Navigation:  Server Administration > Enumerations

Enumerations define sets of coded values for use by the application.  Each enumerated value has a code, a display value (often just called the value), and a description.  The enumeration maintains the display order of its values.

There are two kinds of enumerations: hard enumerations and soft enumerations.  Hard enumerations are those where the set of values in the enumeration is fixed by the design of the system, and may not be modified administratively.  In contrast, soft enumerations are those where the set of values is not fixed users with the appropriate authority tokens can modify the individual coded values.

Managing Enumerations

Administering enumerations is done through the Enumeration Admin screen, by invoking the Admin > Enumerations item from the main menu.

If the selected enumeration is a hard enumeration, the Add, Delete and Toggle Activation actions are always disabled, but the display value, description, and display order can still be edited.  For soft enumerations, new enumerated values may be added to the set, and existing ones deleted from the set if they are not referenced by other data.  Values that cannot be deleted because they are referenced by other data can still be deactivated, rendering them unselectable by users (thus maintaining the integrity of existing data, while not allowing new data to use the value).

Note that the value (i.e. display value) is typically what is displayed within the application, and hence modifying this field will result in a visible modification throughout the application.  The description field is not currently displayed anywhere in the workflow application, and is primarily intended to be used for documentation purposes (particularly with soft enumerations, where it is wise to document the meaning of any new values that are added to the set).  Modifying the display order will change the order in which the values appear in combo boxes, etc.  The first value in the set is usually considered the default value, and most combo boxes will have this value pre-selected when creating new data.