i’m trying to realize something and can’t find a way to do it.
it’s about inventory management. i want a data page, where a user can create a new item, based on preset information about the items.
so the user has a dropdown field where he for example selects “Computer A”. based on this selection the input fields for “name”, “producer”, and “colour” are automatically filled out. the user only needs to fill the 2 fields “date of purchase” and “serial” an can create a new item.
As you’re creating a new record in a new table you only need to have a connection to the product list. You can’t natively display the fields you mention while creating the record.
I’d recommend using a Text Formula field in your product table to concatenate the fields you want to display in the drop down.
You can then set the “Display Field” to this concatenated field which will show the product name, manufacturer and colour.
This method also means that the user can search by manufacturer or colour to narrow their choice.
On a separate point, don’t forget to use a record rule when you submit to use the connected value price from the product list. This will ensure that the price from the product list is used as a reference when the record is created.
A common mistake is to us a Lookup field in your sales table. This method means that if you change the price in the product list all the values in your sales table will change.
I apologise if you know this already.
if i get it right i can show more information in the dropdown view with the method you described.
is it possible ti fill the other fields in this data page with the information from the product list by just selecting the first dropdown field.
for example when i chose “computer A” in the dropdown “name” i want to fill in the other information (like size, price…) from the record in product list automatically in the other fields.
Not natively, may be possible with code. You’d need to use JavaScript to lookup the values from your product list before the record has been created. Knack doesn’t work this way by default.
Not sure why you want to show the user all the additional information when they are adding a new record.
If you are trying to show it after you make your selection to populate the order table this isn’t required. You’d do this with a record rule on submission to pull through all the additional values to the orders table once submitted.
When adding a new record, I’d use the concatenated display field with the product name, manufacturer and colour (plus any of other fields that are useful) in the drop down. Use a record rule to write the connected price (and any other fields) to the sales object.
Everything else for the order can then be shown on a details view once the order has been written.
When using a products object and adding items to a sales orders object you need to determine what things need to be written to the sales order object as opposed to those fields that can be looked up back to the product table with connected fields in a details view.
For example, the computer manufacturer name, colour and model number may never change for the whole life of the product. However, the price is very likely to change over time. You need to make sure your price in the sales order table is not a connected value but written to the table at the point the sale is added.
This may not be the case with the other fields which can be used in a details view using connected fields looking up the data from the product list.
I appreciate there seems to be a lot to unpack on this one. It’s worth making sure the setup is fit for purpose so as and when your product list changes it doesn’t update all your old sales records.
The idea with the record rule after submission worked perfect for me!! Thank you !!
i have a dropdown selection to select the templates and after the submission i have a rule to write the other fields of the template into the table fields of the target table. afterwards i redirect the user to a detail edit page of the new record, so he can change or add information!!
with this key functionality solved i can start to build the rest of the app!!
Hey @Simon1 - thank you for circling back.
Good to hear that you have the record rules and redirects sorted out.
There is a bit of a learning h curve on this functionality but once you get it working it’s very powerful.
If you’re happy please mark this as solved
