Reporting on Typeahead Fields

[AnthonyPernice]

Text mode has long been my achilles heel in Workfront, so I hope someone here can help me out. I have a Task report and I need to display information from a Project-level custom form, specifically one of the brand-new Typeahead fields. I can get the info to display easily in a Project report, but it doesn't show as an option in my Task report. Anyone know how I can use text mode to make this work? Thanks. Anthony Pernice Healthcare Consultancy Group

[TerryHy]

Hi Anthony, the new Typeahead Field in a report is its own top level object. So, if you named the Typeahead field "ABC", in a Task Report, you should find this field in the column list as "ABC". See this Support video at the 3:20 mark - they show an example of creating an Issue Report and adding a Typeahead Field as a column to the report. I am assuming adding a Typeahead field to a Task Report would be similar. "https://vimeo.com/339168186/b3ba78f3f1">Reference Custom Data Typeahead Terry Hynd EBSCO Information Services

[SkyeHa]

yep -- agree with Terry. Anthony are you not finding the field under Project > Custom field name? -skye

[SkyeHa]

nevermind, it looks like that's the case (project typeahead field does not show up as an option in a task report). Anthony: can you just swap out in textmode for any other project custom field and let us know if that works? e.g. here's what I get: valuefield=project:test custom field linkedname=project valueformat=customDataLabelsAsString displayname= namekey=view.relatedcolumn textmode=true namekeyargkey.0=project namekeyargkey.1=test custom field querysort=DE:project:test custom field -skye

[AnthonyPernice]

Thanks Skye, I think we're close... Its probably something I'm doing wrong, but instead of displaying the name, I get {"objCode":"USER","name":"Anthony Pernice","ID":"573a313f006eabd9d62efdfb8102d490"} I copied your code and replaced your "test custom field" with the name of my field: displayname= linkedname=project namekey=view.relatedcolumn namekeyargkey.0=project namekeyargkey.1=Embedded Art Director querysort=DE:project:Embedded Art Director textmode=true valuefield=project:Embedded Art Director valueformat=customDataLabelsAsString Anthony Pernice Healthcare Consultancy Group

[SkyeHa]

well... that's close. I've been experimenting in Preview Sandbox since I figure I could use the practice. * I've managed to find out that the "DE:" part of the string is unnecessary (works either way, whether you have it on or not). * I've tried specifying name (project:Embedded Art Director:name) and that doesn't work. * I've tried a few other valueformats (I saw customReferenceObjectAsString was used in the project report, so I tried that, for example, as well as HTML--nothing working so far, other than the customdatalabelsasstring format) Maybe @Dustin Martin has a few other suggestions up his sleeve -skye

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi Anthony and Skye, Tracking (very interesting), and -- untested -- wonder if the NameKey directives are tripping things up, so suggest you try the following, using the "less is more" axiom, and my when-in-doubt-try-use-HTML valueformat rule of thumb: textmode=true displayname=Project Level Embedded Art Director valuefield=project:Embedded Art Director valueformat=HTML Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads

[AnthonyPernice]

I appreciate the suggestion Doug, but no dice. No data appeared in the field. Anthony Pernice Healthcare Consultancy Group

[EXP_-_DustinMa]

Hey all, So... we're still building it on the back end, but the work-around for the time being would be to create a calculated field on the project, to reference the type-ahead field. (Courtesy of Josh Hardman!) From there, you can call the calculated field from the task level. =) Dustin Martin Assigned Support Engineer Workfront

[VictoriaLinn]

Does anyone know if this was ever built out on the backend? I know this topic was from 2019 but still having issues referencing a typeahead field that is on the project level on a task report. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi @VictoriaLinn,

Although there is continued interest in being able to retrieve custom data from a typeahead field, at this time my understanding is that it is still only native fields (such as those mentioned on this thread above and below) that are supported, even with textmode.

Regards,

Doug

[VictoriaLinn]

Thanks so much for confirming!

[SkyeHa]

Thanks Dustin. I think I'm just going to hang tight and wait for the back end to catch up to the front end. No offense, I have a bunch of custom fields already and no inclination to add one more. I appreciate the answer though! Saves me from trying a bunch of other combinations. -skye

[joshh79242137]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Dustin. Yes, we still have some things we could improve on for reporting here. But, as Dustin says, in the meantime you can use a calculated field on the Project to display the value of the corresponding Typeahead field. Then that calculated field can be used in reporting just as usual. The calculation would be: {Typeahead Field Name:name} FYI, you can replace "name" in the calculation with any direct user field to get that value such as "title", "emailAddr", etc. Josh Hardman Product Manager, Workfront

[avashishth]

Hi,
Is there a way we can fetch custom fields instead of any direct fields?

[AnthonyPernice]

And we have a winner! Thanks everyone! Anthony Pernice Healthcare Consultancy Group

[CoryAn]

Hey @Josh Hardman , I'm having a hard time getting this to work for me. I have a typeahead user field on a task form. On the same form I have a calculated field to show if the user in the typeahead field is active. User Typeahead field name: Hardware Assigned To Calculated field name: Hardware User Status Calculated field format: text Calculation: {Hardware Assigned To:Is Active} On a task an active user is selected in the typeahead field, but the calculated field is still blank. I've recalcuated custom data, removed the user and put them back in the typeahead, opened and saved the custom form, still nothing is calculating. Any advice? Cory **UPDATE 7/23/19 I found that using camel case on the field name works for system fields. This is pulling a system field from the user in the typeahead field and displaying it in the calculated field on the same form: {Hardware Assigned To:isActive} I have not figured out how to pull in custom fields from the user in the typeahead field yet. Cory Anderson Cisco Systems- Communication Services

[joshh79242137]

I believe you have to use the actual field name, not the label. So try this: {Hardware Assigned To:isActive} Josh Hardman Product Manager, Workfront

[CoryAn]

Thanks Josh! I did figure that part out, but cannot figure out how to get data from custom fields that are attached to the user named in the typeahead field. Is that possible? Thanks, Cory Cory Anderson Cisco Systems- Communication Services

[joshh79242137]

Unfortunately you can only access user native fields. Josh Hardman Product Manager, Workfront

[DreadkiailiWork]

I have a field called Backup Requestor on my Request. I am trying to put a calculated field on my Project to get the name to pull through, so I can use it on other reports, but cannot figure out what to put in the calculation to get it to work. Any suggestions for what to put in the Calculation box? Kristine Ross Empower-Retirement