User Field Dependency Tutorial

Prerequisites:

This tutorial assumes you are familiar with basic application tasks, such as adding fields and field selections, and with checking in, publishing, and deploying process apps.
You must use SBM Composer and Application Administrator to set up the dependency. To complete this tutorial, you must have privileges to deploy to a running environment.
Your application should contain two User fields with valid user selections. The fields should be called Manager and Employee. Users who are values should have privileges to view, submit, and update items in the application.

The following tutorial explains how to configure field dependencies that tailor the selection list for a User field. Dependencies will be set that limit the selections available in an Employee field depending on the selection made in the Manager field. For example, if a user selects Kathy Manager from the Manager field, Chris Tester and Hans Tester are available selections for the Employee field; if the user selects Joe Manager from the Manager field, Laura Engineer and Newton Engineer are available as selections for the Employee field.

Establish the Dependency in SBM Composer

In this step, you will create two User fields and establish a dependency between those fields.

To establish a dependency for a User field:

Open a process app in SBM Composer.
From the App Explorer, select the primary table for your application.
Add a User field named Manager.
Add another User field named Employee.
Select the Manager field, and then select the Dependencies tab.
In the list of available dependent fields, select Employee.
Save, check in, publish, and deploy your changes.

Add User Selections for the Independent and Dependent Fields

In this step, you will add user selections to the fields created in the previous step. To illustrate the example, sample users are added to the field.

To add user selections:

In Application Administrator, edit the workflow that contains the Manager and Employee fields.
Select the Default Fields tab.
Click the Manager field.
Select the Attributes tab.
In the Values section, click Manage User Selections, and then add Kathy Manager and Joe Manager as selections.
Save your changes.
Click the Employee field.
Select the Attributes tab.
In the Values section, click Manage User Selections, and then add Laura Engineer, Newton Engineer, Chris Tester, and Hans Tester as selections.
Save your changes.

Set Dependent Field Selections

In Application Administrator, you will specify which field selections are available for the dependent field based on the selection users make for the independent field. For example, when a user selects Kathy Manager from the Manager field, Chris Tester and Hans Tester are the only selections available in the Employee field.

To set dependent field selections:

In Application Administrator, edit the project for which the dependent values should be set.
Select the Default Fields tab.
Click the Manager field.
Select the Dependencies tab.
From the Select Value to Override list, select Joe Manager.
In the Fields Dependent on Manager pane, select the Employee field.
Clear the check boxes next to Chris Tester and Hans Tester.
From the Select Value to Override list, select Kathy Manager.
In the Fields Dependent on Manager pane, select the Employee field.
Clear the check boxes next to Laura Engineer and Newton Engineer, and then click OK.
Save your changes.

Test the Dependency

To test the dependency:

Log into SBM Work Center as a user who has privileges to the application that contains the dependency.
Submit an item into the project that you modified in Application Administrator in the previous steps.
On the Submit from, select Kathy Manager from the Manager field. Notice that Chris Tester and Hans Tester are available as selections for the Employee field.
Select Joe Manager from the Manager field. Notice that Laura Engineer and Newton Engineer are available as selections for the Employee field.