Workflow doesn't make it exactly easy to populate fields in one module from another in certain situations. By using the "Action" of Calculate Fields, one can "pull" field information to use that isn't available in "Modify Record."
Objective:
I want to populate (using modify) custom fields in Tasks module from the parent module. In this case, I want to add a CSR and AGENT to every Task for tracking and assigning. Having the data fields in the task itself will allow the fields to be used when other modules are sub to the original Task. For example, having quick checkboxes to push the task back and forth between a CSR and AGENT as an account gets worked on and approved/modified along the way.
Problem:
Because SuiteCRM uses "Parent Types" and then IDs, the "Modify Record" doesn't appear to have the parent's fields available to use for automation workflows.
Solution:
– (I already have a CSR and Agent data fields in Tasks Module)
– Add a Data field titled "Parent Account" (or something easily identifiable" to Tasks. You don't have to have this field in edit or detail view, albeit I included it while testing to make sure it was populating correctly.
– Create workflow that is conditioned upon a Task having a parent type of "Account."
– Retrieve the Account ID from the Account Parent and populate the new "Parent Account" field within Tasks using an ACTIONS of Modify Record. In this case, I have a record type of Tasks, and Add Field of "Account Assigned" and a Field of "Parent ID," which will populate with the Account's NAME, and not the serial ID assigned in SuiteCRM (thank goodness).
– Create another Action, this time the Select Action will be "Calculate Fields"
– no parameters are required (from the Tasks module) for this exercise, albeit if you're using this as a template for something else similar, you may want fields.
– Relation parameters are used, and using "Accounts : Account Assigned" I then select the field desired, and it creates the variable of {R0} to use, and I repeat and get the next one of {R1}. In this use, I only need two, albeit you can change the number from the parent as you see fit.
– Formulas, I use "two" and they're as simple as you can get. I simply use the drop down to find the appropriate data field in the Tasks module that I want populated, and cut and paste each one in the correct "Formulas."
I looked for the what text modifications etc… would be required and didn't find anything that looked correct, so I simply tried the raw value and it appears to work correctly (I haven't completed extensive testing yet). If you know of a better way, please leave a comment below.
That said, here's the Text info from the SuiteCRM wiki…..
Text Functions
Text functions are used to manipulate text in various ways. All the functions listed here are fully supports UTF-8 texts, so special characters should not raise any problems.
substring
| Signature | {substring(text; start; length)} |
| Parameters | text: text value |
| start: decimal value | |
|
length [optional parameter]: decimal
value |
|
| Description |
Cuts the substring of a text field from start.
If the length optional parameter is not set, then it cuts all characters until the end of the string, otherwise cuts the provided length. Indexing of a text’s characters starting from 0. |
| Returns | Substring of the given text |
| Example call |
{substring(This is my text; 5)} returns
is my text |
|
{substring(This is my text; 5; 5)}
returns is my |
length
| Signature | {length(parameter)} |
| Parameters | parameter: text value |
| Description | Count the characters in a text. |
| Returns | The count of the characters in a text. |
| Example call | {length(sample text)} returns 11 |
replace
| Signature | {replace(search; replace; subject)} |
| Parameters | search: text value |
| replace: text value | |
| subject: text value | |
| Description |
Replace all occurrences of search
to replace in the text subject. |
| Returns | subject with replaced values. |
| Example call |
{replace(apple; orange; This is an apple
tree)} returns This is an orange tree |
position
| Signature | {position(subject; search)} |
| Parameters | subject: text value |
| search: text value | |
| Description |
Find position of first occurrence of
search in a subject |
| Returns |
Numeric position of search in
subject or -1 if search not present in subject |
| Example call |
{position(Where is my text?; text)}
returns 12 |
lowercase
| Signature | {lowercase(parameter)} |
| Parameters | parameter: text value |
| Description | Make text lowercase |
| Returns | The lowercased text. |
| Example call |
{lowercase(ThIs iS a sAmPlE tExT)}
returns this is a sample text |
uppercase
| Signature | {uppercase(parameter)} |
| Parameters | parameter: text value |
| Description | Make text uppercase |
| Returns | The uppercased text. |
| Example call |
{uppercase(ThIs iS a sAmPlE tExT)}
returns THIS IS A SAMPLE TEXT |