Dropdown values

Hey

Yes, Sugar will keep values in database and you should see empty dropdown (not set yet). Btw you should get alert in Studio during removing option from dropdown.

cheers,

Paweł

There are three options I've used for this scenario:

1. as Pawel correctly says, you can remove the value/label pair from the dropdown list. The downside is that if someone edits that field, they can't retain the old value. This can cause a problem if you intend to keep the old values on records.

2. You can edit the value/label pair in the dropdown list so that the label is now different, but the key is still the same, i.e. instead of option1/"Option One" you might now have option1/"XX Option One XX". The advantage is that you won't lose information, but the disadvantage is that it can look ugly.

3. You set the field to be a dependant dropdown, that is dependant on a Parent Dropdown, You might want a new custom dropdown list to control for this.

For example, the following screen snippet shows that you can only select 'current' values for this contact:

But for this contact, any and all values are selectable:

You might want to put the "Dropdown Control" field on a tab, or have it's visibility restricted.

Ben.

Thank you Ben for the detailed explanation. Really appreciate your help.

Thank you Pawel.

This is generally a frustrating scenario and I think a bit of a design flaw (not unique to Sugar)

It is a common scenario where you want to control data entry as circumstances change but you still have a need to retain and report on historical data.

The limitation (I think) with the proposed solution is that reporting on that historical data will be compromised if the DD supporting the data field is 'filtered' (more knowledgeable Sugar people may have a solution)

Ideally, DD lists would be architected to allow an 'Active/Inactive' status, which would control input availability but not compromise Reporting, Mass Update etc so  that the data set could be fully managed.

Neil Conacher wrote:

This is generally a frustrating scenario and I think a bit of a design flaw (not unique to Sugar)

I agree, it could be better, and it's something I've not seen any major CRM do well. Until then I'm open to hearing any other suggestions others might have on how to deal with this

My currently preferred solution of using the dependant dropdown is what I'm doing until I find a better way.

Ben.