Print      Open PDF Version of Online Help

Getting Started > Working with Records > About Picklist Fields, Picklist Value Groups, and Divisions

About Picklist Fields, Picklist Value Groups, and Divisions

For many record types, your company can limit the values that are available in a picklist field to a subset of the values that are defined for the field. To limit the selections in picklist fields, your administrator sets up picklist value groups and links the values in the picklist fields to the picklist value groups. Picklist value groups can control one or more picklist fields on one or more record types. Your administrator can add the Picklist Value Group field to the page layout for a record type. This field allows you to select a picklist value group. Then, in any picklist field that is controlled by the picklist value group that is selected on the record, only the values that are linked to the picklist value group appear in the picklist.

For example, assume that your company has three call centers that use Oracle CRM On Demand. Depending on the location of a call center and the products that the call center services, some of the values in a number of picklist fields in service requests are not valid selections for users in the various call centers. To help users to select values that are appropriate for their call center, your administrator sets up three picklist value groups; that is, one picklist value group for each call center. The administrator then links a subset of the values for each of the relevant picklist fields to each of the picklist value groups, and adds the Picklist Value Group field to the page layout for the Service Request record type. When a user in a call center creates a service request, the user can select the appropriate picklist value group for that call center in the Picklist Value Group field on the service request. Then, the choices in the picklist fields on the record are limited to the values that are appropriate for the call center.

About Picklist Value Groups and Divisions

If your company uses the Division record type to organize users into subgroups for business purposes, then your user record might be associated with one or more divisions, one of which is specified as your primary division. Each division can be associated with a picklist value group. In such a setup, when you create a record, the record is automatically associated with your primary division and with the picklist value group that is associated with the division. For a list of the record types in which divisions and picklist value groups can be used, see Record Types That Support Picklist Value Groups and Divisions.

NOTE: Your administrator can configure divisions and picklist value groups to meet the business needs of your company. Your administrator can also rename the Division record type and can rename the Division field and the Picklist Value Group field on any record type where the fields are available.

Picklist Value Groups and Divisions Setup

If your company uses picklist value groups, then the following setup applies:

• Your administrator sets up the picklist value groups.
• Your administrator links the picklist values for various fields to the picklist value groups.
• Your administrator adds the Picklist Value Group field to the page layouts that are assigned to your user role for certain record types.

If your company also uses the Division record type, then the following setup also applies:

• Your administrator specifies which users are associated with each division.
• Your administrator specifies which picklist value group, if any, is associated with each division.
• Your administrator can add the Division field to the page layouts that are assigned to your user role for certain record types.

Behavior of the Division and Picklist Value Group Fields When Creating and Editing Records

If your company uses picklist value groups and divisions, then the behavior that you see when creating and editing records is as follows:

• If your user record is associated with one or more divisions, then when you create a record, the following happens:
  • The Division field on the record is automatically populated with the name of your primary division.
  • If a picklist value group is associated with your primary division, then the Picklist Value Group field is automatically populated with the picklist value group for that division. If no picklist value group is associated with your primary division, then the Picklist Value Group field is not automatically populated.
• You can change or clear the value of the Division field on a new record of that type before you save the new record. You can also change or clear the value of the Division field on an existing record, provided that you have the necessary access rights to update the record. After you change the value of the Division field, the value of the Picklist Value Group field on the record might also change automatically, as follows:
  • If the picklist value group for the new division is the same as the picklist value group that is assigned to the former division, then the value in the Picklist Value Group field does not change.
  • If the picklist value group for the new division is different from the picklist value group that is assigned to the former division, then the value in the Picklist Value Group field changes to the picklist value group for the new division.
  • If you clear the value from the Division field, then the value in the Picklist Value Group field is automatically cleared.

    NOTE: Your administrator can set up the Division field as a read-only field, in which case you cannot change or clear the value in the field.

• You can change or clear the value of the Picklist Value Group field on a new record of that type before you save the new record. You can also change or clear the value of the Picklist Value Group field on an existing record, provided that you have the necessary access rights to update the record. The division on the record is not automatically changed when you change or clear the Picklist Value Group field.

  NOTE: Your administrator can set up the Picklist Value Group field as a read-only field. In that case, you cannot change or clear the value in the field.

If the owner of a record changes after a value is saved in the Division field on the record, then the values in the Division field and Picklist Value Group fields are not automatically changed even if the new owner is not associated with the division on the record.

What Happens When the Picklist Value Group on a Record Changes

When the picklist value group on a record changes either because you select a new division that is associated with a different picklist value group or because you select a new picklist value group, any values that were previously selected in the picklist fields that are controlled by either the old picklist value group or the new picklist value group remain unchanged, even if the value that is selected in such a field is not linked to the new picklist value group. In such cases, you are not prompted to update the picklist value fields when you update other fields on the record. However, the next time that you edit a picklist field on the record, the following happens:

• If the picklist field is controlled by the new picklist value group, then only the values that are linked to the new picklist value group are available for selection. You can select a new value for the field, or you can cancel the edit operation to retain the existing value.
• If the picklist field is controlled by the old picklist value group but is not controlled by the new picklist value group, then all of the values are available for selection.

About Picklist Value Groups, Divisions, and Inline Edit

You cannot use the inline edit functionality to edit the Picklist Value Group field or the Division field on a record directly in a record Detail page or a record List page. To edit these fields, you must open the Edit page for the record.

About Picklist Value Groups and Divisions in Searches and List Filters

The following considerations apply to searches and list filters:

• Your administrator can add the Division field or the Picklist Value Group field or both to the search fields in the Action bar for record types that support divisions. You can then search for records by selecting a division or a picklist value group.
• If the Division field is available as a search field or list filter, then you can select any division as part of the criteria for the search or list filter. You are not limited to selecting only the divisions with which you are associated. Similarly, if the User field is also available as a search field or list filter and you select a user as part of your criteria, then you are not limited to selecting only the divisions that are associated with that user.
• If you select a division as part of the criteria for a search or list filter, then the picklist value group for that division is not automatically selected as part of your criteria, even if the Picklist Value Group field is one of the search fields for the record type.
• If you use a picklist field that is controlled by picklist value groups as part of the criteria for a search or list filter, then you can select any of the values in the picklist field as a filter for the search or list. The available values in the picklist field are not limited to the values that are linked to a specific picklist value group, even if you select a picklist value group as part of your criteria.
• You cannot search for division records or picklist value group records.

What Happens if Divisions are Merged or Deleted

Your administrator can delete a division or merge two or more divisions into one division. For information about what happens when divisions are merged or deleted, see About Merging Divisions and Deleting Divisions.

Related Topics

See the following topic for additional information:

• About Divisions and Picklist Value Groups on Records