Facilitating data entry through named lists

In BMC Helix Innovation Studio, a named list is a reusable list of data that you can associate with a record field to make data entry faster and more accurate. Use named lists to assist with data entry on application UI fields in BMC Helix Innovation Studio. After you associate a named list with a record field, you can enter the named list name in a field and a list of values are displayed.

Named lists offer the following advantages:

• Restricts the input to a specified set of valid options, which eliminates input error for the values entry and ensures consistency.
• Speeds up the speed of data entry by allowing the selection of options rather than manual value entry.

You must first create a named list in BMC Helix Innovation Studio, and then associate that named list with a record definition or a view definition.

To create a named list

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab. 
2. Select the application for which you want to add a named list.

3. On the Named lists tab, click New, and specify the following properties for the named list. 

   Property	Description
   Name	Provide a unique name for the list. The name must start with an alphanumeric character. Only alphanumeric characters, hyphens, dashes and spaces are allowed in the name.
   Record definition	Select a record definition to associate the named list. You can select any type of record definition. Important: The Application/Library scoped definitions are marked with an asterisk ( * ). Make sure you follow the guidelines listed in Object-definition-scope before you select these definitions.
   Filter expression	Click Click to build an expression to define the condition to control which items appear on the named list in the application.
   Display name field	Select the field that you want to be displayed to the user.
   Value field	Select the field to define the value to associate the named field with the record. This named list is displayed on the view definition. If you select different fields for Display name field and Value field, see selecting different fields for display name and value.
   Scope/Customization options	Click Scope/Customization options to define the scope for a named list definition. You can select from the following options: Application/Library (default)—To limit the use of the definition within the same Digital Service application or library.  Public—To enable the definition to be used by all the applications or library and allow customizations for this definition. For more information, see Making definitions available for customization.

4. Click Save.

 To select different fields for display name and value field

If you select different fields for Display name field and Value field, you must add a field to the selected record definition to store the label value and create a rule to populate label value. When you use the record definition having a support group field with this named list associated in a record grid, you can add label field for support group and filter the record grid data based on the label value.

If you do not add a field to store the label value and rule to populate label value, you use the record definition in a record grid in a view definition. On the view definition, when you apply filter on the support group field, the search result does not displays (displays zero row) the result for the support group field.

To copy a named list

You can reuse an existing named list definition by copying it within the application or to a different application or library.

The following image describes how the objects are referenced after you copy the named list to the target application or library:

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
2. Select the application or library that contains the named list you want to copy.
3. Click Named lists, select the named list definition that you want to copy, and click Copy.

4. In the Copy definition dialog box, enter the following details:

   • From Target application/library, select the target application or library where you want to copy the named list.
   • In the Definition name field, type a name for the named list definition. 

   

   The copied named list is displayed in the Named list designer.

To associate the named list with a record definition

After you create a named list, you associate the named list with a record definition or a view definition. 

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
2. Select the application for which you want to add a named list.
3. Click the Records tab.
4. Select the record definition to which you want to associate the named list.
5. Select the field name for which you want to define a named list.
6. Click the Settings icon  in the Properties pane.
7. From the Named list drop-down list, select the named list.
8. Click Save.

To associate the named list with a view definition

After you create a named list, you associate the named list with a record definition or a view definition. 

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
2. Select the application for which you want to add a named list.
3. On the Views tab, click the name of the view definition to which you want to associate a named list.
4. From the Palette pane, drag and drop the Text component to the canvas as you want it to appear on the user interface.
5. Click the Settings icon  in the Properties pane.
6. From the Field Name drop-down list, select the record field with the named list association.
7. Click Save.

Related topics

Creating-the-definitions-for-a-tailorable-application

Defining-record-definitions-to-store-and-manage-data

Working with view definitions  

Defining-the-application-business-logic-through-processes

Adding-rules-to-validate-data-or-trigger-events-in-a-process

Creating-a-tabular-view-of-record-instances-by-using-a-record-grid