| Audience: DocuShare administrators |
Configure Custom Properties to Use Custom Database Tables
Overview
Custom Database tables can provide controlled values for DocuShare custom properties. AutoComplete presents choices from a table while a user edits an object's properties. In DocuShare 8.1, the Administrator Guide also documents the Table Reference property, which links a document to a row in a custom table.
Create and populate the table before configuring a property that uses it. For table setup, see Create and Manage Custom Database Tables in DocuShare.
Configure an AutoComplete Property
1. Open Admin > Object Properties and select the object class that contains the property.
2. Select Edit for the text-style custom property, or create a custom property if needed.
3. Enable AutoComplete.
4. Select the source custom table and the lookup column. The lookup column supplies the value saved to the property.
5. Select one or more display-label columns. These columns form the text shown to users. If you select multiple columns, specify a delimiter.
6. Optionally enter a filter expression to restrict the rows available to the lookup.
7. Save the property and submit the object-property changes.
When a user edits an object, the AutoComplete field offers values from the selected table. The displayed label can contain several columns, while the value stored in the property comes from the lookup column.
New in DocuShare 8.1: AutoComplete Lookup Table View
DocuShare 8.1 adds a Lookup Table View for AutoComplete fields. Users can search, sort, and page through available records in a lookup window, browse and select an entry, and see the currently selected record. When configured, associated AutoFill values populate after the user selects a record.
Use a Table Reference Property
New in DocuShare 8.1: The release notes introduce the Table Reference custom property type. It links a document to a row in a Custom Database table. Users see a clickable link that opens a searchable list of rows from the referenced table. The 8.1 release notes also describe reference views as searchable and paginated, with optional filtering based on document metadata and read-only display of related information.
To add the property, open Admin > Object Properties, select the document object class, choose Table Reference from Add Custom Property, and follow the fields displayed on the Add Property page. Add the property, then submit the object-property changes so they apply to the class.
Change or Remove a Lookup
To change an AutoComplete mapping, edit the property and update its table, lookup column, display columns, delimiter, or optional filter. To remove the mapping, disable AutoComplete and submit the property changes.
A custom table cannot be deleted while a property still references it. Remove or change those property references first.
Troubleshooting
- If the table or column is not available for selection, confirm that the custom table was created successfully and that its metadata is visible to DocuShare.
- If users see an unexpected value, confirm that the correct lookup column is selected; the display-label columns control what users see, not the value saved to the property.
- If users cannot select the expected rows, review the optional filter expression and the source table data.