Creating ID rules

To verify the ID format that you define, refer to the generated sample ID on the Sample Format field.

Commas and double quotes in field values are ignored when generating IDs as these characters are reserved database characters.

  1. From the menu, select Setup > ID Generator.
  2. Click New.
  3. Specify this information:
    Module
    Select the module type that is applicable to the ID rule.
    Create new number series for every change in value of
    Select from the list. The value of this list depends on certain generic lookup fields for the Module field that you selected earlier.

    For example, when creating a new style and the value of this field and the field next to this (if defined) change, a new number series is created based on the criteria that you specify for this rule.

    The value that you select here is automatically included in the Contextual Value section, and cannot be removed unless removed from this field.

    This field is optional.

    And
    Select from the list. The value of this list depends on certain generic lookup fields for the Module field that you selected earlier.

    For example, when creating a new style and the value of this field and the field before this change, a new number series is created based on the criteria that you specify for this rule.

    This field is optional.

    The value that you select here is automatically included in the Contextual Value section, and cannot be removed unless removed from this field.

    Name
    Specify a name for the ID rule.
    Description
    Optionally, provide a description for the ID rule.
    Max Length
    Specify the maximum length allowed for IDs.
    Allow Manual Override
    Select this check box to allow users to manually edit automatically generated IDs, that is, item number or item code, on records.
    Active
    Select this check box to make the ID rule active.
  4. To specify the string of the ID, click the Add New Row icon on the String table.
  5. Specify this information:
    Value
    Specify a value for the string.
    Length
    This field is updated automatically based on the number of characters that you used for the string value.
  6. To specify the number series of the ID, click the Add New Row icon on the Number Series table.
  7. Specify this information:
    Length
    Specify the number of digits to be added in the ID rule.
    Increment
    Specify the increment in increasing the number values in the ID series.
    Starting No.
    Specify the starting digit of the number series.
  8. To specify the contextual value of the ID rule, click the Add new row icon on the Contextual Value table.
  9. Specify this information:
    Field
    Specify the field that serves as the basis. For example, if you selected Style as the value of Module, then this field shows the selected fields in style that can be used for concatenated IDs. If you specified a value in the Create new number series for every change in value of, then this field is already filled up and cannot be edited. This value cannot be deleted unless the value of Create new number series for every change in value of is changed. If the value of Create new number series for every change in value of is changed, this field becomes editable.
    Use Code/Name
    Select Code or Name. This determines if the field value that is used is the record's code or name.

    Only one number series is used for Code and Name contextual value. If you initially chose Code for ID generation and then changed to Name, the number series used for Code is reused by Name.

    For example, if you chose the Brand generic lookup field in Create new number series for every change in value of, and set Code as the initial basis for ID generation, then the styles that are created are assigned an ID based on Code. Once you change to generate ID based on Name, the number series used for Code is reused for Name.

    Starting Value
    Specify the starting value.

    For example, if you specify 2, the ID rule will start with the second character of the field value that you selected.

    Length
    Specify the number of characters to be used from the field value in the ID rule.
    Note: You cannot delete a line in the Contextual Value table if the value of Field is the same as the value of Create new number series for every change in value of.
  10. Optionally, set the sequence number of each ID rule item to reorder the ID format.

    The sequence number determines where your specified ID rule item will be positioned in the ID format. To verify the ID format, refer to the Generated Sample field.

  11. Click Save.