Field Types

Learn about the Field Type user interface.

Your administrator can define the following for fields:

  • Keyboard shortcuts used to navigate directly to a specific field.
  • The field formatting, which can differ depending on the field's content, e.g. negative numbers can be displayed in red.
  • Whether catalog and percentage fields are displayed graphically or numerically, see Displaying Percentage and Catalog Fields Graphically.

The following topics describe the field types that are used to enter data:

Text Fields

You can enter strings containing any characters in text fields.

Your administrator can define that text fields are displayed spanning multiple rows. If the text is longer than the space available to the field, a scroll bar is displayed. Your administrator can also determine that the button is displayed. Click on this button to increase the size of the text field to display the full contents.

Numeric Fields

You can only enter digits (0-9), commas (,) and decimal points (.) in numeric fields.

Catalog Fields (Drop-down Lists)

Catalogs are displayed as drop-down lists.

Note: Whether you can add new catalog values, depends on your access rights.

Your administrator can determine how catalogs are sorted:

  • Alphabetically
  • By catalog number
  • Using a sort order defined by your administrator
Note: Your administrator can determine that catalog values are sorted differently in different languages.

To select an option from a drop-down list:

  1. Click on to open the drop-down list.
  2. Select the option you want to enter in the field. Alternatively you can navigate in the drop-down list by typing the first character (e.g. typing 'F' highlights the "Finland" entry). If you select a value, the drop-down list is closed.

Adding Catalog Values

To add catalog values:

  1. Click on the icon (Add/Find Catalog Values) next to a catalog field. The Find or add catalog value dialog box is displayed.

  2. Enter the new catalog value in the text field.
  3. Click on New to add the entry to the catalog. The new entry is displayed at the end of the list. The catalog is only sorted alphabetically the next time you log on to Aurea CRM web.
Note: Tenant numbers are displayed in parentheses alongside catalog values if tenants have been configured for your system.

You can also use the dialog box to search for specific entries in long catalogs.

Note: When adding new catalog values in your language, you also need to enter the value in the catalog base language if you are logged on to the system using another language than the catalog base language.If you have the necessary access rights, Go to Catalog Maintenance is displayed as a link below the list of catalog values. Click on this link to switch to the Catalog Maintenance area where you can manage all catalog values.

Multiple Catalog Values in a Field

Some catalog fields in the database are defined as so-called array fields. You can enter multiple values in these fields. Array fields contain the ghost text "Add X more", indicating the number of catalog values that can still be entered in the field.

Note: CRM administrator can restrict the number of catalog items that can be added to the array field. Contact your system administrator if you are unable to add more catalog items to the array field.

To enter multiple catalog values:

  1. Click on the catalog field or the downwards arrow next to the field.
  2. The drop-down list is displayed.

  3. Select the desired entry. Depending on your access rights, you may also be able to add new catalog values when needed. To do so, click on (Add/Find Catalog Values).
  4. Repeat the process if you want to add additional entries. The number of entries you can still add is displayed in light gray.

Date Fields

You can enter the date in date fields directly or use the pop-up calendar. For further details, see Date Picker.

If you enter the date directly, you can only enter the following characters:

  • Digits
  • The date separator defined in your user configuration. For further details, see Date & Time Tab.

If your date format uses four digits for the year, the current year is entered automatically.

Use the Date Picker to select the desired date. For further details, see Date Picker.

The pop-up calendar is closed once a date is selected.

Note: Use the pop-up calendar to ensure that dates are always entered in the correct format (e.g. day/month/year). If you enter dates manually, ensure you enter the date in the correct format.

To disable auto-completion of the year field, contact your Aurea CRM administrator.

Time Fields

You can enter times directly in time fields. The following characters are permitted:

  • Digits
  • The time separator defined in your user configuration, see Date & Time Tab.
  • "am" and "pm" if you are using the 12 hour format.
  • Spaces
Note: Your administrator can determine that the current time is automatically entered in time fields, e.g. as the start time of an activity.

Rep Fields

Reps are selected using rep fields. You can either select a rep from a dialog box listing all reps, or enter a portion of the rep's name in the field, see Selecting Reps.

Mandatory Fields

Mandatory fields must be filled in before you can save the record. Your administrator can determine that mandatory fields are highlighted. In the default configuration, mandatory fields are displayed in orange and indicated with an asterisk or exclamation mark.

If data has not been entered in all mandatory fields when saving a record, the cursor is moved to the first mandatory field that is missing data.

In the example screenshot above, a currency must be entered in the Currency field before the record can be saved.

Note: If you are working in tab view, tabs containing mandatory fields that have not yet been filled in are formatted differently. Your administrator defines the appearance of these fields.

Boolean Fields

Boolean fields can only store Boolean values (i.e. false/true or 0/1 or check mark/no check mark).

Link Fields

Link fields are fields linked to records in other info areas.

Link fields are displayed as links in view mode. In edit mode, the (Select) icon is displayed to the right of the field:

Click on to access the search mask for the linked info area and search for and select the desired record.

Your administrator can determine that

  • selecting a child record (such as a person) causes any related parent data (such as the person's company) to be entered.

    Example: If a person is entered in the End Customer Person in the Ticket info area, the End Customer Company can be entered automatically.

  • a link can be removed by clicking on (Remove Link).
Note: If you delete a link to a parent record, links to related child records are also deleted.

Displaying Percentage and Catalog Fields Graphically

You can display the contents of percentage and catalog fields (e.g. "High", "Medium" and "Low" priority) graphically, as well as enter values using the graphical display.

Catalog Field Examples:

Your administrator can also determine which colors or icons are used for which values and whether only the icon, the value, or both are displayed.

or

or

  • Click on the desired icon to enter a new value.
  • Move the mouse cursor over the icon to display the value.

Percentage Field Examples:

By default, a slider is used to enter percentage values, however your administrator can deactivate the slider. Your administrator can also determine whether you can enter negative values using the slider. Positive and negative values are differentiated by color.

Default slider:

Slider for positive and negative values:

To enter a percentage value:

  • Enter a value in the numeric field.
  • Use the mouse to drag the colored bar to the desired position.

HTML Fields

HTML fields allow you to enter and format content using an HTML editor. Your administrator can add HTML fields to info areas.

The most common formatting options, e.g. bold, italics, numbered lists etc. are available.

When sending e-mails the text is sent as HTML.

Note: This option is only available if e-mails are sent by the server.

Example:

Field Data Types

In some dialog boxes, the field type is also displayed along with the field name and number.

The following data types are available:

  • B = Boolean
  • C = Character string
  • D = Date
  • F = Floating point number
  • K = Variable catalog
  • L = Long integer
  • S = Short integer
  • T = Time
  • X = Fixed catalog
  • Z = Write-protected/decoded fields whose values are entered automatically by the business logic, e.g. system and link fields.

Displaying Content from Multiple Fields in a Single Field

In some views, such as the tab view or the mini details view, your administrator can combine multiple fields' contents in a single field. For example, an address field can be defined that contains the contents of the Street, Postal Code, City and Country fields:

The fields are displayed separately in edit mode: