Auto-Populating Fields

Using Primavera uDesigner’s auto-population feature, you can automatically populate fields on a form at the time the form is created. You can populate the fields on the new form with:

This can save time for users because they don’t have to fill in every field of the form. For example, you could use this feature to automatically fill in a “Plant Location” field from an attribute form. For another example, you could set up the date field on a time sheet to default to the server date and time so that users do not need to use a date picker. You could also set up a field to automatically display a title or other boilerplate text for common forms users need to fill in on a frequent basis.  In addition, auto-population can be used with the Primavera Unifier portal. When a user logs into the portal to submit a form, such as a work order, the user’s information, such as his/her location and department, can be automatically populated on the work order. Or, when an employee “move” request is created, the current location of the employee can be auto-populated onto the move request form.

Auto-population works similarly to reference processes: It links a field on a form to outside data by “mapping” the field to a field on the outside source. In operation, the field you want to auto-populate will point to the outside source and use the value in that field to populate the field on the new form. Once the mapping link is created, you can use the outside source to populate any fields that the outside source and the new form have in common.

Note: To auto-populate fields, the data definition of both fields--the one on the current form as well as the one on the outside source--must match.

Auto-population can be triggered whenever a business process is created using auto-creation (S-step or I-step) integration, CSV files, SmartForms, Unifier on mobile devices, or portal submissions. In some cases, you can design the auto-population to be triggered by a user data picker. (This is a type of data picker you can create. See About User Data Pickers.) For instance, you can design an office move order for an employee to be auto-populated with the employee’s current location when the Unifier user chooses the employee from a user data picker.

Use auto-population for text boxes, text areas, pickers (including user data pickers), pull-down lists, checkboxes, and radio buttons.

You can populate fields on a form from the following sources:

To auto-populate a field

The source of the populating data depends on the type of component you are designing. For example, for a payment application business process, you could auto-populate a field using data from:

For another example, you could auto-populate the location field on an employee re-location business process by using a user data picker. When the re-location form is created, the employee name chosen from the data picker will auto-populate the location field with the employee’s current location.

The source elements you can choose depend on the Source Name you specified. The list will show the data elements the source and destination forms have in common; that is, those elements whose data definitions match.

Auto-Populating Fields with a Constant Value

If you are populating a field with a constant value, the Auto Populate window works differently. When you highlight the field you want to populate and click the Auto-populate button, the Auto Populate window opens.

Note: You cannot use a constant value for pull-down lists, check boxes, or radio buttons.

To auto-populate a field with a constant value

Enter the data element name; not the field label.

When you choose Constant Value, the Source Element field changes to read Source Value.

See also:

Populating Pickers

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