Create request type fields

You can create and configure request type fields using either the web UI or the PPM Workbench.

In this topic:

Create request type fields using web UI

Available in versions: 24.3 and later

From the Request Type Settings page, Fields tab, you can create new fields for a request type.

To create new fields:

1. On the PPM menu, click Open > Administration > Manage Request Types to open the Manage Request Types page.
2. Click the name link of the request type for which you want to create a new field. You can use the Search box to quickly find a request type by keywords in the name or description.
3. On the Request Type Setting page, click the Fields tab.
4. Click the Add button . The new field is added at the bottom of the section.

5. Provide the following information for the new field:

   Tip: By default, not all columns are displayed. Use the Choose columns button to select which columns to display.

   Column	Description
   Prompt	Required. Provide a label for the field for display on the request details page.
   Token	Required. Enter a unique uppercase text string used to identify the field. for example, ASSIGNED_TO_USER_ID. Note: If you add a table component field with an auto-complete-list column, do not set the token to numbers only. Otherwise, exceptions would be thrown when you click the auto-complete-list column in the request details page.
   Enabled	Select Yes to enable the field for this request type, or select No if you do not want to enable the field.
   Validation	Required. Specify a validation for the field. The validation determines: The component type of the field: plain text field, date field, drop-down list, and so on. What values are valid for the field. For details on validations, see Use validations. Note: When specifying the validation, make sure that the token(s) referenced by the validation already exist.
   Component Type	Automatically filled after you selected a validation for the field.
   Section Name	Choose from the list the request detail page section where the field is displayed. For instructions on how to create sections, see Configure layout for request type fields.
   Display	Choose Yes to display the field on requests of this type, or choose No to prevent it from being displayed on requests of this type. If you select No for this option, the field is always hidden regardless of what you select for the Display Only option. Note: You can also use the following methods to set whether the field is visible or hidden: Use the Security tab in the Field window in the Request Type Workbench to control field visibility for specific users or security groups. For details, see Field Security. Set a field's visibility based on request status in the workflow. For details, see Configure request statuses for request types .
   Display Only	To make the field read-only, and not editable even at initial request creation, select Yes. Note: You can also make a field read-only or editable using the following methods: Set a field to be read-only or editable based on request status. For details, see Configure request statuses for request types . Use advanced UI rules to make a field editable or read-only, based on configured dependencies. A user cannot edit a field if an advanced rule is triggered to make it read-only, even if the request status and field-level security allow the user to edit the field. For details, see Advanced rules for request types.
   Display on Search and Filter	Choose Yes to display the field as a search criteria field on Search and Filter pages, or choose No to exclude it from being displayed as a search criteria field on those pages.
   Transaction History	To enable transaction auditing for this field, choose Yes. This ensures that any changes to the field value in a request are logged to a transaction history table. Note: The total number of fields in a request type cannot exceed 359 if you enable the Transaction History for any field.
   Notes History	To enable notes auditing for this field, choose Yes. This ensures that any changes to the field value in a request are logged in the notes for the request. Note: Exercise caution when enabling Notes History for a table component field. If the field contains many rows and columns, extensive information will be recorded. The total number of fields in a request type cannot exceed 359 if you enable the Notes History for any field.
   Multi-Select Enabled	If you selected an auto-complete component for the validation, and you want to allow users to select more than one value, click Yes. If you selected a non-ACL component for the validation, users cannot select more than one value, regardless of whether the Multi-Select Enabled option is selected and whether its value is Yes. This also applies to Web services. Note: Some request header fields do not allow the multi-select option.
   Description	Provide a short description for the field.
   Search Validation	Specify the logic to use to determine the valid search values in this field.
   Default Type	Specify the default value for the field: To specify that the field has no default value, select None. To specify that the field has a constant as the default value, select Constant and then enter the constant value in the Visible Value column. Note: You can also configure a default value for a field based on the value in another field or derived from a parameter. To configure defaults of these types, set up a rule or a command to automatically populate the request type field. For details, see Request type rules and Configure commands for request types .
   Visible Value	This column is enabled only when you select Constant in the Default Type column.
   Max Length	Specify the maximum number of characters for the field value, 200 or 4000.
   Batch Number	Select the batch number for the field. Note: The batch number is determined by the maximum number of fields, with one batch created for every 50 fields. Within each batch, up to ten of these 50 fields can contain more than 200 characters in length. The Batch Number field is enabled only when there are more than 50 fields, which can create more than one batch.
   Parameter Col.	Select the internal database column in which the field value is stored. Note: Field values are stored in the corresponding column in the request details table for each batch of the specified request type. Each request type can use up to 50 columns to store information, allowing for up to 50 fields per batch. Within the same batch, no two fields in a request type can use the same column number.

To edit a request type field:

You can edit a request type field from the Fields tab or the Layout tab on the Request Type Setting page.

Action	Details
From the Fields tab	On the Request Type Setting page, the Fields tab, double-click a field to edit, and then make necessary changes in the relevant columns.
From the Layout tab	On the Request Type Setting page, the Layout tab, click a field to edit its details. Make necessary changes and click Save.

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Create request type fields using PPM Workbench

Use the Request Type Workbench, Field window to create and configure request type fields. You can also copy a field from an existing one.

To create a request type field in the PPM Workbench:

1. Log on to PPM.

2. On the Open menu, click Administration > Open Workbench to open the PPM Workbench.

3. On the shortcut bar, click Demand Mgmt > Request Types to open the Request Type Workbench.

4. Open a request type.

5. On the Fields tab, click New.

6. In the top area of the Field window, provide the information described in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Field Prompt	See Prompt.
   Token	See Token.
   Description	See Description.
   Enabled	See Enabled.
   Validation	See Validation.
   Multi-Select Enabled	See Multi-Select Enabled.

7. On the Attributes tab, provide the information described in the following table.

   Attribute	Description
   Section Name	See Section Name.
   Display Only	See Display Only.
   Transaction History	See Transaction History .
   Notes History	See Notes History.
   Display on Search and Filter	See Display on Search and Filter.
   Display	See Display.
   Search Validation	See Search Validation.

   Note: The total number of fields in a request type cannot exceed 359 if you enable the Notes History or Transaction History attribute in any field.

8. Click the Default tab and do the following:

   • To specify that the field has no default value, select None in the Default Type field.
   • To specify that the field has a constant as the default value, select Constant in the Default Type field, and then enter the constant value in the Visible Value field.

   You can also configure a default value based on the value in another field or derived from a parameter. To configure defaults of these types, set up a rule or a command to automatically populate the request type field. For details, see Request type rules and Configure commands for request types .

9. Click the Storage tab and configure the tab as described in the following table:

   Field	Details
   Max Length	See Max Length.
   Batch Number	See Batch Number.
   Parameter Col	See Parameter Col. .

   The Storage tab automatically assigns the field to the next available position in the database based on the current field attributes. To locate a specific request field in the database, administrators can access the Storage tab in the Field window for that field. This is useful for reporting purposes.

   For text fields with a maximum length of 4000 characters, the Storage tab stores their values in column 41 or higher.

10. By default, all users can view and edit the field. You can use the Security tab to change the default security settings.

    1. On the Security tab, click Edit to open the Edit Field Security window.

    2. Clear the Visible to all users checkbox.

    3. From the Select Users/Security Groups that can view this field list, select one of the following user types to specify the field security: Security Group,User,Standard Token, or User Defined Token.

    4. Specify the security groups, users, or tokens that can view the field.

    5. To assign editing rights along with viewing rights to your selection, keep the Provide Editing Rights checkbox selected.

    6. To add the selection to the list of users and security groups that can view the field, click the Add button.

    7. To hide the field from a specific security group, user, or token, clear the Visible checkbox in the corresponding row.

    8. To make the field read-only for a specific security group, user, or token, clear the Editable checkbox in the corresponding row.

    9. To remove field access rights entirely, select the user, security group, or token, and then click Remove.

    10. Click OK.

    If you add field-level security to fields in a request type that has already been used to create requests, the PPM database tables are updated with this new configuration. Because of the scope of the database changes, you must collect database schema statistics. For information about how to collect database schema statistics, see the Installation and Administration Guide. For assistance, contact your system administrator.

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Copy request type fields using PPM Workbench

From the Request Type Workbench, Field window, you can also copy a request type field from an existing one.

To copy a request type field:

1. In the Request Type Workbench, open a request type.

2. In the Request Type window, click the Fields tab.

3. Click New.

4. In the Field window, click Copy From.

5. In the Field Selection window, specify the search criteria such as the token name or field prompt, and then click List.

   Tip: You can execute more complex queries, such as listing all fields that reference a specific validation or are used by a particular entity. Because of the large number of fields in the system, use one or more query criteria to limit the returned fields.

6. Select the field to copy, and then click Copy.

   Note: For security purposes, the security settings are not copied. If necessary, you can manually set up the security settings for the copied field.

7. In the Field window, make any necessary modifications, and then click OK.

   The Fields tab lists the new field.

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See also:

• Configure layout for request type fields