as well.
• If multiple relationships are configured between a ticket in a workspace and several address books, while creating a linked contact, you can select the Address Book to which you want to add the new contact.
• If you have entered a value in the First Name and Last Name fields and you link a contact with an empty value for Last Name, the value in the Last Name field is not deleted. The value that you entered manually is retained.
  For example, you enter John and Doe in the First Name and Last Name fields and in the Search Lookup window you select a user whose first name is John but has no value for last name, Doe is retained as the last name.

Related topics

Configuring forms

Types of form controls

Configuring sections on forms