Custom Fields Tab of User-Defined Components Form

Use the Custom Fields tab to add, modify, or delete fields on standard and user-defined components in Info Centers and Activity Manager.

If you use Project Planning, you can select user-defined fields for Planning. If you use Vision Analysis Cubes, you can select user-defined fields to populate the Vision data cubes.

Contents

Field	Description
Application	From the drop-down list, select the application for which you want to create or modify user-defined fields. This list includes standard and user-defined Info Centers.
Type	This field is based on the selected Application. An application that is shipped with Vision displays as a Standard type. A user-defined application displays as a Custom type.
Fields Drop-down	Click the drop-down arrow on a grid header to complete any of the following actions: To print grid data, click Print. When the Print Preview form displays, click File > Print to send the grid data to your default printer. To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally. To turn on grouping for a grid, click Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into this field, in the sequence that you want them to display. Not all options are available on all grids.
Move Up Move Down	To change the order of user-defined fields in the grid, select the user-defined field, and then click either Move Up or Move Down on the grid toolbar to move the field up or down in the grid. This determines the order in which the fields display on lookups and reports.
Insert	Click this option to enter a new user-defined field in a blank row in the grid. The blank row is inserted below the user-defined field that is selected.
Find	Click this option to open the Find User Defined Field Label dialog box and search for specific text in the Label column on the Custom Fields grid. Vision searches the grid and stops on the first row that contains the text.
Find Next	Click this option to locate the next instance of the text that you entered on the Find User Defined Field Label dialog box. Each time that you click this option, Vision searches the Label column on the Custom Fields grid and scrolls to the next instance of the text.
Delete	To delete a user-defined field from the grid, select the user-defined field's row and click this option.
Tab	Select the tab on which you want the user-defined field to display. Both standard and user-defined tabs for the selected application display in the list. You cannot change the tab for a previously saved user-defined field that has had Screen Designer changes made to it.
Label	Enter a name for the user-defined field, such as Birthday. This name displays as the label for the field on the tab. IMPORTANT: If data from a user-defined field will be merged throughout Custom Proposals or customized SF255, SF254, and SF330 Proposals, or made available to the Vision Analysis Cubes, do not use any special characters or symbols (for example, !, @, (, ), `, ', [, ], {, }, or &) in user-defined field labels. If you do, Vision displays an error when you attempt to save the user-defined field. When you modify a label name after the user-defined field has been in use: If you have saved searches, you may need to make changes in these saved searches. If the user-defined field was previously available in Vision Analysis Cubes, a system administrator must use the Vision Resource Kit to update the data cubes with the new label name. If you have custom report designs that had the old label name, you must refresh the report data, and manually re-add the user-defined field with the new label.
Database Column Name	This is the name that is used internally by the Vision database for a user-defined field. It does not display on a tab. The name that you enter in the Label field prefills in the Database Column Name field and is preceded with Cust. For example, if you enter Birthday in the Label field, CustBirthday prefills in the Database Column Name field. You can modify the prefilled entry in the Label Database Code field, but it must begin with Cust. If you omit Cust, Vision automatically inserts it when you save the entry. You can enter 96 characters in this field.
Data Type	Select the data type for the user-defined field. Some of these options are lookup list fields. Lookup lists are fields in which you can search for and select a particular Info Center item, such as account, contact, or employee. When you select a data type for the field and data is entered into that field, you cannot change the data type, with the exception of Character, Dropdown, and Lookup. These three types are compatible and interchangeable. If you want to change data types other than these, you must delete the user-defined field and re-add it. The General tab of a new user-defined Info Center must contain at least one field whose Data Type is either Record ID or Name. The maximum is one Record ID and three Name fields per tab. You have the following options: Account — Creates an Account lookup list field. Character — Creates alphanumeric values. Check Box — Determines if the field is a Yes/No check box. When the field is selected (checked), a value of Y is entered into the database. When the field is cleared, a value of N is entered into the database. Client — Creates a Client lookup list field. Contact — Creates a Contact lookup list field. Currency — Select this option to create a currency field for a monetary amount. The specific type of currency (currency code) is not specified, so the currency that users enter in this user-defined field can vary from record to record. This option displays in the drop-down list if either of the following apply: You do not have the Multicurrency feature enabled. You selected any application in the Application field on this form other than Activities, Projects, or Project Planning. (You have the Multicurrency feature enabled or disabled.) Currency (Project) — Select this data type to create a project currency field for a monetary amount. You can add this type of user-defined field to project and project planning reports. This option displays in the list if the Multicurrency feature is enabled, and Vision Accounting, Billing, or Project Control is installed. This option displays only if you select Projects or Project Planning in the Application field on this form. Currency (Billing) — Select this data type to create a billing currency field for a monetary amount. You can add this type of user-defined field to billing reports. This option displays in the list if the Multicurrency feature is enabled, and Vision Accounting, Billing, or Project Control is installed. This option displays only if you select Projects or Project Planning in the Application field on this form. Currency (Specific) — If the Multicurrency feature is enabled, select this data type to create a currency field for a monetary amount. You also select the specific currency type to be entered in this user-defined field in the Currency Code column in this grid. When you see this type of user-defined field in the Vision software, because there is no indication of which currency code is associated with it, you may want to include the currency code as part of the field's name that you enter in the Label column. This helps users more easily identify the specific currency associated with the user-defined field. Date — Creates a field that contains a date value. The field includes a pop-up calendar that users can access from the arrow to the right of the field value. DropDown — Creates a drop-down list field. If you select this option, you create the entries that appear in the list using the List of Values field. Employee — Creates an Employee lookup list field. When you create an employee data type, Vision adds two new fields to the lookup for that Info Center: one for the employee name and one for the employee number. The employee number search field is compatible with the "is me" operator, so that you can use that operator for user-defined employee type fields. For example, if you create a user-defined Client Info Center field called Special Contact, Vision creates two search fields, Special Contact and Special Contact Number. The Special Contact Number field can be used with the "is me" operator. Lead — Creates a Lead lookup list field. Lookup — Creates a lookup list field similar to a drop-down field, except that you select a value from the list using a lookup. If you select this option, you create the entries that will appear on the lookup, using the List of Values field. Marketing Campaign — Creates a Marketing Campaign lookup list field. Memo — Creates an RTF (rich text format) field for formatted text. Name — This data type is available for user-defined Info Centers. You can have a maximum of three Name fields, which are used to identify the record on lookups, in searches, and on reports. If you have more than one name field, they are concatenated together in the order that they occur in the grid and then separated by a space. Use the Up and Down arrows to place the names in the correct order in the grid. The General tab of a new user-defined Info Center must contain at least one field whose Data Type is either Record ID or Name. The maximum is one Record ID and three Name fields per tab. When you enter a lookup to find a record, the Name and Record ID fields are searched. Numeric — Creates a numeric field. If you select this option, you can enter the number of decimals used in the number in the Decimals field. Opportunity — Creates an Opportunity lookup list field. Organization — Creates an Organization lookup list field. Project — Creates a Project lookup list field. Record ID — This data type places a numeric identification field on the user-defined Info Center record. If used, the Record ID field must be unique for each record. The General tab of a new user-defined Info Center must contain at least one field whose Data Type is either Record ID or Name. The maximum is one Record ID and three Name fields per tab. If the user-defined Info Center has no Name field, then the Record ID field is used to identify an associated record in a lookup field. Text Library — Creates a Text Library lookup list field. URL — If you select this data type, you can enter and save a Web site address in the field, which you can then click to automatically launch the site in a new browser window. Vendor — Creates a Vendor lookup list field. User-Defined Info Center Lookup — When you create a user-defined Info Center, a data type is added to the list for that user-defined Info Center. You can create user-defined Info Center lookup fields on standard and user-defined Info Centers.
Display Width	This setting determines the number of characters you want to display for the field. Vision calculates how wide the field should be on the screen based on the fonts used in Vision. Basically, Vision multiplies the number in this field by 6 to arrive at the number of pixels in the field. For example, if you enter 20, then the number of pixels for the field is 120. Remember, you can always adjust the size of the field with the Tab Designer.
Lines	If you selected Memo in the Data Type field, this field allows you to determine the number of lines of allowed text in the Memo field. Basically, if you use a size 8 font in this field, then the number you enter here is equal to one line of text.
List of Values	If you selected Dropdown or Lookup in the Data Type field, use the List of Values field to enter the items that display in the drop-down list. When you click this field, Vision displays a Column Values dialog box.
Include in Report Total	Select this option if you want a total to display for a list of numbers in reports. This option applies to Numeric and Currency data types only. If you plan to include a user-defined field on a report with a graph, you must select this option so that Vision is able to set the scale appropriately for the graph.
Decimals	If you selected Numeric in the Data Type field, use the Decimals field to determine the number of decimal points in the number. For currency, this defaults to your currency format (2 for U.S.)
Minimum Value	If you selected Numeric or Currency in the Data Type field, use the Minimum Value field to determine the minimum number that the user can enter in the field. If you leave this field blank, no minimum value is set. In other words, you can enter a negative number. To allow a minimum of any non-negative number, enter 0.
Maximum Value	If you selected Numeric or Currency in the Data Type field, use the Maximum Value field to determine the maximum number that the user can enter in the field. If you leave this field blank, no maximum value is set.
Mobile CRM Section	Use this drop-down to select the Mobile CRM tab where the user-defined field appears on Mobile CRM.
Navigator Tab	Use this drop-down to select the Navigator tab where the user-defined field appears on Navigator.
Required	The options for this field are: CRM — Select this option if the field is required for CRM users. In other words, Vision does not save the record for CRM users if no data is entered in this field. This option is only available if the CRM module is installed. Accounting — Select this option if the field is required for Accounting users. In other words, Vision does not save the record for Accounting users if no data is entered in this field. This option is only available if the Accounting module is installed. CRM & Accounting — Select this option to require the field for both CRM and Accounting users.
Default Value	Enter the default value that prefills for the user-defined field. The Default Value field is available only when you select the following data types in the Data Type field: Checkbox — The default value for this data type is N. However, you can change it to Y, but you cannot leave the value blank. Date — You can either enter the words Current Date or enter a date. If you enter Current Date, new records always default to the current date. You can also select a date from the calendar icon in this field. Lookup and Dropdown — If the data type is either Lookup or Dropdown, the Default Value field contains a Lookup icon. Currency and Numeric — Enter any valid numbers. Character and URL — Enter any alphanumeric characters.
Standard Search By	This option is only available for user-defined Info Centers. Select this option to allow the user to search by this field in the standard search for user-defined Info Centers. The default for this option is not selected.
Display in Result List	This option is only available for user-defined Info Centers. Select this option to include the field in lookup results lists when searching for a user-defined Info Center record. The default for this option is not selected.
Currency Code	This column is enabled when you select Currency (Specific) in the Data Type field in this grid. From the drop-down list, select the currency code for the currency user-defined field. If you do not have multiple companies, the currency code drop-down list is comprised of currency codes that are entered for your company on the Currency tab in Configuration > General > Company Settings. If you do have multiple companies, the currency code drop-down list is comprised of the combined list of currency codes that are entered on the Currency tab in Configuration > General > Company Settings for all of the companies in your enterprise.
Required Level	This option is only applicable to the Project Info Center and is only available if the field is required. The options are: All Levels — Select this option if you want the field to be required at all levels (for example, project, phase, task). Project — Select this option if you want the field to be required at the top level only (project only) and not at lower levels. Lowest — Select this option if you want the field to be required at the lowest level (the charging level) of any given node of a particular project. For example, when a new phase is created for a project, the field is required even if the project has other phases that have tasks. If a specific phase already has a task, the field is not required at the phase level.
Available for Analysis Cubes	If you use Vision Analysis Cubes, select the Available for Analysis Cubes check box if you want a user-defined field to populate the Vision data cubes. This makes the field available when you create custom reports with Analysis Cubes. The Available for Analysis Cubes check box displays only if you purchased the Performance Management application and activated it in Configuration > Module Activation. If you have not purchased Performance Management, you still have access to Analysis Cubes, but you do not have access to adding user-defined fields and Analysis Cubes Configuration. After you select the Available for Analysis Cubes check box for a field, a system administrator must use the Vision Resource Kit to update the data cubes with the user-defined fields. This option is not available for user-defined Info Centers. Special Characters in Labels You must not enter special characters (such as /, \, ?, &, %, $, ., !, *, and so on) in the Label column for a user-defined field that you make available for Analysis Cubes. If you do, Vision displays an error message when you try to save it. Optimal Performance For optimum performance, Deltek recommends that you select no more than 21 user-defined fields per Vision application for the Vision data cubes. If you select more than 21, Vision displays a warning message about performance. (You enter the Vision application at the top of the User Defined Tabs form. The applications that apply to Analysis Cubes are Activities, Clients, Employees, Opportunities, Project Planning, Projects, and Vendors.) User-Defined Fields If you want a user-defined measure field to display in the list of Measures in Configuration > General > Analysis Cubes so that you can create a calculated measure with a user-defined measure, you must select the check box in the Available for Analysis Cubes column on the Custom Fields tab in Vision Configuration > General > User-Defined Components and then use the Resource Kit to update the Project data cubes with the user-defined fields. User-Defined Fields that Are Removed from the Vision Data Cubes If you clear the Available for Analysis Cubes check box for a user-defined field after the user-defined field has populated the data cubes and after you created reports with the user-defined field: A system administrator must use the Vision Resource Kit to remove user-defined fields from the Vision data cubes. You must manually remove a user-defined field from a report. If the user-defined field remains in the report, Vision displays an error message when you run the report. When Does the Available for Analysis Cubes Check Box Display and When Is It Enabled in the Grid? Whether or not this check box displays in the grid, and whether or not it is enabled (allowing you to select or clear it), depends on the following factors: The Performance Management module must be activated for this check box to display in the grid. The application that you enter in the Application field on this form and the data type that you enter in the Data Type column on this form determine whether or not the check box is enabled (allowing you to select or clear it) as per the following table: User-Defined Field Application Data Type Entered for the User-Defined Field Available for Analysis Cubes Check Box Is Enabled Select any of the following: Activities Clients Employees Opportunities Project Planning Projects Vendors Select any of the following: CheckBox Client Currency Currency (Project) Currency (Billing) Currency (Specific) Dropdown Employee Lookup Numeric Opportunity Organization Project Vendor Yes Select any of the following: Activities Clients Employees Opportunities Project Planning Projects Vendors Select any of the following: Account Character Date Lead Marketing Campaign Memo Text Library URL No Select any of the following: Accounts Contacts Leads Marketing Campaigns Text Libraries Select any data type. No Background Color of the Available for Analysis Cubes Check Box Cell When the check box is enabled, the background color of its cell in the grid is white and you can select or clear the check box. When the check box is not enabled, the background color of the cell is shaded, and the empty check box does not display a check mark when you click it. What Determines Whether a User-Defined Field is a Dimension or Measure? A user-defined field's data type determines whether the field is available in the data cubes as a dimension or measure. Dimensions The following data types populate the data cubes as dimensions: Checkbox Date Dropdown Lookup Client Employee Vendor Project Opportunity Organization User-Defined Dimensions: All of the user-defined dimensions populate the Project data cube. Only the Account, Employee, Project, and Vendor user-defined dimensions populate the General Ledger data cube. User-defined dimensions display in the Excel PivotTable Field List in the More fields folder in the user-defined field's application group. User-defined dimensions have the naming convention <Application name> <Field label>. For example, assume that you enter a user-defined (dimension) field with the label CPR Certified. Its data type is Checkbox. You create this for the Employees Info Center application. CPR Certified displays in the Excel PivotTable Field List in the More fields folder under the Employee dimension group as Employee CPR Certified. Dimensions and the Projects Application User-Defined Fields For the Projects application, if you use phases and/or tasks (work breakdown structures 2 and 3), the Project user-defined dimensions display in the Project folder, Phase, and Task folder within the Projects dimension group in the Excel PivotTable Field List. Dimensions and the Clients Application User-Defined Fields For the Clients application, you can create user-defined dimension fields for only those with a data type of Checkbox, Date, Dropdown, and Lookup. You cannot create user-defined dimensions for Client, Contact, Employee, Vendor, Project, Opportunity, or Organization data types; you cannot select the Available for Analysis Cubes check box for these data types. User-defined fields for the Clients application that are dimensions display in the Excel PivotTable Field List in the following dimension groups: Clients Activities group\Activity Client folder Opportunities group\Opportunity Client folder Plans group\Plan Client folder Projects group\Project Billing Client folder and the Project Primary Client folder Measures The following data types populate the data cubes as measures: Currency Currency (Project) Currency (Billing) Currency (Specific) Numeric User-Defined Measures: Populate the Project data cube only. Display in the Excel PivotTable Field List in the <Application name> Measures group. Have the naming convention <Application name> <Field label>. For example, you enter a user-defined field with the label Number of Client Referrals. Its data type is Numeric. You create this for the Employee Info Center application. Number of Client Referrals displays in the Excel PivotTable Field List in the Employee Measures group as Employee Number of Client Referrals. Measures and the Projects Application User-Defined Fields For the Projects application, if you use phases and/or tasks (work breakdown structures 2 and 3), the Project user-defined measures display in the Project folder, Phase, and/or Task folder within the Projects measure group in the Excel PivotTable Field List. When you add a user-defined project, phase, or task measure to a report, each measure displays and provides totals for only the amounts entered (posted) directly at that level. It does not include amounts entered directly at other levels. In the examples below, each user-defined measure (column) displays amounts and totals for only the amounts that were entered directly at the measure’s WBS level. Example 1: 100 was entered for each of the three tasks. Notice that the Grand Total of 300 (100 +100+100) also displays in the Project A row at the top of the Task Amount column. However, 300 does not display in the Project A row of the Project Amount column. And 100 and 200 does not display in the Phase1 and Phase 2 rows of the Phase Amount column. User-Defined Measures Project Amount Phase Amount Task Amount Project A 0 0 300 Phase 1 0 0 100 Task 1 0 0 100 Phase 2 0 0 200 Task 1 0 0 100 Task 2 0 0 100 Grand Total 0 0 300 Example 2: 100 was entered for each of the two phase. User-Defined Measures Project Amount Phase Amount Task Amount Project A 0 200 0 Phase 1 0 100 0 Task 1 0 0 0 Task 1 Phase 2 0 100 0 Task 1 0 0 0 Task 2 0 0 0 Grand Total 0 200 0 Example 3: 100 was entered for the project as a whole. User-Defined Measures Project Amount Phase Amount Task Amount Project A 100 0 0 Phase 1 0 0 0 Task 1 0 0 0 Phase 2 0 0 0 Task 1 0 0 0 Task 2 0 0 0 Grand Total 100 0 0