The job template editor utilizes various data types, tagged text expressions, user-defined fields, and value strings to manage data in job description forms. The binding property stores values in these fields, allowing you to add, modify, or view the data associated with a job.
Bindable Fields
Bindable fields are predefined properties of the job description, with names indicating their intended use. Some bindable fields serve specific purposes, so their data length, size, or type may be specific to their typical use.
Physical database fields are a subset of bindable fields that can be directly referenced in SQL filters. Therefore, fields that filter jobs for specific employees or other SQL criteria should use a physical database field. These can be identified by their constrained length in the job description table of the database, as noted in the binding notes.
To save data in a field, it must be a bindable field.
The main data types in the bindable fields are:
String
DateTime
Boolean
1. Edit the job template editor.
2. Edit a block and select the Data tab.
This displays the block details:
String Data Type
Salary_Grade is a string data type that accommodates all valid characters. It typically stores a relatively short string, such as Grade 04, with a maximum length of 100 characters.
Education is a string data type typically used for bullet lists. It does not have a specific character limitation but can store up to 2 GB of data.
JobFamilyAndSubFunction is also a string, but it is used with the building block type.
JobFamilyAndSubFunction stores two values separated by a slash (for example, /Accounting).
DateTime
The DateTime data type is used for the Date fields.
Null values in the DateTime fields are represented by a stored value of 1/1/1900.
Date fields are auto-populated and saved in the MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss AM/PM format.
If time data is not required, use an alternative binding. Additionally, a formula building block with tagged text binding can be used to modify the auto-populating property using a function. For example, =DateOnly(@job.DateFinalized@).
Boolean
The binding IsRetired is a flag with a boolean data type, meaning the only valid values are True and False.
Binding Property Table
Binding | Typical Building Block Type | Max Length | Editable | Special Behavior |
|---|---|---|---|---|
JobDescName | Text | N | Since this field is a unique identifier, it should be renamed in Job Management or by importing the data. | |
JobFamilyAndSubFunction | Y | Stores Job Family and SubFunction in a single slash-separated string and assignseach value to its respective binding. | ||
Salary_Grade | Any Choice List type (Dropdown, Treeview Popup, Radio Button) | 100 | Y | |
FLSA_Classification | 20 | Y |
User-Defined Fields
Any new field created by the user should be a user-defined field.
User-defined fields allow property binding with a custom name.
These fields are always editable and can hold up to 2 GB of data.
It is recommended to use bindable fields for filters rather than user-defined fields.
Tagged Text
Tagged text functions similarly to an SQL query, providing the desired results without saving the field value in the job description.
It is most commonly used when the output needs to be displayed in the View/Edit form but the data is required elsewhere.
Tagged text refreshes the data each time the form is accessed or when the master template is reapplied.
These fields should remain non-editable.
Value Strings
Some fields or building blocks store a value in the binding to support the behavior of that field, but the stored value may not appear as expected to the user. For example:
Bullet Lists
Bullet lists are the rows of column data, and each row has associated properties that need to be stored in the binding as values.
Column values and other row properties are captured in a comma-delimited string, where each delimited spot in the string represents a column or row property.
If a column or row property has no value, a comma placeholder is still included, resulting in multiple consecutive commas to indicate empty values.
All rows are stored in a continuous string, with every 25 commas representing the values for a single row. Therefore, a bullet list with 2 rows will have 50 commas in the value string, 3 rows will have 75 commas, and so on.
For example:
Choice lists (Dropdown, Treeview Popup, Radio Button)
Choice lists have a two-column layout consisting of a Display Value and a Value (stored value). The stored value is easier and more consistent to pass between systems. For example:
For example:
The Display Value and Value can be the same if there is no coded value.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.