Data pickers are designed to work with business process logs (including master logs), shells, planning items, and configurable managers that function across a shell hierarchy.
Note: User data pickers are designed for a different purpose. See About User Data Pickers for details.
The purpose of a data picker is to make it easier for users to choose records:
- From a business process log
- From a class in a configurable manager that operates across shells
- From a planning item type that resides across shells
- For auto-creation across shells
Note: The data displayed on data pickers is not restricted by permissions. Users will see all business processes, manager classes, or shells, regardless of their permissions.
Data pickers are designed in uDesigner and set up to query the database by the Administrator in Primavera Unifier. See Data Picker for more information about configuring a data picker. In operation, a data picker navigates to a specific business process, shell, planning item, or configurable manager and then extracts the records to display on the list by using a query the Primavera Unifier administrator sets up.
Data pickers work differently from the other pickers that Unifier provides. Most pickers display a flat list of records for users to choose from:
A data picker, instead, can display a navigation structure to guide Primavera Unifier users to the correct location where a record resides, such as a specific shell, a specific class in a configurable manager, a specific planning item, or a specific business process. A data picker helps to prevent users from inadvertently choosing the wrong record from a picker list. It is also useful for filtering large amounts of records into more manageable lists to choose from.
Below is a list of Work Order business process records that has been structured using a data picker. It shows an extra navigation column on the left.
Data Pickers Use an Advanced Log or a Picker Log
To help ensure that the user navigates to the correct record, data pickers work with the Advanced Log feature or the Picker Log feature. These features are optional, but highly recommended, as they create the tree or hierarchy structures that make data pickers easily navigable and more likely to ensure that the user selects the correct record.
An Advanced Log should be designed for any shell, planning item, or configurable manager class that contains records that will be displayed on a data picker. A Picker Log should be designed for any business process that contains records that will be displayed on a data picker.
A data picker with no Advanced Log or Picker Log shows only a flat list of all the records:
A data picker with an Advanced Log or Picker Log displays a tree structure where users can drill down to more specific records:
