Create, rename or delete a global field

To create a global field, go to Super > Global Fields, type the name under Add new dropdown at the bottom of the page and click Create. To rename a field, click the pencil next to it; to delete one, click the trash icon. A new field is not part of any module yet: it shows up in a module only when it has been placed there. In standard document modules Antenor places the field; in equipment, the Action Manager and risk management you add it on the module’s Admin tab.

Before you start

You need the Admin level on the Super area row of your rights; this is what shows the Super menu. Your user administrator sets this. Without it, the page shows “You must have Super user access rights to access Global Fields.” instead of the fields.
If Global Fields is missing from your Super menu, contact Antenor support.
A global field is a shared dropdown list, such as Location or Department. Its values are managed separately; see Add a value to a global field, with or without translation.
Every field name must be unique. A new or renamed field cannot have the same English or the same Norwegian name as an existing field. Upper and lower case and spaces before or after the name are ignored.

Steps

Create a field

In the left menu, click Super, then Global Fields.
Below the list of fields, find Add new dropdown.
Type the field’s name in the box. With Translation off, the name is used in both English and Norwegian.
If the name differs between the languages, switch on Translation and fill in both boxes, English and Norwegian.
Click Create. It is enabled when the box, or both boxes with Translation on, has text.

Rename a field

Point at the field in the list and click the pencil (tooltip Edit) next to it.
The dialog Edit Field opens. Change the name under Field name. Switch on Translation in the dialog’s header to give separate English and Norwegian names.
The dialog shows the note “Editing the value will affect all modules in which it is in use. Are you sure you would like to continue?”
Click Update, or Cancel to keep the old name.

Delete a field

Check that no module uses the field. Deleting is not blocked when the field is in use, and it cannot be undone. To remove a field that is in use, contact Antenor support first.
Click the trash icon (tooltip Delete) next to the field.
Confirm with Yes in the dialog “Do you really want to delete?”

What you should see

After creating: the new field is in the alphabetical list under Fields, with no values. The input is cleared and Translation is switched off again. Add the field’s values next.
After renaming: the new name shows on Global Fields, on the Admin tabs of the modules that use the field, and wherever those modules show the field’s name, such as columns, filters and dialogs. In document forms, the field’s caption is the label set for that field in the module, so it does not change when you rename the global field. To change that label, see Change a field’s label, help text or required setting.
After deleting: the field is gone from the list and from every module that used it.
If the name is taken, you see “The field was not updated because a global field with the same name already exists”. The name may also be taken by a field that belongs to one module only, such as a field of Risk management. Choose another name.

Good to know

Where a new field can be used.
- Standard document modules: Antenor places the field in the module’s form. Contact Antenor.
- Equipment, the Action Manager and risk management: add the field with Add from global drop-downs on the module’s Admin tab. See Manage equipment dropdowns and intervals, Manage tagging fields and due-date approval in the Action Manager and Manage the risk dropdown lists.
- Competency uses the fields location, department, country and company. They are set when Antenor enables the module, and the Competency Admin tab has no option to add another field.
- Substance register: its Admin tab has no option to add a global field. If the Substance register needs another field, contact Antenor. See Manage substance register dropdowns and matrices.
Nine fields cannot be deleted: location, department, process, supplier, customer, product, country, document status and activity (shown in your language). Their trash icon is greyed out, with the tooltip “This drop down cannot be deleted as it is required in some of the modules”. They can still be renamed.
While values are being merged, the pencil, the trash icon and Add new dropdown are hidden until the merge is finished.