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Changing Picklist Values

Some fields give users a drop-down list of predefined values from which they must choose. This list of values is called a picklist. For example, the values in the Area field picklist for service requests might be Product, Installation, Maintenance, and Training.

You can add, edit, and reorder values to the picklists for fields. Picklists must contain at least one value, but the maximum number of values (active or disabled) in a picklist is 1000.

The system does not allow you to change picklist values used for forecasting and report metrics. However, it does allow you to change other picklist values used as the basis for standard lists that appear in other areas of the application. For those standard lists, the application still includes the records meeting the criteria, regardless of the picklist values you renamed. For more information, see About Fields, Picklists, and Metrics.

After you create a new picklist, an initial value called <No Values> is automatically available in the picklist. This value is used to communicate to users that values do not yet exist in the picklist, in the case where the field is added to a page layout before real values are added to list. The default <No Values> option disappears from the picklist as soon as a custom value is added to a picklist.

CAUTION: Do not use the default <No Values> value as part of any new picklist or cascading picklist. Using the value in this way can lead to errors within Oracle CRM On Demand. If you want to continue to have a <No Values> option available in a picklist, you must add it as a custom value.

As a best practice, do not rename or reuse the existing picklist values. Instead, disable the old picklist value, create a new picklist value, and perform an import or a mass update (or alternatively, Web Services) to change all record values to new picklist values. If you change a value in a picklist, you must verify that the value is updated and changed for each individual record as this is not implemented automatically by Oracle CRM On Demand.

NOTE: In Oracle CRM On Demand (the standard application), the priority of tasks is indicated in task lists by arrows. An up arrow indicates 1-High priority, no arrow indicates 2-Medium priority, and a down arrow indicates 3-Low priority.

If you change the default picklist values for the Priority field on the activity record, an arrow might not be displayed in the Priority field in task lists.

Before you begin. To perform this procedure, your role must include the Customize Application privilege.

To change picklists

1. In the upper right corner of any page, click the Admin global link.
2. In the Application Customization section, click the Application Customization link.
3. In the Record Type Setup section, click the link for the required record type.
4. In the Field Management section, click the required Field Setup link.
5. In the record type Fields page, click the Edit Picklist link for the field whose values you want to customize.

   NOTE: Due to specialized coding, customizing the Oracle CRM On Demand Life Sciences Edition Sample Transaction Type picklist, Account Call Type picklist, and Contact Call Type picklist is not supported.

6. In the Edit Picklist window:
   • To change an existing value, enter the new value in the Picklist Values field, or disable the old value and create a new value.

     NOTE: If you want this updated name to appear in the picklists for other activated languages, select the Mark for Translation check box. In the other languages, this updated name appears in blue text with brackets until you manually enter the translated versions. This helps you track what terms need to be translated.
     If you do not select Mark for Translation, the other picklist values are unaffected by the change you made here.

   • To add a new value, enter the information in the row that appears at the bottom of the list.

     To add further new values, click Save & New.

     New picklist values you add automatically appear in blue text and brackets in the other activated languages (regardless of the setting of the Mark for Translation check box).

   • To delete a value, select the Disabled check box. To hide or show disabled values, click Hide Disabled and Show Disabled respectively.

     CAUTION: When you disable values, you also hide the translated versions in other languages.

   • To arrange the order in which the picklist values appear, change the numbers in the Order column.

     TIP:  Consider entering numbers with gaps between them, such as 10, 20, 30, and so on. This allows you to add new values in the middle of the picklist more easily, without reordering the entire list.

   • To arrange the picklist values in alphabetical order, click the Save & Order Alphabetically button.
7. In the Edit Picklist window, click Save & Close.
8. To manually enter the translated equivalent of the new picklist value:
   1. On the Fields page, select the language from the Translation Language drop-down list.
   2. Click the appropriate Edit Picklist link.
   3. Enter the translated equivalent and click Save.

      NOTE: To help you identify the picklist value when you are editing, the application displays the internal ID and the language-specific default value. If you edit the wrong picklist value, the picklist becomes out of sync across languages.