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About User Defined Fields and User Defined Options

Introduction

User Defined Fields and User Defined Options are setup options that work together.

• User Defined Fields are a way you can store information in addition to the standard fields in the system.
• You add one or more fields to a location in the system (Customers, Jobs, etc.), and once added, you can go to that location in the system and then click on that new tab or link so that you can view and edit the fields that you added.
• User Defined Options are a way you add the options that are required for any User Defined Field when the field Type is Options.

Notes and Cautions

System administrators who set up your system usually make changes to User Defined Fields and User Defined Options, as User Defined Fields and User Defined Options are system-wide and not limited by the Company, Entity, or Property you are working with.

Changes made to User Defined Fields and User Defined Options affect all Companies, Entities, and Properties in the dataset.

Consider carefully before creating User Defined Fields and also before making changes to User Defined Fields. When you edit or delete a User Defined field, then for all your Companies / Entities / Properties, data that had been captured for that field in the User Fields Tab / pop-up form Location is then is deleted and cannot be recovered.

Also, note that changing the User Fields for Purchase Order in ePO also changes the User Fields that appear for Purchase Order in eFinancials, and vice versa. This is also true of making changes to the User Fields for Vendors.

User Defined Fields and User Defined Options are explained individually below, and following those sections is an example.

List of menu selections by module

The following menu selections display the User Defined Fields and User Defined Options pages:

eFinancials—Setup—Global Setup—User Defined Fields

eFinancials—Setup—Global Setup—User Defined Options

 

ePO—Setup—Global Setup—User Defined Fields

ePO—Setup—Global Setup—User Defined Options

 

Job Cost—Setup—Global Setup—User Defined Fields

Job Cost—Setup—Global Setup—User Defined Options

 

Contracts—Setup—User Defined Fields

Contracts—Setup—User Defined Options

 

Inventory—Setup—Global Setup—User Defined Fields

Inventory—Setup—Global Setup—User Defined Options

About User Defined Fields

The User Defined Fields provides a way for you to capture information in the system in addition to the standard fields shipped in the system.

User Defined Fields Setup allows the user to specify fields to display in a User Field Tab or in a pop-up form that appears when you click a link in the system. Use the Item drop-down on the User Defined Fields Setup screen to select the location in the system where you want to add User Defined Fields.

Locations

The fields you set up here are available in various locations in the system as either a User Fields Tab or a link to a User Fields tab.

Once set up, these fields available in the locations listed below.

NOTE

When there are no User Defined Fields set up then the User Field Tab or pop-up will be blank and show a message that states, No User Fields defined.

Locations

eFinancials

Customers: Setup—AR Setup—Customers—User Fields Tab

Purchase Orders: Accounts Payable—Transactions—Purchase Order—User Fields Tab

Vendors: Setup—AP Setup—Vendors (link in User Fields column opens a pop-up)

ePO

Purchase Orders: Purchase Order—User Fields Tab

Vendors: Setup—Vendors (link in User Fields column opens a pop-up)

Job Cost

Jobs: Setup—Job Costing—Jobs—User Fields tab

Job Cost Estimates: Setup—Job Costing—Jobs—Estimates—Cost tab (link in User Fields column)

Job Income Estimates: Setup—Job Costing—Jobs—Estimates—Income tab (link in User Fields column)

Contracts Setup

Subcontracts: Setup—Subcontracts—Subcontract Entry—User Fields tab

Inventory Setup

Inventory: Setup—Global Setup—Item Master—User Fields tab

Refer to the Field List in User Defined Fields Setup for additional information.

About User Defined Options

User Defined Options Setup is used to create option lists that can then be selected in User Defined Fields Setup. An option list is a set list of values that a user selects for a field of the Type, Options. Option Lists are system-wide and not limited by the Company, Entity, or Property you are working with.

To add or edit an Option List, at the Option List field:

• type a name for a new Option List, or
• select the name of an existing Option List.

Then you add options to a new Options List or edit the options for an existing Option List.

You can have as many Options Lists as you need.

NOTE that the name of an Option List cannot be changed after it has been created.

How User Defined Options relate to User Defined Fields

All Option List names that you have set up appear for selection in User Defined Fields Setup when you add an Options field.

Sorting within an Option List

An Options List is always sorted by Value on the User Defined Options Setup screen and in the drop-down list of the options Type field, i.e., they will be displayed by the system in numerical order first, then alphabetical order.

You may want to preface Values with a number as in the example below, so that they will appear in the order you want to see them in the drop-down list. Otherwise, the system will display alphabetical values in alphabetical order, but after values that start with numbers.

To "delete" an Option List, simply delete all of the Values in the Option List and then press the Save button.

Validation

There is no validation that a Value is being used in the system, so if you delete a Value in the Options List grid, the next time a user edits a User Field or pop-up that contains the old option Value, the original selection will be lost. In this situation, if the field containing the option list is required, then the user will need to select a new option.

Refer to the Fields List in User Defined Options Setup for more information.

Example

An example of how User Defined Fields and User Defined Tasks setup works is provided here.

See Also

eFinancials Setup Introduction

ePO Setup Introduction