Fields are the typed pieces of information a Procedure takes in and produces, such as a new hire's name, a start date, or an asset tag. Each Assignment captures its own values for them. Portfolio Administrators and Leads may define Fields.
How Fields work
- A Field is defined once: its label, name, and type. It belongs to the Portfolio, so any Procedure or Step in the Portfolio can use it. The Portfolio's Catalog tab lists them all. To share a Field with every Portfolio, move it to the Organization Catalog.
- A Procedure or Step then uses a Field as an Input (information the work takes in) or an Output (information the work produces). The same Field can be one Step's Output and a later Step's Input, so each Assignment carries the value from Task to Task.
- Procedure Inputs are entered when an Assignment is created. Step Inputs and Outputs are entered on the Task as the work is done. See Capture Field Values.
Add a Field to a Procedure or Step
- Select the Procedure or Step, then press the Specification tab in the detail pane.
- In the Input & Output Fields panel, press the create button to define a new Field, or the reuse button to add one that is already defined.
- To define a new Field, complete the Create Field dialog:
- Label: the prompt shown when a value is entered, such as
Start Date, up to 33 characters. - Name: the identifier exports and automations use, such as
startDate. It is filled in from the Label; change it only if you need a different identifier. - Type: Text, Number, Date, Yes / No, Single Select, Multi Select, or File. The type decides which control is used to enter the value.
- Options: for Single Select and Multi Select Fields, the choices to pick from, one per line.
- Description: why the value is recorded and how it is used. It is shown as the tooltip on the input.
- Guidance: how to enter a good value, shown as the placeholder inside the input.
- Scope: Portfolio, or Organization to put it in the Organization Catalog. Only Organization Administrators and Leads may choose it.
- Label: the prompt shown when a value is entered, such as
- To reuse a Field, or to change how one is used, complete the Add Input or Output dialog. Press a Field's row to open it as Edit Input or Output.
- Field: pick a Field from This Portfolio or the Organization Catalog.
- Direction: Input or Output.
- Required: turn on if a value is needed. A Required Input keeps its Task from starting until it has a value, and a Procedure's Required Input does the same for every Task of the Assignment. A Required Output keeps its Task from closing until it has a value. See Add Entry & Exit Criteria.
- Guidance: optional guidance for this use of the Field. Leave it blank to use the Field's own guidance.
Fields can be added only to Steps without Substeps. A Step that has Substeps lists the Fields it inherits from them, read-only; edit them on the Substeps.
A Procedure's Inputs are asked for when an Assignment is created, and its Outputs can be carried to a following Procedure by a Hand-off Trigger.
To stop using a Field, press its Actions menu and select Remove (on a Step, Remove from this Step). The Field stays defined in the Portfolio.
Manage the Portfolio's Fields
- Select the Portfolio and press the Catalog tab in the detail pane.
- The Fields panel lists every Field the Portfolio defines, with its type. Press its create button to define a Field without adding it anywhere yet.
- Press a Field's row to edit it, or its Actions menu to select Edit Field… or Delete Field…. Changes apply everywhere the Field is used.
While an open Assignment uses a Field, its type can't change, its choices can't be removed, and it can't be deleted. Make the change once those Assignments close, or create a new Field instead.
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