Additional fields

Ten spare fields on every screen, header and line — already there, hidden until somebody wants one. Show one on a list, switch one on in a form, and rename it only if you want to.

Every master record, every document header and every document line carries ten spare fields: five text, three number and two date. They already exist on every screen of that table, under generic names ("Additional text 1", "Additional number 2"), hidden by default. Nobody has to set anything up before they can be used.

Showing one on a list

1. Open the list and its Columns menu.
2. Under the heading Additional fields, tick the one you want. It appears as a column.
3. Filter, sort and export on it like any other column. Save a view to keep it on; make the view global and it is on for everybody who uses that view.

Filling one in on a form

1. At the bottom of a create or edit form, open More fields. It shows how many there are, and how many you have switched on.
2. Tick a field to fill it in. It stays on your form for that screen until you untick it.
3. Type the value and save as usual.

• The choice is yours: switching a field on changes your own form, not anybody else’s, and needs no administrator.
• A field that already holds a value on this record is always shown, and cannot be unticked — a value somebody entered is never hidden from the record it is on.
• What may be written into it is still decided by the screen’s own grant and by whether the record may be changed.
• The import mapping offers every additional field under Additional fields; printed forms and the report builder can use them too.

Renaming one (optional)

Platform → Customization → Additional Fields gives a slot your company’s own name. Nothing else depends on it.

1. Find the screen or line grid — "Purchase Orders", or "Purchase Orders › Lines".
2. Pick a slot of the right type: text for a heat number or a reference, number for anything added up, date for a date.
3. Choose Rename, type its label and, if you like, help shown beside the field and, for a text slot, a list of allowed values.
4. Tick where it shows by default: List, Form or Record puts it on everybody’s default list, create and edit form, or record page; Reports offers it in the report builder. Leave them clear and it stays hidden by default under its new name.
5. Save, and reopen a screen on that table to see the new name. Use generic name puts it back; its values are kept.

• The fields are real columns on the table, so they sort, filter, search and total like any other.
• A number slot refuses text and a date slot refuses a non-date; allowed values are enforced on every save, however the record arrives.
• Names are per company: another company’s names never show.
• Renaming is a permission on the Roles screen (Platform → Additional Fields). Showing and filling in a field is not.
• A download template carries the fields your company has renamed; the unnamed ones can still be chosen when the columns are mapped.