Specify How a User Input Overrides a Field Value

The values of some fields are set using expressions or business rules. When this is the case, the default behavior is that a value calculated in this manner is overridden if a user enters a value. You can change this default behavior with the field's Value Precedence property.

To give an example of how a field's value might be calculated, say there is a field named Salary, and its value is determined by a business rule according to the value of a field named Title. If the value of Title changes, the value of Salary changes automatically. The default behavior for the field is that if a user enters a value for Salary, it overrides the calculated value for Salary set by the business rule. If you want a field's calculated value to override the user-entered value, you can use the field's Value Precedence property to change the default behavior.

The following table describes the options available for the Value Precendence property.

Option	Description
User Input	Choose this option if you want the value entered by a user to always take precedence over any calculated value. The calculated value is used if the user doesn't enter a value. Once a user enters a value, the value will not be modified by any expressions or business rules. The User Input option is the default when no Value Precedence option is selected.
Calculation	Choose this option if you want the calculated value applied conditionally. The calculated value is used if the user doesn't enter a value. If a user enters a value, the value is saved until an expression or business rule further updates the value. In the Salary example above, if a user enters a value for Salary, and then changes the value for Title, the calculated value for Salary overrides the user-entered value for Salary.
Always Calculation	Choose this option if you want the calculated value to always take precedence over a user-entered value. You might want to do this to constrain a user-entered value to a value within a range or limit. For example, if a user enters a value for Salary that is too high, the calculated value will overrride the user-entered value when Always Calculation is selected. Note that, in this example, the user-entered value would be applied as long as it didn't conflict with the calculated value set by an expression or business rule.

Option

Description

User Input

Choose this option if you want the value entered by a user to always take precedence over any calculated value.

The calculated value is used if the user doesn't enter a value. Once a user enters a value, the value will not be modified by any expressions or business rules.

The User Input option is the default when no Value Precedence option is selected.

Calculation

Choose this option if you want the calculated value applied conditionally.

The calculated value is used if the user doesn't enter a value. If a user enters a value, the value is saved until an expression or business rule further updates the value. In the Salary example above, if a user enters a value for Salary, and then changes the value for Title, the calculated value for Salary overrides the user-entered value for Salary.

Always Calculation

Choose this option if you want the calculated value to always take precedence over a user-entered value. You might want to do this to constrain a user-entered value to a value within a range or limit. For example, if a user enters a value for Salary that is too high, the calculated value will overrride the user-entered value when Always Calculation is selected.

Note that, in this example, the user-entered value would be applied as long as it didn't conflict with the calculated value set by an expression or business rule.

To select an option for a field's Value Precedence property:

In the Layout's Fields tab, select the field you want to work with.
Select an option in the Value Precedence dropdown list.

Description of the illustration value-precedence-list.png

User Input is the default if no option is selected.