Modify Dropdown Lists in GCA

You can customize the Government Clause Automation (GCA) 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 Clause Source dropdown list.

Learn how to modify the values for the dropdown lists in the various interfaces of the GCA 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 in Government Clause Automation (GCA) are stored in the AS_GCA_R_DATA table. Updating the AS_GCA_R_DATA table enables you to control which dropdown values and lists display to end users moving through the evaluation process.

To add a value to a dropdown list:

1. Insert a new row into the AS_GCM_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 can be used specifying the sort order.
     • Note: In order to implement the sort order, you need to update the queries applied to SORT_ORDER column.
   • REF_ICON: Optional field that can be used to specify an icon for the entry.
   • REF_COLOR: Optional field that can be 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, the new value is 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_GCM_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 in Government Clause Automation (GCA), deactivate the value by changing the IS_ACTIVE value in the AS_GCM_R_DATA from 1 (true) to 0 (false).

After the update is made, the deactivated value no longer displays in any dropdown list. The value continues to display for evaluations that are already active and historical evaluations.

Deactivating an evaluation status or task status is not recommended, as it negatively affects other aspects of the application. Deleting data from the table is not recommended except during initial setup. 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 Agency in the following table, <ID Being Updated> can be 3.

Note that the example uses MySQL syntax.

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UPDATE AS_GCM_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 in Government Clause Automation (GCA), you need to create a new dropdown list type.

There are two main steps to adding a new dropdown list:

1. Add a new row to the AS_GCM_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 the new row from the database. See Using a new dropdown list in the application for instructions on how to set up a new dropdown list.

Using a new dropdown list in the application

After a new dropdown list type is added to the AS_GCM_R_DATA table, the dropdown list needs a constant to point to it to be used in Government Clause Automation (GCA) interfaces.

1. Go to the AS GCM Baseline application in Appian Designer.
2. Create a new constant called AS_GCM_REF_TYPE_<NEW_DROPDOWN_LIST_TYPE>. For example AS_GCM_REF_TYPE_CLAUSE_STATUS.
   • Type: Text
   • Value: <New Dropdown List Type>
     • Note: Be sure the value matches the dropdown list name in the REF_TYPE column of the AS_GCM_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 GCM SAIL Design Objects folder.

After the dropdown list constant is created, the list is ready to be used by the AS_GCM_QE_getRefDataByTypes rule that pulls all the reference data onto the interface that needs a reference value AS_GCM_QE_getRefDataByTypes 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 can use the rule as follows:

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local!refData: rule!AS_GCM_QE_getRefDataByTypes(
  refTypes: {
    /* Evaluation Status */
    cons!AS_GCM_REF_TYPE_EVALUATION_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 in Government Clause Automation (GCA). The information stored in these tables is universal and must not change often. However, if you ever have to change the list of countries, currencies, industry classification codes, or states, refer to the following tables.

• AS_GAM_R_Country
  • A list of countries
• AS_GAM_R_State
  • A list of US states

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