Datalist Fields (Suggestions)

Datalist Fields

A datalist field gives people a text box with a list of suggested answers. They can pick one of your suggestions or type their own value. It's the middle ground between a free-text field (anything goes, inconsistent data) and a strict dropdown (clean data, but no room for exceptions).

When to use it

Use a datalist when a field usually has a handful of common answers but you still need to allow the occasional one-off. A classic example is material: most answers are Steel, Brass, GI, U PVC, Polypropylene or Plastic, but crews occasionally need to enter something else.

• Text field — accepts anything, but you end up with variants like "steel", "Steel ", "STEEL".
• Select field — clean and consistent, but rejects anything not in the list.
• Datalist field — suggests the common values, keeps data consistent, and still lets people type a new value when they need to.

How to set it up

1. Open the form field builder for your asset form.
2. Add or edit a field and choose the type Datalist (suggestions).
3. Enter your suggested values (for example: Steel, Brass, GI, U PVC, Polypropylene, Plastic).
4. Save. Suggestions are optional — if you leave them empty the field behaves like a normal text field.

How it behaves when filling the form

• The field shows as a text box. Focusing it (or typing) reveals your suggestions.
• The person can select a suggestion or type any other value.
• Whatever they enter is saved as-is.

Existing answers are safe

Switching a field to datalist never breaks past submissions. Values that were entered before — even ones that aren't in your suggestion list — remain valid and continue to display normally.