General tips > Editable Lists (...)

The purpose of this tutorial is to present how Editable Lists work and how to use this common feature within the software.

Editable Lists are identified with the ellipse icon (…) and can be spotted on the right side of the screen in Figure 1.

Figure 1

There are common characteristics of each list: order, code, title, inactive, and default. Some lists have list-specific attributes (but those are self explanatory when you see them.)

Figure 2

•	Order – This is a number that is assigned by the user to determine where this particular item shows up at on the list. Try to use increments of 5 or 10 to add flexibility to the list should you need to add other items in your desired order.

•	Text – This is what displays in the drop-down menu for your list.

•	Code – Organizational designations for what the item represents. (Note: the editable list in Figure 2 does not have this field.)

•	Inactive – This option will either grey out the item and/or move the list item to the bottom of the list. It is used when you can’t delete the list item (more on this in a moment) and is FP2’s way of protecting historical data.

•	Default - This option causes the default list item to be selected automatically each time a new record is created.

Modifying Editable Lists

Adding to a list is the same as adding anything to FP2 – click the +, assign the attributes, click the check. That item will now show up in the drop-down.

Deleting an item is also the same. Highlight the item you want to remove and trash it. If the list item is used in a record entered, FP2 will not delete this item and will let you know it’s unable to because it is locked. This is often the case when dealing with conversion data. In the case that you no longer need this item, mark it as inactive and previous records using this designation will be preserved and you will not need to view this option in your lists anymore. They can easily be brought back by editing the list and un-checking the inactive box.

Something to be mindful of when editing a list is making sure that you are not adding the same item twice. The property list is prime example of where this can occur. Having two copies of the same street with two different spellings can lead to entering incidents, permits, or inspections on both. FP2 cannot see that these two entries are the same property so when this data is entered in the property labeled Ave and the Inspector searches for the Avenue, he won’t see the record that was entered previously.

There are some lists you should be careful when editing. Among these lists are the street names list and the Fire Code. By default, only the Admin (*) user can make changes to these lists, although you can allow other users access to them via the Setup --> Users Options (Passwords)à Select User -->Edit Window (Yellow) --> Other Tab.

Customized Lists

FP2 ships to all users with many lists pre-populated, but in most cases, you will need to add department-specific information to various lists. It is also possible to add new lists to your FP2 system, or rename existing lists using the options in the Setup --> Custom Settings. Many modules have a “Custom Fields” tab, which usually contain fields called “Custom List”.

Figure 3

If a Custom List field is blank, the list will not be visible on the record entry page, but if you enter a title, the list will appear and can then be populated as normal.