Create user-defined fields

Aspen contains hundreds of fields you can define in most tables within the Data DictionaryClosed organizes the tables and fields that house all of your district's administrative information.

There are five kinds of user-defined fields that you can define within each table. Each table contains a fixed number of these user-defined field types:

User-defined field type

Example of available user-defined field

Description

Examples of use

A

FieldA001

Allows values up to 10 characters.

A-type fields are the most numerous.
  • date
  • character
  • integer
  • logical number
  • time
  • time duration

B

FieldB001

Allows values up to 25 characters.

Same as A-type fields, but when additional length is needed.

C

FieldC001

Allows values up to 50 characters.

Same as A-type fields, but when additional length is needed.

D

FieldD001

Allows values that you can set to be unlimited or limited in length.

Long description and comment fields relating to a student's health, IEPClosed Individualized Education Program, and conduct.

E

FieldE001

Allows for importing and attaching files, such as Microsoft Word documents or images.

Rubrics, grading assignments.

Note: To easily share a document with staff, parents, and students, instead of importing the file to a user-defined field, add it to a student's record.
Note: When defining custom fields, use the smallest field size possible (fields As and Bs) to ensure you always have the larger, less common D and E fields available when needed.

To create a user-defined field:

  1. Log on to the District view.
  2. Select Admin > Data Dictionary.
  3. Determine the table the field is in, and select the checkbox next to that table.
  4. On the Tables side-tab, click Fields. The list of fields the table contains appears. User-defined fields begin with Field. For example, the first type A user-defined field in a table is FieldA001.

    Note: If user-defined fields are not displayed in the list of fields, the filter Filter icon. might be set to Enabled Fields. To display user-defined fields that are not being used, click Filter icon. and select All Fields.

  1. Click the field name in the Name column. The page to define the field appears.
  2. Use the table to enter information in the fields:

  1. Field

    Description

    Sequence number

    Type the number in which this field appears in the list of fields within this Data Dictionary table.

    Long name

    Type the name of the field that appears on detail pages.

    Short name

    Type the name of the field that appears as a column header on list pages.

    Alias name

    Type the name that your state report uses for this field. See your State Reporting Guide for more details.

    This field is also used in conjunction with the district's (root organization's) Family/Student portal preferences to let users enter or edit their primary phone number in Aspen mobile's Family portal. See Define District Family and Student Portal Preferences for details.

    User data type

    Click this drop-down to select the data type that determines the type of value users enter in this field. The default value is Character. The most frequently used types are:

    • Character: Can contain no punctuation.
    • Date: Provides a calendar pop-up and enforces a consistent date format. Using a date field ensures all date formats are the same.
    • Email: Requires a valid email address with an @ symbol and a period.
    • Logical: Provides a checkbox.
    • Number: Usually applies to A-type user-defined fields. Accepts values and includes the decimal place as a character.
      Note: This selection works in conjunction with the User field length and User decimal fields. A smaller number of decimal places allows for more leading digits and vice versa.

      Example: For the number 44.44, set the User field length to 5 and the User decimal to 2. If you set the User field length to 4, Aspen would allow 4.44 and 44.4, but not 44.44.

    • Rich Text: The field displays a WYSIWIG text editor.
    • Text: Characters only.
    • Time: Proper format required with AM and PM.

    Other fields:

    • Attendance Management
    • Binary
    • Comment Bank
    • Icon
    • Integer
    • Password
    • Pattern View
    • School Course Field
    • Text Long
    • Time Duration
    • Timestamp
    • URL
    • Workflow Phase Name
    Note: You can select Text for type D user-defined fields, and Binary, Image, Text and Text Long for type E user-defined fields.

    User field length

    Type the maximum number of characters a user can enter in this field. The value you type must be less than or equal to the number of characters allowed for this type of user-defined field.

    Example: If you are creating an A-type user-defined field, you cannot type 15. You must type a number less than or equal to 10.

    Note: If you define a D-type user-defined field with Text at the User data type field, you can either leave this field blank to allow for unlimited characters, or type the maximum number. If the user reaches the maximum number of characters you define, the following message appears:

    User decimal

    If you selected Number at the User data type field, type the number of decimal places users can enter in this field.

    Validation expressions

    Click to select one or more validation expressions to validate and format the entered data. This ensures the data is consistent. The system might reformat data that is in an invalid format, or display an error if the format cannot be corrected.

    Example: For a phone number field, you can select the expression for phone.us which validates a U.S. phone number that has 10 digits and displays as follows: (978)555-1234. It also omits the leading '1' if it is entered. This allows the user to enter the phone number as 9785551234, which is validated and reformatted to (978) 555-1234.

    Enabled

    Select this checkbox to enable this field.

    Note: If you do not select this checkbox, the field cannot be used.

    Required

    Select this checkbox if users must enter a value in this field before they click Save. If they do not, the system warns them that they have not entered a value in a required field. Required fields display a red asterisk next to the field name:

    Note: See Entering Data into Fields.

    Read only

    Select this checkbox if this field is read-only.

    Mass update

    Select this checkbox if users can mass update this field.

    List edit

    Select this checkbox if users can edit the values in this field when they use the Modify List option on a list page.

    Change Reference Table > User Name

    		Enter the name of the reference table you have configured for this field, if you require users to enter a reason when they change the field's value on a template, or via Modify List or Mass Update.

    Field auditClosed view and investigate changes to information in specific fields or by a specific user type

    Select On to include this field in the audit. Select Off to not include this field in the audit.

    Note: The setting for the Table audit type overrides the setting for the Field audit type. See Enable Tables and Fields to be Audited.
    Note: If the Table Audit Type field is set to Partial, select On here if you want to require users to enter a reason when they change the field's value on a template, or via Modify List or Mass Update.

    Default value

    Type a default value for the field. The default value appears when you create new records only.

    Reference Table > User name

    If you want users to select a value from a reference table at this field, begin typing the reference table name and select the one you want, or click to make a selection from a pick list.

    Bank name

    Click to select the comment bank you want users to select comments from in this field.

    Note: You must select Comment type at the User data type field.

    Dependency

    Type the object identifier (OID) of the field that this field is dependent on.

    If you selected a reference table at the Reference Table > User name field, only reference codesClosed codes used to validate the options users can select from at fields whose Dependent Code matches what's stored in the field identified by OID will be shown.

    Example: If the OID for the Enrollment Status Code field is used, and dependent codes are defined on the reference codes attached to the current field to be Active, those reference codes will only appear as options when the Enrollment Type is set to Active. See Create Reference Codes.

    Detail control

    If you selected a reference table at the Reference Table > User name field, do one of the following to determine how users select a value:

    • Select Checkboxes to determine that users must select one or more predetermined values from the reference table via checkboxes. This option is useful in situations where administrators want users to select from a small number of values, as opposed to the entire table. For more information, see Use Checkbox and Pick List Options in User-Defined Fields.
    • Select Dropdown to determine that users must click the drop-down arrow to view and select a value from the reference table. This option is the default selection for type A, B, and C user-defined fields.
    • Select Picklist to determine that users can either click and select a value from the reference table on a pop-up, or type a value. This option is the default selection for type D user-defined fields.
    • Select Picklist/Checkboxes to determine that users can either select from all reference table values via a pick list or select from a set of predetermined values via checkboxes. This option is useful in situations where administrators want to highlight common choices for easy selection, but also want to grant users the freedom to choose from the entire reference table if necessary. For more information, see Use Checkbox and Pick List Options in User-Defined Fields.

    Valid reference code required

    If you selected a reference table at the Reference Table > User name field, do one of the following:

    • Select this checkbox if a user must select a value from the reference table.
    • Leave this checkbox blank so users can either select a value from the reference table or type a free-text value.

    Check spelling

    Select this checkbox to enable the field for spell-checking. If a field is enabled for spell checking, Spell check icon. appears in the upper-left corner of the field. Click the icon to have misspelled words highlighted in yellow.

    Default Suffix

    Type a file name extension (.txt, .doc) to be used for files that are downloaded from this field. This is used only for fields that store a file, such as reports, proceduresClosed used for data manipulation or operations, such as running GPAs, exports, and imports.

    Example: The Default Suffix for the Java source field in the Report Definition table can be set to .java.
  1. Click Save. You must reload the Data Dictionary to use the new field. You can use the field in field sets and queries. To include the field on a page, add the field to a template.