Assign the data source for available entries

►NOTE◄ The configuration options described here apply in full for comboboxes in portals and only partially for comboboxes in input forms for business objects.

The configuration of the so-called 'Service info' defines which entries appear as options in the dropdown.

The Allow empty selection option defines whether the user is allowed to clear the selection by removing a selected option. This is not to be confused with a 'Required' constraint for the data field or a validation rule of that nature. With this option unchecked, the label of a selected value does not feature the 'X' symbol for 'delete'. It is also impossible to remove an item from the selection by pressing the 'Del' or 'Backspace' key.

The Allow custom values option defines whether the user may enter custom values instead of selecting from the dropdown menu.

The Disable search, option which is also available in input forms for business objects, enables/disables the 'search' mode for the input field.

Clicking the Add service info button opens an additional section with configuration options for a 'service', i.e. a predefined method to resolve a list of entries.

The following screenshot shows an example of where a special 'UnitService', designed to return all types of Units, is used to return the Weight & mass units provided in a dynamic enumeration.

Include/Exclude entries

Once the service is configured properly, the Reload button can be clicked to update the list of options for an element. Services with a defined list of entries support detailed specifications in the Active entries section:

In this example, the entries for 'Microgram', 'Milligram' and 'Nanogram' were deactivated, so they do not appear in the dropdown menu.

The option include new values specifies that new additions to the list of Weight & mass units (dynamic enumeration) will appear in the dropdown, even if they are not featured in the list of 'Active entries'. Alternatively, a choice of exclude new values in this dropdown would specify that additions to the dynamic enumeration would be considered 'inactive' unless explicitly activated.

►IMPORTANT◄ Changes in the configuration on the level of 'Active entries' do not become effective until the Apply item config button is pressed.

Controlling dropdown options by dynamic enum filters

Whenever Dynamic enumerations provide data for a combobox, Dynamic enum filters may constrain the availability of options in a specific data context. Each of these filters defines a specific subset of all elements in a certain dynamic enumeration. A filter is regarded as applicable if it refers to the same dynamic enumeration as the combobox and at least one of the assigned Association criteria evaluates to 'true' in the given context. According to this definition, multiple filters may turn out 'applicable' for the same combobox. The impact on choices in the dropdown depends on the choice for 'Enum filter mode' with three options (empty, AND, OR).

Practical example:

• Dynamic enumeration 'Means of transportation' features the options 'Car', 'Truck', 'Ship', 'Bicycle'

• Dynamic enumeration filter #1 includes 'Car', 'Truck'

• Dynamic enumeration filter #2 includes 'Ship', 'Truck'

We assume that the association criteria for both filters match:

Enumeration mode AND: ... intersection of the result sets of both filters: {'Car'}

The dropdown shows all elements to include according to filter #1 AND filter #2.

Enumeration mode OR: ... union of the result sets ({'Car', 'Truck'} and {'Ship', 'Truck'}) of both filters: {'Car', 'Ship', 'Truck'}

The dropdown shows all elements to include according to filter #1 OR filter #2.