Lists

Introduction

Lists enable the deployment of metadata fields that have a suggested or required set of possible values.  Lists also enable a field to use a user friendly display name for a value, while assigning the actual value to the metadata field.  

Consider a scenario where index operators wish to pick a customer account from a list, using the customer name, but external systems expect the customer account number.  Using a database backed list you could display the customer name to the index operator and provide the customer account number to the external system, all while leveraging your existing business data systems.

Adding or Editing a List

To add a new list click the Add button on the lists tab.  To edit an existing list, select the list you wish to edit and click the edit button.  Both adding and editing a list share the same dialog, as seen in the screenshot below.

List Name

Enter a unique list name to identify this list.  The list name must be unique across the organization, as lists can be shared across multiple document types.  The list name used to identify and select lists when configuring list mapped document type fields.

Data Type

Select the data type to use for the list.  In order to map a field to a list, the data type of the list and the data type of the field must match.

For a complete discussion of the available data types, please refer to the Data Types section of the Fields article.

List Type

The list type setting determines how the list locates and maintains it's list entries.

Keep the List Sorted Alphabetically

Selecting this option will sort the list alphabetically in ascending order by the Name (display) value, before the list is displayed on the client.  The data in any external data source will not be affected.

List Entries

When the List Type is configured for manual list items, the administrator must define all items they wish to appear in the list, and the list entries controls will be visible, as shown in the screenshot at the beginning of this section.

Adding a List Entry

To add a new list entry, click the add button and provide an appropriate display name and value for the entry in entries grid.  To make adding list entries easier, whenever you enter a new entry name and the corresponding entry value is blank, the entry value will be set to match the entry name.

Removing a List Entry

To remove an entry from the list, select the entry you wish to remove from the entries grid and click the Remove button.

Connection, Query and Fields

When the List Type is configured to load the list entries from an external data source you must select configure the external data source to use, as well as the fields within the data source that should map to the name and value portions of the list entries, as shown in the screenshot below.

Connection

Select the connection to use which corresponds to the external data source that contains your list data.

Query

Select a query from the list of available queries which corresponds to the table or view that contains your list data.

Display and Value Fields

Select the fields from the data source that you wish to use to populate the display name and value for each list entry in your list.  You may use the same field for both mappings, or a different field for each.

Copy a List

Copying a list allows you to take a completed list, make modifications to it and save the modified list using a new distinct name.  To copy a list:

• Select the list you wish to use as a starting point for the new list
• Click the Copy button
• Edit the name of the list to be a new, unique name
• Make any additional changes to the list as documented in Adding or Editing a List
• Save the completed list

Removing a List

To remove a list from the organization, select the list you wish to delete from the lists tab and click the Remove button.