Custom Fields

Your XTRAC administrator can create custom fields specific to your business and data needs. Business rules determine where these fields appear on the work item.

Field Data Types and Field Formatting (listed alphabetically)

Field formatting allows you to simply enter the data and then let XTRAC take care of formatting it so it displays correctly. As part of the field formatting all fields also have a maximum length of numbers or text characters it will accept.

Each field data type is discussed below:

• Boolean fields: Provide a choice between two values. The field format determines what those two choices are. Available value pairs are: On/Off, True/False, and Yes/No.
• None of the predefined fields are of data type Boolean.

• Character fields: allow you to enter text characters or numbers. The field format can restrict the data to be like an account number with dashes at certain positions, or enforce that a specific number of characters (digits) must be entered, or that no spaces are included before or after the data, or that only numbers can be entered.
• The following predefined fields are of data type "Character" with various formatting applied:
• Memo
• Account Number
• Customer ID
• Organization
• First Name
• Middle Name
• Last Name
• Street Address
• City
• State
• Postal Code

• Currency fields: Allows you to enter dollar amounts. The field format may automatically apply the currency sign and the separators. If partial values (for example, tenths, hundredths) are allowed, it will insure that the correct amount of decimal places is included. Also it can determine if negative currency values are permitted.
• XTRAC honors your computer's regional setting when formatting currency values.
• The predefined field of Amount is of data type Currency and is formatted with separators and two decimal places.

• Date fields: Allows you to enter or display calculated dates. The field format can determine if the year is represented with two or four digits. It can force the date to be greater or equal to another date. It can force it to be a business date according to the business calendar XTRAC has been instructed to follow.
• XTRAC will let you know if you have entered an invalid date, such as one that doesn't exist on the calendar or is before December 1, 1890.
• XTRAC allows you to enter a date directly into the field or will bring up a calendar to help you.
• XTRAC will honor your computer's regional setting to interpret whether you are entering the month (MM/DD/YYYY) or day (DD/MM/YYYY) first. None of the predefined fields are of data type Date.
• Note: The Mozilla Firefox web browser does not automatically honor your computer's regional settings. If you use Firefox, you may need to download and install an add-on that will allow you to switch regional settings.

• Decimal fields: Are very similar to currency fields; however, they will not display a currency symbol. Field formatting allows up to 15 digits which includes up to three decimal places, or can force you to two decimal places. Formatting can allow or disallow negative numbers and can contain separators.
• Note: XTRAC is only accurate to three decimal places. For example, if you entered the following number 1.23456789012345, XTRAC would then round the number to 1.235.None of the predefined fields are of data type Decimal.

• Hyperlink fields: Displays links you can click to open a new browser with the destination web page displayed.
• Note: When creating a work item with hyperlinks, the links in the custom fields are disabled and not available until the work item data is properly filled out and the work item has been saved.
• None of the predefined fields are of data type Hyperlink.

• Identifier fields: Reference work item numbers in the Wnnnnnn-DDMMYY format.
• None of the predefined fields are of data type Identifier.

• Integer fields: Allows you to enter up to 15 numbers. Decimals and negative numbers are not allowed. Field formatting may add separators for you or force a certain number of digits.
• The predefined field of Priority is an integer data type field.

• Multi-Line fields: Allows up to 2,000 text characters or numbers on various lines. No formatting is applied.
• The predefined field of Description is a multi-line data type field.

• Phone fields: Allows you to enter up to 20 numbers representing a phone number or phone extension. When formatting is applied only four, five, seven, ten, and fourteen digits may be entered. XTRAC adds dashes, a leading X or parentheses to the digits entered.
• The predefined Phone Number field is a Phone data type that allows up to 17 digits with no format applied.

• Value Group fields: Provides a list of values of which one may be selected and displayed. The list of values is defined by your XTRAC administrator. Each value can have up to 60 characters.
• The predefined fields of Item Type, Subtype, Status, Transfer To, Account Type, Cause, Subcause, Communication, and Country are all Value Group data type fields.

Field Attributes

By applying various attributes to a field XTRAC can control how the field looks and behaves. The following attributes may be applied to a field:

• Dynamic: As you enter data into the work item fields XTRAC may evaluate the data and dynamically change the values or attributes of other fields based on business rules.
• For example, suppose the work item contains a custom field called Investment Type. There is no default value and the field is optional. The field has a data type of Value Group and the valid values are Bonds, Mutual Funds, and Stocks.
• There is a business rule associated with this field that states the following:
• If Investment Type = Bonds, then make the Bond Type Number field visible and required.
• If investment Type = Mutual Funds, then make the Mutual Fund Number field visible and required.
• If Investment Type = Stocks, then make the Stock Number field visible and required.
• On the Investment Type field, you first select Bonds. When you tab out of this field the field value is evaluated and a new custom field called Bond Type Number appears.
• You realize you did not mean to select Bonds for the Investment Type field and you select Mutual Funds instead. XTRAC evaluates the value again and removes the Bond Type Number field and makes the Mutual Fund Number field visible instead.
• Now, suppose you had filled in several fields already (First Name, Last Name, Account Number, and so on) before making the change in the Investment Type field. XTRAC does not delete any data you have already entered or modified.

• Field Groups: XTRAC groups fields together by placing a border around them and providing a label for the group.

• Hidden: XTRAC hides a field until business rules or work item location (node) determines it should be displayed.

• Note: XTRAC takes special care to ensure data integrity. You may notice that when you open a work item the shared fields are also locked. This means another operator opened one of the other work items in the group, before you opened your work item, and may change a value of a shared field. XTRAC locks the fields to prevent data conflicts with the other operator. If a shared field is also a required field, XTRAC may lock all the fields on the work item to ensure the data integrity of the whole work item. You can either enter data into the unlocked fields and save the work item or you can close the work item and open it again later to see if the other operator has finished working with it.

• Locked: XTRAC applies a locked attribute to a field when the possibility exists that another operator may change the value.

• Optional: The work item can be saved even if these fields do not contain data. XTRAC displays optional fields with a white background within the field.

• Protected: XTRAC protects a field value so that it cannot be changed. Protected fields display a gray background behind the data value.

• Required: XTRAC displays a red asterisk (*) next to the label of fields that require data input before the work item can be saved. XTRAC also may display a red border and message describing the type of data that needs to be included before the user can continue. If required fields do not contain a valid value when you try to save the work item, XTRAC stops the save process and displays a message indicating there are required fields still needing a value. The program also provides a button you can click to list the specific fields that are required.

• Shared: XTRAC allows work items to be grouped together. If a field has the shared attribute applied the data value it contains is shared by all the work items within the group. This means that if you change the value of the field in one work item, the new value is displayed in all work items in that group. XTRAC displays a globe icon next to the field label of shared fields, as shown below:

• Target: The target attribute is currently applied only to Date data type fields. As you perform work on work items there may exist business rules around how quickly that work is to be completed. These business rules are commonly referred to as Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• If work is being completed according to the business rules or SLA, the Target attribute will display the field background color in green (on track). If the work is in jeopardy of not being completed according to the business rules or SLA, the field background color will be amber (when at risk) or red (when in jeopardy). For more information on SLA status, see Jeopardy Status.
• You may see the following Target Date fields on a work item:
• Queue Completion Target Date (QCTD): The time it takes a work item to move from location (queue) to location (queue) within the workflow is measured by the QCTD.
• Family Completion Target Date (FCTD): The time it takes a group of work items, or family of work items, to be completed is measured by the FCTD.
• Milestone Completion Target Date (MCTD): The time it takes for specific conditions as defined by business rules to be met are measured by one or more MCTDs.

For more information, see Monitoring Service Level Agreements.