About Information Section Fields

When you create or modify a field, the workspace for the field appears, displaying the Information and Behavior tabs. By default, the Information tab is selected and the Information section is displayed. The Information section allows you to define the basic details of the field, such as data type, field caption, and so on.

The following table lists the fields available on the Information section.

Fields	Description	Notes
Active Status	Determines whether or not the field is active.	This setting cannot be modified for fields that have been spread from higher-level families. Inactive fields will not appear in the following locations: In the Datasheet Builder, in the Editing <Datasheet ID> section, in the list of available fields in the Values column. If a field is flagged as inactive after it already exists on a datasheet, it will not be removed from the Available Items section automatically. When a user views an inactive field on a datasheet, it will be disabled, and any value stored in that field will not be displayed. In the query design, in the list of available fields: Inactive fields will not appear in the query source lists, but you can, make them appear, as needed. Inactive fields will not appear in the Fields list. If a field is flagged as inactive after it is already being used in a query, it will continue to be included in the query unless you remove it manually.
Allow changing the properties of this field	Specifies that the field can have its own rules and special properties that are different from the ones defined at the level from which the field was spread.	This option appears only in the subfamily Edit Field window. You can clear this check box if you want to inherit the changes from the parent family.
Data Type	Identifies the type of data that will be stored in the field.	The data type controls which other properties are enabled or disabled for that type of data. This field contains a list of the following values: Binary: The field can contain binary data, which is a coding system that represents data using a series of numbers. Binary fields cannot be displayed on a datasheet. Numeric: The field can contain numeric data. On a datasheet, numeric fields appear as text boxes, into which users can type values, or drop-down lists, from which users can select a valid value. Date: The field can contain date and time data. On a datasheet, date fields display a text box into which users can type a date and time. The pop-up Calendar is also available on datasheets and allows users to select a date and enter the desired time. Character: The field can contain any combination of characters up to the limit specified by the value in the Edit Length text box. On a datasheet, character fields appear as text boxes, into which users can type values, or drop-down lists, from which users can select a valid value. Text: The field can contain any combination of characters with no limit. On a datasheet, text fields appear as text boxes into which users can type the desired value. From text fields, users can also access the text editor, which provides more space for typing data and offers a spell checking feature. Logical: The field can contain a value that represents the equivalent of True or False. On a datasheet, logical fields appear as check boxes. Users can select the check box to specify a value of True or clear the check box to specify a value of False. If you create a new logical field for a family that already contains records, the field will be set to Null instead of False in all the existing records.
Description	Specifies an optional, textual description of the field and its function.	The field description is optional. You can enter text in the Description field.
Edit Length	Specifies the maximum number of characters that will be accepted for the field value.	This setting applies to character fields only. Text fields have no limit. All other fields have a limit of 50 characters. The default setting for character fields is 50, but you can type any value up to 2000 (the maximum number of characters allowed for a character field). It is recommended not to modify the field lengths of baseline GE Digital APM family fields.
Field Caption	Specifies the label for the field	To define a field caption, type a name in the Field Caption text box. A field caption is required for all fields and can be translated. Each field caption must be unique within its family. Defining translations for field captions alone will not ensure that translated strings appear everywhere throughout the GE Digital APM application. If you want to use translated strings, you should define them both for field captions and for datasheet captions.
Field ID	Specifies the unique ID that identifies the field.	The Field ID is required for all fields and must be unique. After creating a field, we recommend that you do not modify the Field ID. If you need to change the field ID, you should delete the existing field and recreate it. The code item names in family rule projects are based upon family and field IDs, if the field ID matches the family ID, the GE Digital APM system will not be able to create a unique code item for both the family and the field. When the field-level code item is created, it will overwrite the family-level code item. In order for the code items to be unique, the IDs must be unique.
Formula Field	Defines the field as a formula field.	You can define the field as a formula field. This setting cannot be modified for fields that have been spread from higher-level families.
Hyper Link Field	Defines the field as hyperlink field.	You can define the field as a hyperlink field. In addition to selecting this check box, you need to define a rule to create a fully functional hyperlink field. This setting cannot be modified for fields that have been spread from higher-level families.
ID Field	Designates the field as an ID field.	All fields that are designated as ID field will be spread automatically to all subfamilies of the current family. When you select the ID Field check box, the Spread to Subfamilies check box will be selected automatically to indicate that the field will be spread to subfamilies automatically. This setting cannot be modified for fields that have been spread from higher-level families. We recommend that you select this check box for any field that you plan to use in the ID Template for this family. ID fields will appear on the Manage ID Templates window.
Keep History	Specifies whether or not revision history will be saved for the field.	If you have set the Authentication Required to Insert or Update Records check box for a family, then this option is selected by default. When a change is made to the value in a field, a copy of it is created and saved to a history log. You can view the revision history in the Record Manager in the GE Digital APM. This setting cannot be modified for fields that have been spread from higher-level families.
No. of Values per field	Specifies the number of values that can be entered into a field.	The default value is 1 (one), but you can specify any number up to 2000. You cannot modify this property for existing fields that belong to a family for which at least one record exists. If at least one record exists in a given family, this property is read-only. If you want to change this value for an existing field, you will need to delete the field and create a new one.
Physical Column	Displays information about where the field is physically stored in the database.	This field is populated automatically with the column name based on Field Caption. However, you can modify the Physical Column name. The Physical Column text box contains a value that specifies the name of the physical table column in which the field is stored. The Physical Column setting is required for all fields and must be unique. For fields that have been spread down to a subfamily from a higher-level family, the physical column name is determined by the value for the source family. For spread fields, you cannot modify this value at the subfamily level. If you change the value in the Physical Column text box at the subfamily level, your changes will not be saved.
Spread to Sub Families	Specifies whether or not the field will be spread to subfamilies of the current family.	You can select this check box, if you want a field to exist in all subfamilies of the current family. You cannot undo spreading for specific subfamilies. This setting cannot be modified for fields that have been spread from higher-level families. If you do not want to add a field on all the subfamilies, then instead of selecting the Spread to Sub Families check box, you can spread fields to individual subfamilies by using the Field Chooser feature. For any field that is spread from the parent family, the Spread From Parent column in the Fields grid appears as Yes.
Spread From Parent	Specifies whether or not the field is spread from the parent family.	This option appears in the main display area of the Fields section. The Spread to SubFamilies and Field Chooser lets you spread a field down to the subfamilies. In the Fields grid, the Spread From Parent column indicates whether or not a given field has been spread from a family. If it is spread from the parent family, it displays the value as Yes and if it is not, then it displays the value as No.
User help text	Specifies the explanation of the field, which will be displayed to users when they are entering values in that field via the GE Digital APM application.	In the application, when a user pauses on a field, the user help text will appear in a tooltip. The user help text is useful if the field purpose is complex. You may also want to use the user help text property to describe the behavior of the field because of the rules defined. It is recommended that you limit user help text to one sentence.