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User Defined Attributes (UDA) Admin Screen

The User Defined Attributes (UDA) admin screen allows you to easily create and update custom fields, or data attributes, that you can put on forms to collect information required for your organization.

It is highly recommended that you create and test changes in the QA/UAT environment and then use Cross-Environment Publishing to promote the changes to Production. See "Cross Publish Changesets Between Environments" in Create and Publish Changesets for complete details.

View UDAs

1. Click ADMIN SETTINGS > USER INTERFACE > USER DEFINED ATTRIBUTES.

2. Select the changeset you would like to use. If a changeset does not exist, you may select Live on Prod (or QA/UAT) and click VIEW.

A changeset is just a way to make changes to the user interface that can be tracked and easily reversed, if necessary. You may select an existing changeset (e.g., one you've already created containing related changes you'd like to make) or create a new one. See Create and Publish Changesets for complete details.

3. You will see a list of all the UDAs defined for your organization.

  • The number on the right indicates the total count of expense and pre-approval forms linked to that UDA.

Click on a UDA to view its details.

  • Click LINKED FORMS to view all the expense and pre-approval forms that use this UDA and will be affected by any changes made to it.

Create a New UDA

1. Click the blue plus button at the top of the User Defined Attributes list.

2. If you are not in a changeset, you will be prompted to select a changeset or to create a new one.

UDA_-_Pick_Changeset.png

3. Enter the details of the new UDA.

  • Name: The unique system name for the UDA. The name must begin with a letter and contain only alphanumeric characters or underscores. Spaces are not allowed.

  • Label: The display name users will see in the interface. The label should be a word or phrase that will help users understand the information they are being asked to provide.

  • Type: Use the drop-down list to select the type of UDA you wish to create:

  • Check Box: Displays a check box and stores the value as 1 (checked) or 0 (unchecked).

  • Format: Specify whether the label will be displayed before or after the check box. The best practice is to position the label before the check box.

  • Currency: Displays an amount field with the same format as the Amount Spent currency. Input must be numeric.

  • Date: Displays a field where a date can be entered manually or selected from a calendar.

  • Entity: Displays a drop-down or searchable list, based on the associated Entity Type, and stores the Entity Code of the selected Entity. See "Entity UDA Properties," belowfor more details.

  • Number: Displays a numeric field. Input must be numeric.

  • Precision: Specify the number of decimal places for the UDA, from 0–5.

  • Text: Displays a text field. Input can be alphanumeric or special characters.

  • Required: Check this box to make the UDA a required field on every form in which it appears. For more flexibility, leave the Required checkbox unchecked and use the Forms Admin Screen screen to select whether the UDA is required or optional on each form.

  • Validation Message: If you check REQUIRED, you will be prompted to provide an optional validation message. It will be displayed in red underneath the UDA when the user attempts to save the form without entering a value into the UDA.

Entity UDA Properties

Entity UDAs are drop-down or searchable-list type fields. When you create an entity UDA, you will be asked to link it to a specific entity type that contains the list of values from which users may select. To learn how to create an entity type and define its values, see Entities Admin Screen.

Entity UDAs have a number of additional properties, which are described below. It is recommended that you speak with your organization’s Chrome River Implementation Consultant before configuring the more advanced properties of entity UDAs.

Entity Type

The entity type identifies the list of values available for selection.

  • Non-searchable: A drop-down list of values will be displayed when users click on the field, and they will only be allowed to select from that list.

  • Searchable: As users type in the field, its drop-down list changes to display the subset of values matching the search string entered. Searchable entity UDAs are typically used when the list of values is quite large.

Searchable List Properties

  • Display ExtraData 1: Adds the entity’s Extra Data 1 value in front of the Entity Name (or Extra Data 2) when displayed in the drop-down list

  • Display ExtraData 2: Adds the entity’s Extra Data 2 value in front of the Entity Name when displayed in the drop-down list

  • Enable Elastic Search: This advanced setting that you may wish to discuss with your Implementation Consultant provides an enhanced search capability and may improve performance for very large lists.

  • Filter By: The entities within an Entity UDA may be filtered in a number of different ways so that only entities matching certain criteria will be displayed. These are all considered advanced features and would typically be set up by your Implementation team.

  • Search Value: The list is filtered based on a certain value existing within the Entity Code, Extra Data 1 or Extra Data 2.

  • Active User Attribute: The list is filtered based on whether the Entity Code, Extra Data 1 or Extra Data 2 matches a particular attribute of the ExpenseOwner (e.g., Country Code, Title, UDF fields).

  • Role and Entity: The list is filtered based on whether the Entity Code, Extra Data 1 or Extra Data 2 matches a particular relationship attribute of the expense owner (e.g., Part Of Office)

Non-Searchable List Properties

  • Filter By:

  • Relationship Attribute Entity Type: As with the Role and Entity Filter, the list is filtered based on the expense owner’s relationship attributes. However, this filter looks for matches on relationship attributes using the entity type linked to this UDA's entity type, regardless of the role. You may choose a specific role as the default selection.

  • For example, if the entity type associated with this UDA is "Company" and the user has the Relationship Attributes "Part Of Company AAA" and "APReview Company BBB," the user would see AAA and BBB in the drop-down list for this UDA. If the Default Role is configured as Part Of, the UDA would default to AAA upon initial display.

It is important to note that once you save your UDA, you will no longer be able to change the UDA name, type or entity type. Additionally, you will not be able to delete the UDA.

If you created your UDA incorrectly, you may delete your changeset and begin again. However, if the changeset is published, the UDA name, type and entity type will not be editable, and the UDA will not be deletable. In this case, you may choose not to use the UDA by removing it from any forms in which it appears. See Forms Admin Screen for more details.

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