NetResults ProblemTracker
Customizing The Data Record

Overview

ProblemTracker allows you to customize the data record to your needs by adding and removing fields as necessary. In addition, you can specify the name displayed for all fields, the values for pulldown menus, and specify whether a field is required or not.

Data Types

ProblemTracker allows you to use the following data types:

Integer
An integer numeric value. The default value for this field is "0".

Float
A floating point number. The default value for this field is "0.0".

Text
A text string up to 80 characters. By default, this field is blank until information is added.

TextArea
A very large text string. The maximum size determined by the amount of data supported by the textarea type on your web browser, and the particular database in use. By default, this field is blank until information is added.

Url
A 255 character string that is a valid formatted URL. By default, this field is blank until information is added.

Date and Time
A string of the format MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS AM/PM (US Default). ProblemTracker may also be configured to use the '-' and '.' delimiters as well as the "DD MM YYYY" and "YYYY MM DD" format for the date representation portion of this string. The time format can be represented in 12 hour or 24 hour formats. The representation of date and time formats within ProblemTracker on the localized settings for the database in use. The default value for this field type is controlled by the "Init for Add" option explained in the Editing Field Attributes section below.

Pulldown
A pulldown menu. You can customize all values in the menu. The default value for this field is determined in the Customizing Menu Values section.

Release Number
A combination of four pulldown menus. You can customize all values in the menu. The default value for this field is determined in the Customizing Menu Values section.

YesNo
A pulldown with the values Yes and No. The default value for this field is "Yes".

Adding and Removing Fields

It is often a good idea to create a backup of your database before making major changes such as modifying your fields as some modifications are irreversible other than by restoring backup copy of your database.

To add or remove a field from the data record, click on the "Define Record" button in the Admin section. Use the Add and Remove buttons to move fields from the right list (fields not in use) to the left list (fields in use) and vice versa.

Note that for release number types, only the first pulldown menu will be shown on this page, although all four components do appear in the "Options Menu" page in the Admin section, allowing you to specify the values for any of the component pulldown menus.

Effects on Existing Records when Adding and Removing Fields

When you add a field, existing records that do not have a value for this field (some may if the field was previously in use) will be given an initial value. For pulldown menus and release numbers, the current default value (see Option Menus) for the pulldown or release number is used as the initial value. For Date, Text, BigText, and URL fields, the initial value is blank (no value). For integer and float fields, it is zero. For YesNo fields, it is "No".

Fields that are removed from the data record are no longer displayed, but they actually remain in the database. Additionally, when a field is removed, any references to the field (in Saved Queries, Report Layouts, and Task Fields) are removed. Records which are added after you have removed a field do not get a value for the removed (inactive) field.

If you have configured dependent pulldowns, removing one of the pulldowns removes the relationship between the two pulldown fields. If a parent pulldown is removed, the child option menu values become independent, and thus, are no longer limited by the value entered in the parent pulldown.

The fact that the removed field does not get a value when new records are added is important to remember if you wish to re-add this field in the future. If you add a previously removed field, any existing problem records that do not have a value for this field (records which were added when this field was inactive) will be initialized with the default value for the field (see above). Any existing records that already had a value for this field (records which were added when this field was active) will not be initialized (the old value is preserved). Therefore, all records that didn't have a value for the field now have a valid (default) value and records that did have a value are not changed. However, if you add a pulldown menu or release number field, we still recommend that you run Check DB Values in the Option Menus section, to verify that all values for this field in existing records are now valid to ensure consistency in your database (just follow the yellow triangles which will be displayed in the Admin page). If you wish to have all records in the system start with the same value for this newly added field (for example, you have a special value to note that the value wasn't actually set when the record was first created), you can use the Edit Results function to update all records after you Add the field. Click here for more information on the Edit Results function (scroll to the section called "Query Results").

If a field is renamed (the "label" property for the field is changed), there is no impact to existing data. The labels on the various pages (Add, Edit, Task, View, Query, etc.) will change to use the new "label".

Editing Field Attributes

To edit the attributes for a field, click on the "Define Record" button on the Administrator page. Select the desired field from the list of fields currently in use, and click on the Edit button. A table with options and an Update button appears below the field selection area to allow you to modify the field. When you have completed making your changes, press the Update button to save them.

The following attributes may be specified:

Label
The name displayed for this field.

Record Order
Integer specifying The order that the record should be presented relative to the other fields. For example, a field with a value of 5 will be presented before a field with a value of 100.

Required for Add
Specifies whether the field is required to be entered by the user when it appears on the Add page. For Integer, Float, Text, TextArea, or Date types this means that a blank value will not be allowed. For pulldown fields, this means that the user must select a value other than the initial value displayed on the form. You may wish to define the first element of a required pulldown with a value like "Please Select A Value" to indicate to the user they must select a value.

Init for Add
Only valid for Date types. Specifies that the field should be automatically initialized to the current date/time if it appears on the Add page.

Include on Inet Page
Specifies whether the field should be presented on the Internet bug reporting page (also known as the Customer Bug page).

Copy Field Value For Next Add
When adding a new record using the Add page, a user has the option to click "Add" or "Add & Copy" to save the new record. Clicking on the "Add" button will save the new record, then return to the Add page with a "blank" form (all fields returned to default or blank values). Clicking on the "Add & Copy" button will save the new record, then return to the Add page with the values of the fields "copied" from the last record added. This allows the user to add another record with similar information as the last record added without having to re-type information into the fields. In order to have a field's value copied into the Add form after clicking on the "Add & Copy" button, the attribute "Copy Field Value For Next Add" must be set to Yes.

Editing Pulldown Attributes

When a field of pulldown format is edited, the Edit Pulldown Attributes section will be displayed below the Edit Field Attributes section. If you wish to configure a pulldown field to be dependent on another pulldown field, select the pulldown field which will act as the parent in the relationship between the fields in the Parent Pulldown field in this section. If the pulldown field for which you are editing the field attributes is to be the parent pulldown in the relationship, select <No Pulldown> in the Parent Pulldown field in the Edit Pulldown Attributes section.

Field Level Visibility

For a more detailed overview of Field Level Visibility, please review the Field Level Visibility portion of the User Groups Help section.

A field's visibility can be configured by user group for the following areas in ProblemTracker:

If you prefer to configure the field level visibility options for each user group instead of modifying each field, review the information in the User Groups Help section.

If you wish to restrict the fields which are made visible in the Task operation, this is done while configuring task fields for a transition. The Customizing Workflow Help section provides details on configuring task fields.

By default, all fields are visible to the Users group in all ProblemTracker pages until Field Level Visibility options are modified by using the instructions below.

To configure field level visibility options for each field on the data record:

  1. Click on the field in the "In Use" column for which you wish to modify the visibility settings
  2. Click on the Edit button
  3. In the Group Visibility section, there are 4 areas listed. Within each area, select the groups to whom the field should be visible when performing the operation(s) listed. To make a field visible to all groups, click on the All button. Alternatively, a field can be made visible to all groups by selecting the User Group "Users" (since all users are members of this group). To remove the field such that it will not be visible to any groups, click on the None button or select the option <No Group>.
  4. Click Update to save the changes

Field Visibility Exceptions for Required fields
Certain fields in the data record are required, meaning that they cannot be removed from the data record. Some field visibility settings cannot be applied to these required fields.

PRN
This field is the record number assigned when a problem record is added to the database. Field visibility restrictions cannot be set for this field as it is a field that is displayed on ProblemTracker pages to distinguish the identity of each record.

Deleted
This field denotes whether a problem record has been deleted. By design, it does not appear on the Add page, and thus, field visibility for this field on the Add page cannot be set.