By Clay Li on Sunday, 24 January 2016
Category: Feature

Dropdown and Lookup Customization

Admin users can add custom fields in Calem. "Lookup" fields can only take values from a dropdown list or another table. They are great tools to avoid duplicate or invalid data.

1. Lookup and Dropdown

Calem supports two types of fields that take values from a predefined list. These fields are generally referenced as lookup fields. A lookup field can take a value from a list (Dropdown), or a table


2. My Dropdowns

My dropdowns are the dropdown lists added by customers. These dropdown lists can be used in custom field design, just like a dropdown list shipped in Calem.

See Admin Guide for more information about My Dropdowns.


3. Custom Lookup Field

When adding a custom field you may choose "Lookup" as field type. A "Lookup" type means that the custom field can only take values defined in a table such as "Asset" (called lookup table), or a dropdown list such as "WO priority", or "My dropdown" (a dropdown list added by your organization).

The lookup form in Data Design provides the following menu items to help you pick a lookup table:


The form to create a lookup field:

The lookup form to select a source to lookup from:

4. Lookup Tables

Unlike "My Dropdowns"​, one cannot add a new lookup tables in Calem. There are some tips:

 5. Dropdown Customization

Users with Admin module permission can customize dropdowns:

 5.1 Restore Standard Dropdown

A standard dropdown may be deleted if it's not used. If this happened, and you would like to use the standard dropdown later on, you may simply drag and drop it from the left panel and drop it to the right panel in the dropdown design.

6. Identify Dropdown Names

Dropdown names can be found from forms where they are used. We will use work order form as an example to find the dropdown name for work order category field.


Additional resources