Overview

ProblemTracker allows you to define the option menu items of any Pulldown field in the data record.

Defining Pulldown Field Values

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

To define the option menu items:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Option Menus button
4. You will be presented with a table containing all the Pulldown fields in the data record. Locate the row for the desired pulldown field, then click on the Edit Items button
5. You will be presented with a page listing all of the current values. To add a value, click on the Add Item button.

   When adding an item you can specify:

   • Name for the menu item in the Item Label field
   • Relative order in which the item should appear in the Order field (all entries with the same relative order are listed alphabetically)
   • Which option menu items in the parent field will be associated with this value can be selected in the Associated with Parent Option Menu Items field. This field will only be displayed if the pulldown field to which this option menu item belongs has a parent pulldown defined in the Define Record section.
   • Whether the value should be displayed if the field appears on the Inet Page. Checking the box marked Value is Public indicates the choice should appear on the Inet page.

The figure below displays the attributes that can configured when an option menu item is added. The field Associated with Parent Option Menu Items will only appear if the pulldown field is configured as a dependent pulldown.

To edit an option menu item:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Option Menus button
4. You will be presented with a table containing all the Pulldown fields in the data record. Locate the row for the desired pulldown field, then click on the Edit Items button
5. You will be presented with a page listing all of the current values. Locate row for the option menu item you wish to modify, then click on the Edit button. If you change the Item Label field for an option menu item, any records with this value selected will display the updated Item Label.

To delete an option menu item:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Option Menus button
4. You will be presented with a table containing all the Pulldown fields in the data record. Locate the row for the desired pulldown field, then click on the Edit Items button
5. You will be presented with a page listing all of the current values. Locate row for the option menu item you wish to modify, then click on the Delete button. If any records contain the option menu item you are deleting, you will be prompted to make a selection from one of the following choices:
   • Choose a Replacement
     You can choose another option menu item configured for the pulldown field to replace the obsolete value (the item you are deleting)
   • Delete Records
     Selecting this option will delete all records which have the obsolete value selected
   • Leave Records unchanged
     Selecting this option will leave the obsolete value selected in the records, however, you may receive unexpected results when using certain operations (e.g. Edit, Task, Query and Metrics) because the obsolete value is present in a record(s). If you choose this option, then later want to eliminate the obsolete values, run the Check DB Values utility.

   If any saved queries contain the obsolete value, you will be prompted to select a replacement from the list of option menu items configured for the pulldown field.

6. Click OK to complete the operation

Selecting the Default Value for the Add Operation

You can set which value is used as the default when a new record is added. You cannot delete a value if it is currently the default value. You must first set another value as the default, and then delete the value.

To change which option menu item is set as the default:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Option Menus button
4. You will be presented with a table containing all the Pulldown fields in the data record. Locate the row for the desired pulldown field, then click on the Edit Items button
5. You will be presented with a page listing all of the current values. Locate row for the option menu item you wish to set as the default value, then click on the Set Default button

Item Dependencies

If a pulldown field is configured to be either the child pulldown or the parent pulldown in a Dependent Pulldowns Relationship, the Item Dependencies button will be displayed to the left of the pulldown menu as shown in the figure below.

In the Item Dependencies page for a pulldown menu, you can map parent pulldown option menu items to each option menu item in the child pulldown and vice versa. Instructions on mapping pulldown option menu items can be found in the Dependent Pulldowns Help section.

Default Items

If a pulldown is configured to be a child pulldown in a dependent pulldowns relationship, the Default Items button will be displayed to the left of the pulldown menu.

In the Default Items page, you can select which option menu item in the child pulldown should appear as the default value for each possible option menu item in the parent pulldown. A default child option menu item must be specified for each parent option menu item. The defaults should only be selected after mapping the relationships between the menu items in the Item Dependencies page. Instructions on mapping pulldown menu values can be found in the Dependent Pulldowns Help section.

To set the defaults, click on the Default Items button to the left of the child pulldown menu on the Option Menus page. A tree structure will be displayed. Each parent option menu item will be preceded by "[-]". Under each parent option menu item, the related child option menu items will be displayed. If a parent option menu item does not appear on this page, this indicates that the parent item does not have any child items related (or mapped) to it.

Select one child option menu item to be the default value for each parent. To set the child option menu item as the default, click on the child option menu item, then click on the Toggle Default button. Once the child option menu item has been set as the default, "[Default]" will be noted after the name of the child option menu item. Click OK to return to the Option Menus page.

Checking Existing Database Values

If you enable a pulldown menu field and there are already existing records in the database, there may be invalid values (values that don't match one of the current pulldown menu entries) for the newly added field in the existing records. Old records may have a value from a previous time when the field was in use, perhaps for another purpose. When there are obsolete values present in your database, yellow triangles will appear in the Admin section and the Option Menus page to indicate which pulldown fields contain obsolete values.

To run the Check DB Values utility:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Option Menus button
4. You will be presented with a table containing all the Pulldown fields in the data record. Click on the Edit Items button which has a yellow triangle displayed to the left of the button
5. You will be presented with a page listing all of the current values. Click on the Check DB Values button. If there are any invalid values in the database for the field, they will be listed.
6. You will be prompted to make a selection from one of the following choices to remove the obsolete values:
   • Choose a Replacement
     You can choose another option menu item configured for the pulldown field to replace the obsolete value (the item you are deleting)
   • Delete Records
     Selecting this option will delete all records which have the obsolete value selected
   • Leave Records unchanged
     Selecting this option will leave the obsolete value selected in the records, however, you may receive unexpected results when using certain operations (e.g. Edit, Task, Query and Metrics) because the obsolete value is present in a record(s). If you choose this option, you can run the Check DB Values operation at a later time.

Since many ProblemTracker operations can not be performed with such invalid values, we strongly recommend that you run Check DB Values after creating (or modifying) any pulldown menu fields.