Pick Lists Questions

[Frank Tikket]

Before when creating a pick list, if there were existing values in a column, the picklist would pre-populate with the exisitng values.

From there you had the option to add more pick list items.

Right now, when creating a picklist in an existing column that is populated… the picklist is blank? Did this change or is there a toggle that I am missing? Just curious, if it cannot prepopulate then I will have to add each choice one by one…. (my list is 3600 records or so)

[Brendan]

Tap Forms only ever populated the pick lists with the values you defined in the popup. Plus if there was a value in the cell that wasn’t in the pick list, it would add that. That’s how it works today still. Although there was a bug in version 3.5 (fixed in 3.5.1) which wouldn’t show the value in the column if that value didn’t also exist in the pick list.

But you can add multiple values at a time in a Pick List by copying and pasting a string of values (one per line) into the Add Values… popover on the Pick List edit screen in the Preferences window under Lists.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Frank Tikket]

Thanks for the prompt reply!

I cannot seem to get current values to add to the pick list…can somebody replicate?

I have my field classified as a “text”… I manually went to “tools” > “edit picklist” and added a brand new pick list (with no values in it by default)… then when I went to the very bottom of the field edit view, and where it says “pick list”, I selected the newly created pick list.

The problem is, going back to “tools>edit pick list” I don’t see any values added to the newly created picklist. Am I doing something backwards? Thanks for your time and response Brendan!

[meh1965]

Did you try entering one value only in Tools > edit picklist and take it from there?
Just a thought.

Maurice

[Brendan]

Yes, you will need to add your values on the Edit Pick List screen. You set them up there and just use them on the record details screen. Although you can add them from there if you tap on the Pick List button, then tap on the + button to add a new value without having to go to the Edit Pick List screen in the Tools area.

[Frank Tikket]

I appreciate the response guys, but I guess what I am asking is how to “pre-populate” a picklist with all the existing values in an existing column. I have 3600 total records or so, with approximately 50 different values in one column that I’m converting from a text field to a picklist. I would like for the picklist to auto-populate with the existing values.

[Brendan]

Hi Frank,

Ah I see. Well there’s no direct function for doing that, but if you export your current values as a CSV file for just the one field that contains your values, you can then open that CSV file into a program such as TextWrangler or TextMate (or even TextEdit), then copy all of the values, then paste them into the Add Values… popover on the Pick List Edit screen to get them all in there. But that’s a lot of values to want to have in your pick list.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Frank Tikket]

Wow, thanks for that Excellent idea!! I really appreciate this… for some reason I thought, before, TF was picking up my existing values, but maybe I was just wrong. Thanks again!!!

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