Creating a child pick list

You can create a pick list to offer the user a set of related or more detailed values for each item in an existing list.

About this task

You can create a pick list to offer the user a set of related or more detailed values for each item in an existing list. For example, the Vehicle Manufacturer pick list may have a child list of Vehicle Model, which allows the user to record a more refined level of information about a vehicle - not just the make of a car, but the particular model. The Account Type pick list may have a child list of currency values, to control which particular currencies are valid for a selected account type.

In both cases, the child list values available for selection are filtered by the selection of a value in the parent list. The two lists need to be assigned to consecutive fields in the entity/link type field list or datasheet for this behavior. For more information, see Filtered pick lists.

You cannot create a child list for a pick list which itself has duplicate items. A pick list with duplicate items must be a child list itself.

You can enter all the values for a single parent item, and assign them all as a group. To do this, when you have entered all the values, click on the square at the top left of the Items area. This selects all the items in the list.

You can then assign all the items to the required parent item.

Alternatively, select the parent item in the list on the left and then enter all the items on the right side of the dialog. Items entered will automatically be assigned to the selected parent item.

Procedure

  1. Display the list of pick lists by clicking the plus symbol next to Code Lists then select Pick Lists.

  2. In the right side of the dialog, right-click on the list for which you want to create a child list, and from the shortcut menu, select Create Child.

  3. In the right side of the dialog, enter the first item. Add a description if required. Press Enter to enter the item and move to the next row.

  4. Click Assign to assign this value to one or more values in the parent list. The Parent List area is updated to show the number of items assigned to each parent as you continue to create the list.

  5. When you have finished creating the list, click OK.