Skip to content

Dropdown Lists and Field Validations

This page covers two Clarity Transform screens under Settings → Field Management: Dropdown Lists and Field Validations.

Purpose

Dropdown Lists sets the allowed values for dropdown fields in Clarity. There is normally one row per table and field, but a table and field can have two rows: in the instance observed for this build, application.environment and device.migration_status each have two. A row either lists the allowed values, or makes the field a lookup to a column of another table. A row can also make the dropdown depend on another field, and can allow more than one value to be selected. There are no named, reusable lists.

The relationship form's Source Entity Class, Relationship Type and Target Entity Class lists come from the relationship rows here, so a value added here is offered on that form.

Where to find it

Settings → Field Management → Dropdown Lists

What you see

The screen has no header. It shows a grid with the standard toolbar: Create New, Edit, Remove selected, Clear selection, Reload table data, Enable spreadsheet editing, Export CSV and Import CSV. Export is CSV only. Each row has a View Details row action (the eye icon).

Columns

  • Table Name
  • Field Name
  • Field Values: a comma-separated list of the allowed values.
  • Target Table Name
  • Target Column Name: with Target Table Name, makes the field a lookup to that table's column instead of a fixed list.
  • Depends On Column
  • Depends On Field: with Depends On Column, makes the dropdown cascade from another field.
  • Multi Select: True or False.

Fields

The create form (Create new entry) has these fields, in this order. The edit form (Edit entry) has the same fields, filled in. No field is marked as required.

  • Table Name: a list of every database table, by database name. Help: "Name of the table this dropdown applies to. Use "Multiple Tables" for cross-table use."
  • Field Name: a list of the chosen table's columns. Help: "The field in the target table that this dropdown will populate."
  • Field Values: text. Help: "Comma-separated static values for the dropdown (overrides dynamic options)."
  • Target Table Name: text. Help: "Target table used to fetch dynamic options (optional for static lists)."
  • Target Column Name: text. Help: "Target column used to fetch dynamic options (optional for static lists)."
  • Depends On Column: text. Help: "Parent field name in the editor that controls this dropdown (dependency parent)."
  • Depends On Field: text. Help: "Column name used to filter options based on the parent field value (dependency filter)."
  • Multi Select: a checkbox. Help: "Enable multi-select behavior (Selectize with multiple values)."

The form footer has Cancel and Save.

Filters

Each column has a filter row, and the grid has a Search: box.

The grid remembers its Search: text, column filters, sort order and page size between visits. If the grid shows fewer rows than you expect, clear the Search: box and the filter row.

Examples from this build

Illustrative, taken from the configuration observed in this build:

  • device.environment has the Field Values Production, Pre-Production, UAT, Test, Development, DR.
  • device.move_group is a lookup to migrations_move_groups_summary.move_group.
  • device.target_network depends on target_cluster / cluster_name.

How to

Change the allowed values for a field

  1. Go to Settings → Field Management → Dropdown Lists.
  2. Find the row for the table and field, using the Search: box or the column filters.
  3. Select the row, then select the edit icon (Edit). The Edit entry form opens with the row's values.
  4. Change Field Values, keeping the values comma-separated.
  5. Select Save.

Add a dropdown for a field

  1. Go to Settings → Field Management → Dropdown Lists.
  2. Select the add icon (Create New). The Create new entry form opens.
  3. Select the Table Name, then the Field Name.
  4. Enter the allowed values in Field Values, separated by commas. For a lookup instead, enter Target Table Name and Target Column Name.
  5. Select Multi Select if more than one value may be chosen.
  6. Select Save.

To remove one value, edit Field Values. Remove selected deletes the whole row for that table and field.

Field Validations

Purpose

Field Validations marks a field of a CI class as Mandatory or Suggested. These are the only two validation types. The scores on the Application Data Quality and Device Data Quality dashboards are driven by these rows.

A Mandatory field is highlighted on the record's form, but it does not stop a save: a record with a Mandatory field empty is saved without a warning.

Where to find it

Settings → Field Management → Field Validations

What you see

The screen has no header. It shows a grid with the standard toolbar: Create New, Edit, Remove selected, Clear selection, Reload table data, Enable spreadsheet editing, Export CSV and Import CSV. Each row has a View Details row action (the eye icon).

The grid remembers its Search: text, column filters, sort order and page size between visits. If the grid shows fewer rows than you expect, clear the Search: box and the filter row.

Columns

  • Ci Class: the rows in this build use Application and Device.
  • Field Name
  • Validation: Mandatory or Suggested.

Fields

The create form (Create new entry) and the edit form (Edit entry) have the same three fields:

  • Ci Class: a list with Application, Cluster, Database, Device and Relationship.
  • Field Name: a list of the chosen class's columns, by database name.
  • Validation: a list with Mandatory and Suggested.

The form footer has Cancel and Save.

How to

Mark a field as Mandatory or Suggested

  1. Go to Settings → Field Management → Field Validations.
  2. Select the add icon (Create New). The Create new entry form opens.
  3. Select the Ci Class.
  4. Select the Field Name.
  5. Select Mandatory or Suggested in Validation.
  6. Select Save.