Can I alter pre-defined lists after a Custom Field has been created?

Yes, behaviour of fields using pre-defined lists (PDL) can be altered to some degree after the field's creation.

To do this, open the Catalogue as Administrator. Open Catalog -> Administration, Custom Fields tab. Select the field you need and click edit. The field name only basic characteristic of the field you can edit. You can change whether the field uses a PDL or not plus you can edit the PDL and how the PDL is used (i.e. only list values or not). Click the 'Edit List...' button, you can now:

• Turn on/off the "Allow only Words from List" setting.
• Import a new list.
• Export the current list.
• Edit the current list.

When importing lists, ensure the past line is terminated by the enter character (return/line feed) or the final entry may not get imported correctly.

Once you accept changes and close out of the Administration dialog (note - not just the Custom Field Definition dialog) these changes become live. Note that changes to the PDL use are not retrospective. Thus if you are only allowing use words from the PDL and remove a word from the list, you will have to search for any existing fields with the words and remove them yourself - this is not done for you.

If you turn lists on an off - such as during testing, make sure you have a copy of the list stored first. Whilst the records will maintain existing data, the list itself is not retained. When you turn the list back on the originals are not recovered and you must re-add the list.

Two built-in fields use predefined lists: Color Mode and Keywords. The folmers list is not editable but Keyowrds has the 'Master Keyword List' for which controls - like those described above - are available via the Catalog Administration dialog (called from the Catalog menu).

Question: Can I alter pre-defined lists after a Custom Field has been created? [FAQ00190.htm]
Last Update:- 03 October 2006

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