Define field requirements based on reference code

As an administrator, you can define fields to be required based on a reference code that the user selects. This lets you require your Aspen users to enter specific information when certain criteria are met.

For example, you can set up required fields for events with specific attributes, such as:

  • When a staff member enters a student conduct incident and the primary code is Cheating or Cut class, the 'Meeting date' field is required.
  • When a nurse enters a health visit log and the complaint code is Dizziness or Nausea, the 'Body temperature' field is required.

Note: Use caution when setting up field requirements. Make sure that any field which is going to be required appears on templates in the areas of Aspen where those records are created and edited.

Example: If you set a user-defined field to be required when entering conduct incidents and the primary code is Cheating, the user-defined field needs to be added to the templateClosed a page with a predesigned, customized format, such as the Student Detail page with the context of conduct.cnd.list.detail. If it is not added, users will not be able to create or edit conduct incidents with a primary code of Cheating because they don't have access to set the value in the user-defined field.

You can define these reference-based field requirements in the District view in either of the following ways:

To set up referenced-based field requirements from the field:

  1. Log on to the District view.
  2. Click the Admin tab.
  3. Click the Data Dictionary side-tab.
  4. Select a table (such as Student Conduct Incident).
  5. On the Tables side-tab, click Fields.
  6. Click the name of the field that you want to link criteria to (such as Primary Code).
  7. Click the Code Dependencies sub-tab. The Code Dependencies details page appears.
  8. Click Add to link a reference code to the field you selected. The Required Fields pop-up appears.
  9. Use the following table to fill in the fields:

    Field

    Description

    Reference code

    Click this drop-down to select the reference code you want to base your field requirements on.

    Data table

    Click the drop-down to select a table related to the field you are currently in. After selecting a table, the field list updates.

    checkboxes

    Select the checkbox for a field (such as Meeting Date) to be required when a user enters a record and selects the reference code from above.

  1. Click OK.
  2. Click Save.

To set up referenced-based field requirements from the reference code:

  1. Log on to the District view.
  2. Click the Admin tab.
  3. Click the Data Dictionary side-tab, and then click Reference.
  4. Select a reference code (such as Conduct Incident) that you want to link criteria to.
  5. Under Reference, click Codes.
  6. Click a code (such as Class Cut) that you want to link requirements to.
  7. Click the Code Dependencies sub-tab. The Code Dependencies details page appears.
  1. Click Add. The Required Fields pop-up appears.
  2. Use the following table to fill in the fields:

    Field

    Description

    Dependency field

    Click this drop-down to select the reference code you want to base your field requirements on.

    Data table

    Click this drop-down to select a table. The drop-down is populated based on the Dependency field value and contains the table of the field selected and any related tables. After selecting a table, the field list updates.

    checkboxes

    Select the checkbox for a field (such as Meeting Date) to be required when a user enters a record and selects the reference code from step 4.

  1. Click OK.
  2. Click Save.