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Item lookup designs

Represent a list of item choices​

When populating a Link attribute on an item, you're presented with a list of possible items to select. While this is useful for creating relationships between items (e.g. linking an asset to an activity), it can also be used as a lookup list.

By pointing a Link attribute to a lookup design, you can create lookup items to represent possible choices for that attribute, e.g. a Material Types design with items for "Steel", "Wood" etc.

This is demonstrated by the Tasks interface. Its Status attribute links to items of the Task Statuses design. Compared to a simple Text attribute, lookup items provide several advantages:

  • Limiting users to predefined choices ensures consistency.

  • Icons and colours can be used as indicators.

  • Editing a lookup item immediately makes your changes visible everywhere.

  • Users can open the lookup item to view its own data attributes.

A list of Task Statuses items

Create a lookup design​

To create a design that represents an item lookup:

  1. On the start screen, select Create design. If you already have one open, select + Create design in the top-right corner instead.

  2. Choose the Item lookup design type.

  3. Fill in the details and then select Create design.

Note

If you're unable to create a design, your user account may lack the required permissions.

Standard lookup design details​

Lookup designs only implement the standard Items interface. Therefore, lookup items only inherit the standard set of properties and attributes. This provides a blank canvas for you to customise the lookup design and add the attributes you want.

Details​

If left blank or unchanged, the lookup design will inherit the following properties:

  • Collections - lookup items can belong to the Live or Archive collections.

  • Geometry - is optional and all geometry types are allowed.

  • Icon - icon-shape-circle

  • Colour - #3d8fbd

Attributes​

The following standard attributes are inherited from the Items interface:

  • Geometry - coordinates describing the lookup item's location and shape.

  • Title - standard primary text label.

  • Subtitle - standard secondary text label.