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Administering Oracle CRM On Demand > Application Customization > Record Type Application Customization Page > Changing Picklist Values

Changing Picklist Values

Some fields give users a drop-down list of predefined values from which they must choose. This list of values is called a picklist. For example, the values in the Area field picklist for service requests might be Product, Installation, Maintenance, and Training.

You can add, edit, and reorder values to the picklists for fields. Picklists must contain at least one value, but the maximum number of values (active or disabled) in a picklist is 1000. The order number for a new picklist entry is automatically populated, but you can change the order number when you edit the picklist.

The system does not allow you to change picklist values used for forecasting and report metrics. However, it does allow you to change other picklist values used as the basis for standard lists that appear in other areas of the application. For those standard lists, the application still includes the records meeting the criteria, regardless of the picklist values you renamed. For more information, see About Fields, Picklists, and Metrics.

After you create a new picklist, an initial value called <No Values> is automatically available in the picklist. This value is used to communicate to users that values do not yet exist in the picklist, in the case where the field is added to a page layout before real values are added to the list. The default <No Values> option disappears from the picklist as soon as a custom value is added to a picklist.

CAUTION: Do not use the default <No Values> value as part of any new picklist or cascading picklist. Using the value in this way can lead to errors within Oracle CRM On Demand. If you want to continue to have a <No Values> option available in a picklist, you must add it as a custom value.

As a best practice, do not rename or reuse the existing picklist values. Instead, disable the old picklist value, create a new picklist value, and perform an import or a mass update (or alternatively, Web Services) to change all record values to new picklist values. If you change a value in a picklist, you must verify that the value is updated and changed for each individual record as this is not implemented automatically by Oracle CRM On Demand.

When changing picklist values, note the following considerations for certain record types and picklist fields:

• In Oracle CRM On Demand (the standard application), the priority of tasks is indicated in task lists by arrows. An up arrow indicates 1-High priority, no arrow indicates 2-Medium priority, and a down arrow indicates 3-Low priority. If you change the display values for the Priority field in the Activity record type from the default values (for example, from the default value of 1-High to a value of Highest), then Oracle CRM On Demand does not display arrows in the Priority field for the task lists unless you use the following patterns: 1-label, 2-label, or 3-label, where label is the name that you give to the task priority. In this case, Oracle CRM On Demand displays an up arrow for 1-label, no arrow for 2-label, a down arrow for 3-label, and no arrow for any other display values. For example, Oracle CRM On Demand displays an up arrow for a value of 1-My Highest, but it displays no arrow for a value of My Highest. Oracle CRM On Demand displays no arrows for any custom values that you add to the picklist for the Priority field.
• Adding or editing the values that are available by default in the picklist for the Status field for the Activity record type might produce unwanted results for activity processing. Oracle CRM On Demand specifically looks for the Completed, Submitting, Submitted, or Planned field values when it processes activities. If your company deactivates these status values and replaces them with custom values, then the activity processing in the Oracle CRM On Demand application will not work as documented. Consequently, changing the Status field picklist values for the Activity record type is not recommended.
• Due to specialized coding, customizing the Oracle CRM On Demand Life Sciences Edition Sample Transaction Type picklist, Account Call Type picklist, and Contact Call Type picklist is not supported.
• When the Status field on a service request is set to either Closed or Cancelled, Oracle CRM On Demand automatically updates the Closed Time field on the service request to show the date and time that the status was changed. Consequently, it is strongly recommended that your company does not deactivate either of these values in the Status picklist for the Service Request record type. However, your company can change the display name for the Closed value, or the Cancelled value, or both values. If your company changes the display name for the Closed value, then Oracle CRM On Demand will update the Closed Time field on a service request when the status on the service request is changed to the value that was originally named Closed. Similarly, if your company changes the display name for the Cancelled value, then Oracle CRM On Demand will update the Closed Time field on a service request when the status on the service request is changed to the value that was originally named Cancelled.

In addition, note that commas are used as separators between values when users enter multiple values in a field in a filter for a search or list. If you want to include a comma within a picklist value, then the comma must be followed by a space, so that it will not be treated as a separator in a list of values. If you do not enter a space after a comma when you create or edit a picklist value, then the space is automatically inserted when you save the picklist value. For example, if you enter Value,2 as a picklist value, it is saved as Value, 2.

NOTE: The setting in the Keep Disabled Picklist Value On Update check box on the company profile determines whether a disabled picklist value can remain on a record when the record is updated through the user interface. For more information about how this setting affects the behavior for disabled values in picklist fields, see About the Keep Disabled Picklist Value on Update Setting.

Before you begin. To perform this procedure, your role must include the Customize Application privilege. In addition:

• To add or change values in the Status picklist for the Activity record type, your role must include the Customize Application - Edit Activity ‘Status’ Picklist privilege.
• To add or change values in the Status picklist for the Service Request record type, your role must include the Customize Application - Edit Service Request 'Status' Picklist privilege.

To change picklists

1. In the upper right corner of any page, click the Admin global link.
2. In the Application Customization section, click the Application Customization link.
3. In the Record Type Setup section, click the link for the required record type.
4. In the Field Management section, click the required Field Setup link.
5. In the record type Fields page, click the Edit Picklist link for the field whose values you want to customize.
6. In the Edit Picklist window, perform the following steps as necessary to meet your requirements:
   • To change an existing value, enter the new value in the Picklist Values field, or disable the old value and create a new value.

     NOTE: If you want this updated name to appear in the picklists for other activated languages, select the Mark for Translation check box. In the other languages, this updated name appears in blue text with brackets until you manually enter the translated versions. This helps you track what terms need to be translated.
     If you do not select Mark for Translation, the other picklist values are unaffected by the change you made here.

     You can also add a description for each picklist value.

   • To add a new value, enter the information in the row that appears at the bottom of the list.

     To add further new values, click Save & New.

     New picklist values you add automatically appear in blue text and brackets in the other activated languages (regardless of the setting of the Mark for Translation check box). If you enter a description for a value, then the description also appears in blue text and brackets.

   • To delete a value, select the Disabled check box. To hide or show disabled values, click Hide Disabled and Show Disabled respectively.

     CAUTION: When you disable values, you also hide the translated versions in other languages.

   • To arrange the order in which the picklist values appear, change the numbers in the Order column.

     TIP:  Consider entering numbers with gaps between them, such as 10, 20, 30, and so on. This allows you to add new values in the middle of the picklist more easily, without reordering the entire list.

   • To arrange the picklist values in alphabetical order for the current language only, click the Save & Order Alphabetically button.
   • To arrange the picklist values in alphabetical order for all languages, click the Save & Order Alphabetically For All Languages button.
7. In the Edit Picklist window, click Save & Close.
8. To manually enter the translated equivalent of a new picklist value or the description of a value:
   1. On the Fields page, select the language from the Translation Language drop-down list.
   2. Click the appropriate Edit Picklist link.
   3. Enter the translated equivalent and click Save.

      NOTE: To help you identify the picklist value when you are editing, the application displays the internal ID and the language-specific default value. If you edit the wrong picklist value, the picklist becomes out of sync across languages. When using dynamic layouts, you cannot use picklist values that are identical to internal picklist IDs as this can result in unpredictable behavior.