Entry column dependencies and Column-to-column dependencies
Entry column dependencies and Column-to-column dependencies
The system uses Project Dependencies to restrict which objects can be logged against a particular Project by any given user. These objects include Activities, Pay Types, Bill Types (time entry screen), Expense Codes, Sources, Currencies (expense entry screen), Locations, Items and Units (custom entry screen). When no Project Dependencies exist for a project, it is considered 'open' and users can log entries against any item for a selected project as long that item is contained in at least one of the user's groups.
Let's break this down. The default time entry screen allows you to use 5 columns for specification of your time. The actual time entry screen you are using can display less columns and have different column names. You can use different time entry screens for different users in your organisation. Let's take a closer look at the columns:
Take a look at the default time entry screen.
The 1st four columns are pre-defined values. There are 4 tables with the code and description of each value (and other detailed information you have defined per value). The 5th is a free text entry field (you can how many characters you can enter in this field in the settings (default is 255 characters)).
With project dependencies you can define which values are available in the other 3 columns (Activity, Pay Type & Bill Type) after a value in the Project column is selected. Once a project is defined and saved in Journyx, a link to define the 'Entry Column Dependencies' appears on the project detail screen.
Let's say you have this situation:
With the 'Modify Entry Column' option you can define that, when the value 'P1' is selected in the 1st column, only the values 'A2' and 'A3' are available in the 2nd column, the values 'PT1'and 'PT..' are available in the 3rd column and the value 'BT1' is available in the 4th column. If you choose another value in the 1st column, for example 'P4', you can define that other values are available in the other columns (in the screenshot sample: when 'P4' is selected, the values 'A3' and 'A4' (2nd column), 'PT1' (3rd column) and 'BT1', 'BT2' and 'BT3' (4th)) are available.
Example limit the column values by defining entry column dependencies (image 1).
Help your users to enter their time correctly by limiting the values per project. The less values are available, the easier it is to select the correct one.
These dependencies are set per project (per column 1 value).
Besides project dependencies (values in column 1 determine which values are available in the columns 2, 3 and 4) you can use column-to-column dependencies. With column-to-column dependencies you can define that values in column 2 determine which values are available in column 3 and values in column 3 determine which values are available in column 4.
Example column-to-column dependencies (image 2).
Sample column-to-column dependencies import file (image 3).
In this sample we define that, when a user selects 'Sales' in the 2nd column (Activity) then:
Use a system report to show the column-to-column dependencies (image 4).
Be careful when using both types of dependencies. It can get confusing fast when you define Project dependencies for the 3rd and 4th column AND column-to-column dependencies.
To keep things simple:
The user selects a project on the time entry screen, which filters the available values in the 2nd column (through the Project dependencies). Once the user selects a value in the 2nd column the values in the 3rd column is determined by the defined column-to-column dependencies. The same applies for the values in the 4th column.
The 2 different dependencies side by side (image 5).
Window size: pixels