Lookups

This section explains how to manage lookups to add or change the options in specific drop-down lists across the system.

Overview

As an administrator you can create or modify options for lookup lists (also called drop-down lists, list boxes or picklists) such as categories. These are specific to your system and allow limited modification to the underlying database.

Mutli-level categories are also possible.

Not all lists in the system can be edited. Refer to the list of available lookup categories for those that are supported.

Editing existing lookups is generally not recommended as this can affect filters and reporting (results for the old values may still appear affecting totals). Instead, it is best to deactivate an existing lookup and add a new one in its place.

Expertise categories ... an example of lookup lists (including sub-lists) that can be modified with custom potions using Lookups

Multi-Level Categories

Chained Category and Sub-Category fields may be configured onto various forms.

To manage these, follow these rules:

• Keep the values of the categories to lowercase (the label is the wording that is shown to the end user)

• The value of the sub-category lookup should be prefixed with the value of its category — e.g. for a category of food, sub-category values might be food/burger and food/french-fries.

• A parent category should have at least one sub-category.

Expertise Experience Subcategories Values prefixed with expertise-experience/ indicate to the system that they are subcategories

Access

To access the Lookups register you will need to sign in with System Admin & Data Entry position.

You can find the Lookups register under System Administration > Lookups.

Viewing Lookups

Lookups are listed in and searchable via the register Datagrid. Viewing them in this datagrid may not make much sense and they are rarely if ever changed once created.

To view an existing Lookup:

1. Navigate to the Lookups register datagrid.

2. Locate the item you wish to view. The register includes additional filters for Workflow Status (Active/Inactive) and Region

3. Open the item using the ID

4. To return to the Datagrid use the Back button

View of a sample lookups register

Settings

Lookups are divided into the following sections (sections may or may not appear depending on what information is entered, your permissions level, and what mode you're viewing):

Left Column	Right Column
Record Notes	Workflow
General	Activity

Record Notes

When editing, record notes in the rich text field as you make changes which will appear in the Activity log.

Refer to: Recording Notes

General

Category

This field defines the list that the item belongs to.

Value

This field defines what gets stored in the database, so it typically contains no spaces and is all lower case. Use an underscore or dash as a substitute to spaces.

For example, if the label is Temporary Accommodation, the value would be set to: 'temporary_accommodation'.

Label

This field defines users will see when they go to select the option from the list.

For example, if you want to add Temporary Accommodation to a list, use this as the label.

Workflow

Status

Lookups have only two statuses: Active and Inactive. Active lookups are enabled for use. Inactive lookups cannot be selected as options by users. They can be reactivated and re-added if needed.

Note that reports can still be generated on Inactive or modified lookup options. As such it is advisable to deactivate rather than change them as it can otherwise negatively affect reports.

System ID

This field is visible in Edit mode however cannot be edited and is controlled by the system. Do not attempt to change it.

Activity

Refer to: Viewing Items: Activity

Editing Lookups

To edit a Lookup:

1. Navigate to the Lookups register

2. Locate the Lookup you wish to edit by using the Edit button

3. Make the necessary changes to the settings

4. Save to save your changes

Adding Lookups

To add a Lookup:

1. Use the New Item button for New Lookup

2. Select a Category and enter a Value and Label for the Lookup

3. Use the Save button

If your new Lookup does not appear in a list immediately, you may need to Reload App Data in your User Profile to update the lists on your site.