Selection fields

Selection fields provide users a small number of choices. Selection fields are displayed as one of these types:

• Drop-Down List — Users can select from a list of items.
• Radio Button — Users can select only one item.
• Check Box — Users can define multiple items. But, check box for only first value is displayed.

Users cannot enter values that are not in the selection field. (This is one difference between selection fields and character fields with menus.)

Data for a selection field is stored in the database as an integer that relates to the order of the selection items. BMC Remedy AR System can automatically generate item IDs, or you can create a custom ID for each item.

If you create the IDs, gaps can exist between the ID numbers, enabling you to insert new IDs later. For example, you might create these IDs:

At a later time, you can add a selection item and ID, such as Pending and 15, which is placed between Open and In Development.

If BMC Remedy AR System numbers the IDs for you, do not change the order of existing selection items, or the meaning of data previously entered in the database is changed. For example, in a Status field, if the original items are New, Assigned, and Closed and you add an item labeled Fixed before the Closed item, existing database entries with a status of Closed change to a status of Fixed.

If you must add an item to a selection field on an active form, add it only as the last item. For example:

For check boxes, you can define more than one choice, but users have access only to the first value.

You can create searches using the item IDs in the selection field. For example, the search string 'Status' < 2 searches for all New and Assigned requests in the previous example. The search string 'Check Box' = $NULL$ searches for requests in which the check box is not selected.

Use selection lists only in cases where you do not expect the options available to users to change over time.

For more information, see Creating selection fields.