Adding Cross-Reference Questions
The cross-reference question type enables users to associate records from other applications or questionnaires with a questionnaire record.
Note: To protect data integrity, the Questionnaire feature prohibits question type changes, for example, changing a Date question to a Text question, once a question has been created.
On this page
Task 1: Create a new cross-reference question in a questionnaire
- From your questionnaire, go to Designer tab > Layout tab > Objects panel > click
. - Select a field type from the drop-down list and enter a name for the field.
- If possible, keep names under 20 characters. For example, use Description instead of Description of the Asset.
- Capitalize the first letter of each word in the field name. For example, use Predicted Impact instead of Predicted impact.
- Avoid redundant wording in field names. For example, using the word Asset is unnecessary in the following series of fields: Asset Name, Asset Type and Asset Value.
- Use noun-based field names whenever possible. Avoid verb-based field names, for example, Set Asset Name.
- Do not use the names: Version, Level ID, or Content ID for fields that you add to an application or questionnaire. Field do not display properly with these names.
- In the Question Text field, enter the text for your question, and click OK. The Question Text field in the Question section automatically populates with the text entered in this step after you create the field.
- In the General Information section, enter a description.
Field name guidelines:
Note: When you save the field, the system strips any HTML tags <xml>, <form>, <textarea>, <option>, <select>, <meta>, and <body> that you may have inserted in the description because they may constitute vulnerabilities in the system. The following example shows how you can correct the cascading style sheet (CSS) syntax for the <body> tag so that it will function correctly:
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">.c0 { font-family: 'Arial' } .c1 { margin: 0px; background-color: #ffe4e1 } </style>
</head>
<body class="c0">
<p class="c1">This is a text field.</p>
</body>
</html>
Note: Do not use absolute positioning in HTML content.
Task 2: Determine how the field displays
In the Display Control section, select how you want the field to display in the record.
|
Option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Grid |
Displays multiple fields of data from the referenced record spanning the width of the page in a table format (Grid) or in a single-column format. The attachment information displays as a resizable grid control that displays the name, size and file type for each file. When you select the Grid option, users with appropriate access can view the Download History report. This report provides a summary of the download history of a document including the user, email address, and download date. Users can upload files by clicking Add New. |
|
Single Column |
Displays a single column with links to the attachment files. |
Task 3: Configure options
In the Options section, select all of the following options that apply to this field.
|
Option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Make this a required field |
Designates the field as required and forces users to enter a value when adding or editing a record in the application. An icon indicates required fields to alert users that they must enter a value. |
|
Display last modified data |
Displays auditing information next to the field each time that its value is changed. The auditing information includes only the name of the user who made the change and the date and time of the change. |
|
Make this a searchable field |
Makes this field available for display in all search results. |
|
Display this field in global search results |
Makes this field available for display in global search results. This option is only available if this field is set as searchable. |
|
Enable bulk update from search results |
Makes this field available for bulk updates from advanced search results. |
|
Enable bulk create from search results |
Makes this field available for bulk creates from advanced search results. |
|
Enable editing in search results |
Enables the field to be editable in search results and reports. |
|
Enable editing of display fields that have inline edit enabled |
Determines whether fields that have inline edit enabled are editable in a grid display. Note: If the Editable Grid Display option is configured for a cross-reference field, and the field has been set to read-only by an Apply Conditional Layout Data Driven Event, the fields in the grid are still editable. When set to read-only, the Lookup and Add New buttons are hidden so that users cannot add records to the grid. The Remove buttons are hidden so that records cannot be removed from the grid. |
|
Select existing records from the related application through a Lookup control |
Specifies whether users can access a Record Lookup page for selecting records from the related application. Clear this checkbox if you only want to allow users to create new records for cross-referencing. You must select this checkbox if you want the cross-reference field to be available for selection in a MRDC field or are creating a dynamic filter. |
|
Add records in the referenced application through View mode |
Determines whether the Add New link is displayed in a grid for allowing users to add new records to the related applications from a record in view mode. Users will not have to open a record in edit mode to create new related records. If a user does not have rights to create records in the related application, the link is not displayed for that user. When a user creates a new related record from view mode, that record will be selected in the cross-reference field just as it would if it were created from edit mode. For example, if a user opens a Vendor record in View mode and creates a record in the related Audits application by clicking Add New in the cross-reference field, that new Audit record will be selected in the cross-reference field of the Vendor record, even though the user did not open the Vendor record for editing. |
|
Make this a calculated field |
Allows users to specify a formula to dynamically compute the field value. For example, you can use the following formula that populates the Date field with the current date: TODAY(). The calculated field displays as read-only for all application users. Each time the field is recalculated, the value updates. |
|
Display cross-referenced records in a tree structure within View mode and search results |
Determines whether the related records in a leveled application for cross-referenced records are displayed in a hierarchical format for a single-column display. The following figure shows top-level record references flush with the left margin of the field, and record references in subsequent data levels indented.
When records with the cross-reference field are exported in CSV format, the Tree Display option is disabled to allow the data to be re-imported into the application. All other data export formats preserve the cross-reference tree display for the field. |
|
Validate this field when any value changes in the record |
Designates that a field is validated whenever any value changes in a record. If this option is not selected, this field validates only when the value in this field has changed. |
|
Disable the remove button for records displayed in this field |
Disables the Remove button for records displayed in this field. |
Task 4: Set record lookup configuration options
In the Record Lookup Configuration section, specify the rules for finding the related records of the cross-reference field.
|
Option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Display Fields |
If you selected the Grid or Single Column display control, you can define the fields of data from the relationship application that should display in the Record Lookup page for end users when they select related records in the Cross-Reference field. Click Use the Note: If the relationship application is a leveled application, and you selected fields from two or more levels to be displayed in the Cross-Reference field, you can only arrange those fields on a level-by-level basis. You cannot intermix fields from separate data levels. |
|
Filters |
To limit the records users can select in the Cross-Reference question to only those records that contain specific field values, apply filter criteria to the records. To set filters for the records to be displayed in the field, select the values for the following fields:
You can also create a dynamic filter for filtering record lookup. |
|
Sorting |
If you selected the Grid or Single Column display control, you can define the fields by which cross-referenced records should be sorted within the Lookup control. For example, in an "Investigators" Cross-Reference field, you could sort the display of referenced records alphabetically by investigator name. Select values for the following sorting criteria:
|
|
Display Format |
Select how you want the cross-referenced records displayed on the Record Lookup page:
|
in the Display Fields field to select the fields that you want to display from the Available list.
below the Selected list to arrange the fields. The top-to-bottom order of fields in the Selected list display as the left-to-right order of fields in the Record Lookup page.Task 5: Set grid display properties
Note: If you selected Single Column as the display control, the display configuration is unavailable. Go to Task 6 to set the configuration options.
If you selected Grid as the display control, in the Grid Display Properties section, select the fields displayed in the record look-up for the cross-reference field.
|
Option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Use Record Lookup Configuration |
Select this option to apply the values selected in the Record Lookup Configuration section to the corresponding View/Edit Display control group fields. |
|
Display Fields |
If you selected the Grid display control, you can define the fields of data from the relationship application that should display in the Lookup control for end users when they select related records in the Cross-Reference question. Click Use the Note: If the relationship application is a leveled application, and you selected fields from two or more levels to be displayed in the Cross-Reference field, you can only arrange those fields on a level-by-level basis. You cannot intermix fields from separate data levels. |
|
Sorting |
If you selected the Grid display control, you can define the fields by which cross-referenced records should be sorted within the Lookup control. For example, in an "Investigators" Cross-Reference field, you could sort the display of referenced records alphabetically by investigator name. Select values for the following sorting criteria:
|
Task 6: Set configuration options
In the Configuration section, set the following options.
|
Option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Minimum selections |
Specifies the minimum number of required selections of users or groups for the Dropdown, Checkboxes, Listbox, and Values Popup display control options. |
|
Maximum selections |
Specifies the maximum number of required selections of users or groups for the Dropdown, Checkboxes, Listbox, and Values Popup display control options. |
|
Default Records Display |
Determines the number of cross-referenced records that display in the grid and is only available when the display control is set to Grid. If this option is selected, only the first designated number of records are displayed. For example, when this option is set to 10, only the first 10 records display in the grid. If the number of records exceeds the default display number, a View All link is displayed. A user can click this link to view all of the associated records. |
|
Field height |
Specifies the height of the field in a single-column display. This setting impacts the display of the field only when users add or edit records in the application. For example, if you set the field height to three lines, and a user makes four selections in the field, a scroll bar is displayed. |
Task 7: Add question text
- Go to the Question section.
- In the Question Text field, modify the question text as needed.
- If applicable, in the Format Style field, select a display option.
Task 8: Set question filter properties
You can create and assign any number of filter properties to a question. You can apply the filter properties that you create for one question to any other question in the same questionnaire. However, you cannot share filter properties between questionnaires.
For example, the name of your filter property could be "Customer Data," and the available values could be "Yes" and "No." When you assign the filter property to a question, you will select the filter property and the specific filter property value that applies to the question. For example, you would apply the "Customer Data: Yes" filter property to the following question: "Do you have a documented program in place to dispose of customer data when you no longer need to handle it?"
- In the Question Filter Properties section, click
to add a new filter:
Important: Do not click
to remove a filter property from the current question. Doing so permanently deletes the filter property for all questions that use it. Instead, in the Values column dropdown of the filter property, clear the checkbox of all filter property values to remove. If the Value column for a filter property is blank, that filter property is not applied to the current question. - Enter a name and description for the filter property.
- In the Filter Property Values section, click .
- In the Value field, enter the value text.
- (Optional) Repeat steps 3 - 4 to add any additional filter values as needed. To remove a filter value, in the Actions column, click .
- Click Apply on the Edit Filter Property page to return to the Question section.
- In the Values column of the filter property, select the filter property values to apply to the question.
Task 9: Configure help text
Field-level help provides additional guidelines and instructions to ensure users enter appropriate information in the field. This Help text displays for users when they add, edit, and view records in the application where the field resides.
Consider the following general guidelines when writing field-level Help:
- Use short, concise instructions that direct the user to take a specific action. For example, "Enter your name" is preferable to "This field is used to enter your name."
- Use complete sentences whenever possible.
- Avoid jargon (unless terms are critical and are familiar to your users).
- Consider the technical aptitude of your audience, and author your help text at a corresponding level.
- Use “you” and “your” as if you are speaking directly to the user.
- Consider posing Help text in the form of a question, for example, "What is your level of interest?"
In the Help text section, do the following:
- Select a display option for both edit and view modes.
- If you are using help text, enter the text.
| Option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
None |
Help text does not display. |
|
Tooltip Icon |
Help icon displays beside the field in edit and view modes. Click this icon to display the field Help. The application dynamically sizes of the Help box based on the number of characters in the text.
|
|
Below |
Help displays below the field in edit and view modes.
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