When pre-filtering picklists is there an OR option ?

[Anonymous]

I really like the feature to be able to create subsets of a Workspace picklist by setting the filter function in set-up.  However if I have understood it correctly, it only allows for AND combinations not OR ones.

I want to create a picklist that covers 2 types of employees coded as PM or PD in their job title field.  An employee in these groups can only have one of these codes.  At present the filter seems to read as though it is set to filter people who have PM AND PD in their job title field - which will never happen.

However, the field where I want to use the picklist, needs to be able to select either a PM or a PD depending on how a certain project is being run.  As far as I can see, the other workaround which would be to create a pre-filtered picklist for PMs and a separate pre-filtered picklist for PDs can't work because a field can only be set to use one picklist at a time and not a combination.

Additionally, it would be great to be able to see in the Picklist Manager what results a pre-filtered Workspace picklist will return without having to add it to a field and test it on the actual record.

Do let me know if you want me to add these 2 suggestions to the Ideas Station if I am correct that both are currently unavailable.

Many thanks,

Fiona

[jpiggee]

Fiona,

Yes you are correct right now the filter only allows for ‘And’ option, not ‘or’.

I understand what you mean by having a preview of the picklist before committing the change and having to go to the workspace, but I’m not sure how the mechanics of this would play out given the limited space available in the window. However one could always have two instances of the tenant open and that would allow you to build the picklist and test on the fly…

Regardless both are fantastic Ideas and do belong in the Idea Station, please keep them coming!

[Anonymous]

Thanks Joe for the response. I have added these as 2 new ideas to the Ideas Station, so we'll see what happens...

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-PLM-360-IdeaStation/Pre-filtered-picklists-need-an-OR-option-...

and

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-PLM-360-IdeaStation/Previewing-results-of-a-pre-filtered-pick...

Regards,

Fiona

[dvirh]

Agree that these are excellent imporovement ideas that we should consider in the future. Thank you!

I just want to point out that you can usually mimic the 'OR' behavior you are looking for using 'NOT x AND' conditions. For example, let's say that in your case you have 4 roles - PM, PD, UX, and TE. You want to have only PM and PD in the list. So you can create a filter that says 'NOT UX AND NOT TE'. This will only work if the realm of options is finite and known in advance but, assuming that this is the case, it could solve the specific issue you are having now.

BTW, another possible solution is to add something new to the all the records that you have that will exactly match the condition that you want.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Hagay, nice suggestion - I'll try this out.  I have a feeling the box to define the filter has quite a small number of characters so this might not always work if the text to search on is longer. 

Agreed, the workaround of adding another field to define 2 groups is also worth keeping in mind.

Cheers,

Fiona

[dvirh]

Fiona,

I'm not sure if I explained myself correctly. Sorry about the confusion. I am attaching a screen shot that should better explain what I mean. In short, I'm suggesting you use the filter 'does not contain' for each phrase you want to exclude.

Thanks,

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Ah, yes that makes sense! Thanks for the clarification.

Fiona