Controlled Fields

Define which Field(s) and/or Field Value(s) to expose

Formset can control custom fields for Tickets, Users and Organizations.  The examples below show how to configure controlled ticket fields.  Configuring User and Organization fields is quite similar.  The main difference is that User and Organization fields cannot control the available option values or be made readonly.

This is a visual manipulation of the Agent interface and End-User interface. 

Accessing the Formset Screen:

To manage rule groups and rules, click on Formset icon (1). The Configuration will default to Formset (2) - Tickets (3) - Configuration (4).

Controlled Fields:

Once you have defined the controlling condition for a rule, you can specify which fields should be controlled and how they are controlled.

There are two options:-

• Control Fields - Show a field in its entirety when the condition is satisfied.
• Control Field Values - Select the available field values to be shown when the condition is satisfied.

A rule can control as many fields as you wish. For a given controlled field, a rule can either control the field in its entirety or control the field values.  It cannot do both.

Once a field is controlled, it will be hidden unless there is a rule which is satisfied which shows the field or shows at least one field value.

NOTES: 

1. If you have multiple rules, one controlling the visibility of a field and the other controlling the values of the same field - if the conditions for both rules are satisfied, the field values rule will be applied as it is more restrictive.
2. If you have multiple rules controlling different values for the same controlled field - if the conditions are satisfied, the controlled field will show a union of all the values from each satisfied rule.

Readonly Ticket Fields

The default behaviour when you choose to control a field is that the controlled field will be hidden unless there is a rules that is applicable which shows that field (or at least one of it's values).  When defining Ticket rules, you may also choose to make the field readonly if the rule applies.  If a controlled field is so marked, then when the condition for the rule applies, the controlled field is visible, but set to be readonly so that the agent can see the field value, but cannot change it.

The image above shows a standard Formset ticket rule whereby when the Policy Type field is set to System, then the Customer Impact and Product ticket fields will be shown.

This image shows the same rule, but in this case, the two controlled fields are also marked to be disabled (readonly).  To switch between Enabled and Disabled, click the icon for the controlled field.

How does it work?

The Formset App will perform the following actions:

1. Hide all controlled fields.
2. Process each rule in turn to see if the driving conditions are satisfied.
3. If the field (not the field values) is controlled, show the field.
4. If the values are controlled, show the field but restrict the set of values. 
5. If the values for this field are controlled by another rule, then add the values from the current rule to those already being shown.
6. Having processed all the rules, if there is a controlled field with no values to display, then hide this field.
7. If any of the satisfied rules marked any fields to be readonly (Ticket fields only), disable these fields so they cannot be modified.
8. If after applying the rules the value of a controlled field is modified and the controlled field also controls other fields, then the rules are processed again (from point 2 above) based on the new values of the driving fields.  This repeats until no controlled field values change.

Visibility of Fields

Formset can be used to define rules that control the visibility of any Zendesk custom fields as well as system fields relating to:

• Priority
• Type
• Brands
• Sharing Agreements
• Groups
• Ticket Form

To conditionally control a field:

1. Click on the black button to the left of the field placeholder.

The black button will change to a purple tick to show this field is now controlled by this rule. 

2. Click the button again to toggle the field selection off.

When the conditions specified in the Driving Fields section are satisfied, this field will be visible on the ticket.

NOTES: 

1. If your  Zendesk plan includes Ticket Forms you can use Ticket Forms to restrict which ticket fields appear on the page.  Formset cannot show a field if it is not on the form being used. 
2. If you are using Formset in the Help Center/Guide interface, it will only be able to control a field defined to be visible and editable in the end user interface.

Controlled Values

Formset can define rules that control a visible set of field option values in dropdown and multi-select custom fields as well as the following system fields:

• Priority
• Type
• Brands
• Sharing Agreements
• Groups
• Ticket Form

To conditionally control the values shown for a field:

1. Click on the bar for the field placeholder.  This will expand the field to show each of the values defined for this field. 
2. Click the black button on the left of each value you want this rule to show.  The black button will change to a green tick for each selected value. 
3. Click again to toggle it off.

When the conditions specified in the driving fields are met, the field will be displayed showing each of the option values specified by this rule.

NOTES: 

1. If your  Zendesk plan includes Ticket Forms you can use Ticket Forms to restrict which ticket fields appear on the page.  Formset cannot show a field if it is not on the form being used. 
2. If you are using Formset in the Help Center/Guide interface, it will only be able to control a field defined to be visible and editable in the end user interface.

Lots of Option Values

When the controlled drop down or multi-select field has a large number of option values (more than 20), it can be difficult to locate the option value you wish to select or deselect.  To help, a search facility is provided so that you can easily find option values that match the search string.

If you need to select or deselect a large number of option values, this can be time consuming to do individually.  To help, 'Select all values' and 'Deselect all values' buttons are provided.

Search

The image above shows a drop down field with lots of option values (more than 20).  To find an option, type the string you wish to find into the 'Search for' text field.  Click the 'Find Next' button and the option values will be scrolled to show the first matching option value.  The matching option value will be highlighted.  The search is case sensitive and will match any option value that contains the supplied string.

Clicking the 'Find Next' button again will move on to the next matching option value.  The search will loop back to the top if there are no more matching option values.

If you change the search string, clicking the 'Find Next' button will start the search from the top of the option values again.

Select all values & Deselect all values

When configuring rules you may wish to select most of the option values for a drop down, but not all.  When there are a large number of option values, this can take a long time to do individually.  Instead, you can click the 'Select all values' button and then deselect the few values you do not want selected.

If the drop down already has option values selected when you click either of these buttons, a dialog will be displayed to warn you that the current selected options will be replaced (either with all values selected or with all values deselected).  You will need to confirm that this is what you want to do.