For example, we have a client who organizes sales regions into sales districts. So, on the Sales Region Maintenance screen, we want the user to be able to select a district.
BEFORE
AFTER
You can customize the form, by adding a TextBox for SalesRegion.Character01 field, but it is better to have the user select from a range of choices.
Previously to accomplish this, you would have to add the sales districts into a user-defined table, and then add a combo box which populates from that table.
The easier way is to use something called User Defined Codes Maintenance.
Step 1 - Define User Codes
Located under System Management -> Utilities -> User Codes, open the "User Defined Codes Maintenance screen".
Create a Code Type, and then assign values (Code, and Code Description). In my case, I created a Code Type called "District", and added 4 codes, with descriptions "Northern District", "Southern District", etc. Each code also has a shorter Code ID.
Step 2 - Associate Field with User Code
Located under System Management -> Utilities -> Extended Properties, open the Extended Properties Maintenance screen.
In my case, I want to associate the district codes with the sales region:
- Selected "Region" DataSet Table ID
- Selected Fields tab, and selected the Character01 field from the tree view
- for the UD Code Type: field, chose "District" from combo box.
Now the system knows that Region.Character01 is associated with User Defined Codes "District".
Step 3 - Form Customization
Now I need to add to the Sales Region form a combo box for the Character01 field.
- Turn on Developer Mode (Main Menu -> Options -> Developer MOde)
- Open Sales Region
- Start Customization (Tools -> Customization)
- From Toolbox, add a EpiCombo control to the form
- Change the EpiBinding property to Region.Character01
As soon as I select Region.Character01 for the EpiBinding property, the system automatically filled in for me the EpiCombo properties.
And that's it. Now your users can choose from a pre-defined list of values for a user defined field.
