Modifying Dropdown Lists in VM

Introduction

You can customize the Vendor Management solution to your organization's particular needs. The various interfaces in the out-of-the box solution contain dropdown lists that you can modify by changing the values in the reference data tables with values that reflect the data that is unique to your processes. For example, you can add or delete values that display in the Task Type dropdown list.

This page outlines how to modify the values for the dropdown lists in the various interfaces of the VM solution.

• If you need to add a value to a particular dropdown list, add a row to the reference data table. See the Adding a new dropdown value section.
• If you need to remove a value from a dropdown list, deactivate the value in the reference data table. See the Deactivating a new dropdown value section.
• If you want to add a new dropdown list, create a new dropdown list type in the reference data table. See the Adding a new dropdown list section.

See the Reference Data Tables page for descriptions of the table structures.

Adding a new dropdown value

Most dropdown values for VM are stored in the AS_VM_R_DATA table. Updating this table allows you to control which dropdown values and lists display to end users moving through the opportunity management process.

To add a value to a dropdown list:

1. Insert a new row into the AS_VM_R_DATA table.
2. Update each column with the following information:
   • REF_LABEL: The new value you are adding.
   • REF_TYPE: A grouping category for the dropdown values; a name for the dropdown list.
   • SORT_ORDER: Optional field that is used to specify the sort order.
   • Note: In order to implement the sort order, you will have to update the queries applied to this column.
   • REF_ICON: Optional field that is used to specify an icon for this entry.
   • REF_COLOR: Optional field that is used to specify the icon color.
   • IS_ACTIVE: true (1).
   • CREATED_BY: Your Appian username.
   • CREATED_DATETIME: The current timestamp in the YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format.
   • MODIFIED_BY: Your Appian username.
   • MODIFIED_DATETIME: The current timestamp in the YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format.

After the row is inserted, this value will be available in any of the dropdown lists that have the same reference REF_TYPE as the value you inserted.

Example

To add a new dropdown value, you could use the following SQL statement by replacing the values in the angle brackets (< >) with your data.

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INSERT INTO `AS_VM_R_DATA` (`REF_DATA_ID`, `REF_LABEL`, `REF
_TYPE`, `IS_ACTIVE`, `CREATED_BY`, `CREATED_DATETIME`, `MODIFIED_BY`, `MODIFIED_DATETIME`)
VALUES (null, '<New Label>', '<Type>', 1, '<Username>', CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(), '<Username>', CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()),
(null, '<New Label>', '<Type>', 1, '<Username>', CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(), '<Username>', CURRENT_TIMESTAMP());

Deactivating a dropdown value

If there is a value in a dropdown list that is no longer needed, deactivate the value by changing the IS_ACTIVE value in the AS_VM_R_DATA from 1 (true) to 0 (false).

After the update is made, this value will no longer display in any dropdown list. The value will continue to display for already active and historical opportunities.

Deactivating an opportunity status or task status is not recommended, as it will negatively affect other aspects of the application. Deleting data from the table is not recommended except during initial set up. If the application is already in use, deleting data rather than deactivating it may cause issues.

Example

To deactivate a dropdown value, you could use the following SQL statement. Replace <ID Being Updated> with the R_DATA_ID value. For example, to deactivate Weeks in the following table, <ID Being Updated> would be 24.

Note that this example uses MySQL syntax.

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UPDATE AS_VM_R_DATA SET IS_ACTIVE = 0 WHERE R_DATA_ID = <ID Being Updated>

Adding a new dropdown list

If you want to add a new dropdown list, you need to create a new dropdown list type. There are two main steps to add a new dropdown list:

1. Add a new row to the AS_VM_R_DATA table. See Adding new dropdown values for instructions on how to add new rows.
   • For the value in the REF_TYPE column, enter a name for the new dropdown list, such as Entity Region.
2. Create a constant in the application to query this from the database. See Using a new dropdown list in the application for instructions on how to set this up.

Using a new dropdown list in the application

After a new dropdown list type has been added to the AS_VM_R_DATA table, it will need a constant to point to it in order to be used in interfaces.

1. Go to the AS VM Baseline application in Appian Designer.
2. Create a new constant called AS_VM_REF_TYPE_<NEW_DROPDOWN_LIST_TYPE>. For example AS_VM_REF_TYPE_OPPORTUNITY_STATUS.
   • Type: Text
   • Value: <New Dropdown List Type>
     • Note: Be sure this matches the dropdown list name in the REF_TYPE column of the AS_VM_R_DATA table exactly. For example, if the name in the REF_TYPE column is Evaluation Status, the value here must be the same.
   • Save it in the AS VM SAIL Design Objects folder.

After the dropdown list constant has been created, the list is ready to be used by the AS_VM_QE_getRefDataByType rule. This rule pulls all of the reference data onto the interface that needs a reference value. AS_VM_QE_getRefDataByType takes in typelist—an array of text—corresponding to the type values in the database you need to use.

Example

To pull in the Evaluation Status dropdown list, you would use the rule as shown below:

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local!refData: rule!AS_VM_QE_getRefDataByType(
  refTypes: {
    /* Evaluation Status */
    cons!AS_VM_REF_TYPE_OPPORTUNITY_STATUS,
  }
)

As shown in the example, you can pass in either text or a constant of type text with the corresponding dropdown list type.

Other reference data tables

There are several other tables that contain reference data that appear in lists. The information stored in these tables are universal and shouldn't change often. However, if you ever have to change the list of countries, currencies, industry classification codes, or states, refer to the below tables.

• AS_VM_R_Country
  • A list of countries
• AS_VM_R_State
  • A list of US states
• AS_VM_R_DocumentTemplate
  • A list of document templates used to create opportunity documents

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