Setting Default Values for Fields

Date/Time Fields

This topic describes the date/time tool that is displayed when you click the down-arrow next to the Default Value field for a Date/Time field on Attributes Tab of the Field Property Editor.

You can type a default value in the field, but the date/time tool is a convenient way to prevent problems introduced by typing errors.

CAUTION:

The "(Auto)" string is not supported as a default value for Date/Time fields.

Element	Description
Clear	Click this button to clear the previously specified value from the Default value field, so no default is specified. You can also delete the text in the Default value field in the Property Editor without invoking the tool.
List of values (Special Value tab)	Select a time period like This Week or Last Month from the Start Of or End Of column. Though Now is displayed in the Start Of column, it represents the current time at the moment of transition. Note: Assuming a default value of Now, the value stored in the database is equal to the number of seconds that have passed since 12:00:00 a.m. in the submitter's or modifier's time zone. As an alternative to the values listed, you can type `plus`n or `minus`n directly in the Default value field to offset the value of `Today` by a number of days. You can specify a date up to 5000 days from today (`plus 1`, `plus 2`, ..., or `plus 5000`) or up to 1000 days before today (`minus 1`, `minus 2`, ..., or `minus 1000`). Note: Clicking the column heads does not sort the list Instead, it clears the Default value field.
Exact Value	Select this tab to display the calendar tool, which includes a time field. When you have set the date and time, click Accept. Click Special Value to return to the keyword tool.

Element

Description

Clear

Click this button to clear the previously specified value from the Default value field, so no default is specified. You can also delete the text in the Default value field in the Property Editor without invoking the tool.

List of values (Special Value tab)

Select a time period like This Week or Last Month from the Start Of or End Of column.

Though Now is displayed in the Start Of column, it represents the current time at the moment of transition.

Note: Assuming a default value of Now, the value stored in the database is equal to the number of seconds that have passed since 12:00:00 a.m. in the submitter's or modifier's time zone.

As an alternative to the values listed, you can type plusn or minusn directly in the Default value field to offset the value of Today by a number of days. You can specify a date up to 5000 days from today (plus 1, plus 2, ..., or plus 5000) or up to 1000 days before today (minus 1, minus 2, ..., or minus 1000).

Note: Clicking the column heads does not sort the list Instead, it clears the Default value field.

Exact Value

Select this tab to display the calendar tool, which includes a time field.

When you have set the date and time, click Accept.

Click Special Value to return to the keyword tool.

Selection Fields

Selection fields are broadly defined as any field where users can choose a predefined value. For SBM, these field types are considered selection fields:

Single Selection
Multi-Selection
Binary/Trinary
User
Multi-User
Multi-Group
Folder
Single Relational
Multi-Relational

Values for these field types are defined in various interfaces. Default values are set in the same interface where the value is define. For details, refer to About Selection Field Values.

Text Fields

You can use a Rich Text Editor to format default values for Text fields if these conditions apply:

The field is set as a Memo or Journal type.
The Enable Rich Text check box is selected on the Options tab for the field. Refer to Text Field Options.
The Enable HTML5 features check box is selected on the Applications tab of the SBM Composer options dialog box. Refer to Application Options.

If you choose to manually enter HTML as a default value, be aware that obviously "suspicious" ("dangerous") HTML is not rendered at runtime.

The following tags are considered suspicious:

<applet, </applet
<embed, </embed
<form, </form
<frame, </frame
<iframe, </iframe
<input, </input
<script, </script
<textarea, </testarea

The following tags may not be rendered at runtime unless they are added using the Rich Text Editor. These tags will not be rendered if they contain suspicious attributes, such as onload or onclick:

<a, </a
<img, </img (Rendered only when added at runtime)

Remember: Improper or invalid HTML could have a negative impact on the field and possibly on the entire form. Refer to the World Wide Web Consortium Web site at http://www.w3.org for information about HTML syntax.

If the Enable Rich Text check box is cleared for the field, only plain text is allowed. Carriage or hard returns can be entered in the default values for Memo and Journal fields, but not for Fixed Length fields.

Note: You cannot change the default value for the system Item ID field.