Data Sheet Field Groups Overview

This article is an introduction to the Data Sheet Field Groups features.

Field Groups provide two functions:

Prior to reading this article, we recommend that you should already be familiar with the creation and use of CommTrak Data Sheets.

Please refer to the following Data Sheet sections in the Support Centre:

A Field Group can consist of any number of fields. For example, a field group might pertain to a technician's site visit to repair equipment:

The Additional Parts field group in the previous image consists of three fields (Part Number, Quantity and Description).

Once created in the Field Group settings, the group (consisting of the three fields in this example) can easily be added as a single item, to any new or existing Data Templates. This avoids the need to manually add the three separate fields to every Data Template in which they are required. Furthermore, if the fields within the group need to be modified (e.g. renamed, relabelled, additional fields needed), the modifications only need to be made to the Group, and those changes will be applied to all Data Templates in which the Group is used.

Additionally, (in this example) the number of additional parts required for the repair cannot be known at the time the Data Sheet is designed, so the field group can be configured such that the person who is completing the data sheet can simply add more Additional Parts field groups as required:

The previous image shows that the person completing the Data Sheet has added a second Additional Parts field group, and they can add more by pressing the plus button (visible bottom-left of the previous image).

Each added field group can be removed by pressing the minus button below that group (i.e. each added group has its own minus button). The first field group cannot be removed.

Field Group Settings

Field Groups are configured in Settings > Data Sheets & CT-Sign Settings > Data Template Field Groups:

The example Field Group in the following image of the settings screen, consists of three fields (Part Number, Quantity and Description).

Adding a Field Group to a Data Template

Once a Field Group has been created, it can be added to all new and existing Data Templates. To add a Field Group to a Data Template, add a new line item, enter a name for the Field Group section, and select the Field Group option in the dropdown list:

When the Field Group option has been selected, a dropdown list of Field Groups is displayed:


Scroll through the list to select the required Field Group, or enter some text to filter the list:

Then, specify how many instances of the Field Group can be added to a Data Sheet (using the dropdown selection visible in the previous image). In the previous example image, the number of instances has been set to 5. This means that when the Data Sheet is being filled, the user will be able to complete up to 5 Additional Parts Field Groups.

Adding a Field Group During Data Entry

When completing the Data Sheet, the Field Group is presented to the user with a heading identifying the group:

In the example shown in the previous image, the user can add more Additional Parts sections by pressing the plus (+) button:


More groups can be added by the user, up to the limit specified in the Data Sheet template settings.

If a Field Group is added during data entry, but is not required, it can be removed by pressing the minus (-) icon (visible in the previous image).

If the user enters data into the fields of the Field Group, and then presses the minus (-) button to remove that group, the data previously entered into that instance of the Field Group is not retrievable.

In this example, the user can add up to 5 Additional Parts Field Groups, as this was the maximum number of instances specified in the Data Template.