Field types

Purpose: Every kind of field you will meet on a record, how to fill each one in and how it looks in the table and the panel.
Who is this for: Everyone

Each column in a table, and each row in the record panel, is a field with a type. The type decides what you can enter, how the value looks and whether you can edit it at all.

How it works

How you edit depends on where you are.

Where	How to edit
A table	Double-click the cell.
The record panel	Click the value once.
The Add and Edit dialogs	Type in the input. Nothing saves until you click the button at the bottom. See Create, edit and delete records.

In a table or the panel, press Enter or Tab to save and Esc to cancel.

Some types are filled in by Gembaa, not by you. These are marked "read-only" below. Hover over one to see why it cannot be edited.

Basic fields

Type	What you enter	How it looks
Text	A single line of text.	Plain text.
Rich text	Formatted text with headings, lists and links. It opens a larger editor. In a table, double-click to open the editor in a pop-up. See the toolbar below.	Formatted text. Links in it ask for confirmation before opening (see below).
Number	A number.	A plain number, aligned for easy comparison.
Currency	A number. The currency symbol is part of the field, so you do not type it.	The number with the field's symbol and decimal places, for example `$1,234.50`. It sorts and totals as a number.
Progress	A percentage from 0 to 100.	A completion bar.
Date	A date, typed or picked from the calendar.	The date in the workspace's date format, either day first or month first. An admin sets this under Administration → General.
Checkbox	Click to switch between yes and no. In a table, double-click.	A tick when on. In dialogs, Yes or No.
Email	An email address.	A clickable link that opens your mail app.
URL	A web address.	A clickable link (see below).

In a date field, clicking away part-way through typing discards what you typed instead of saving a half-finished date. Press Enter to save.

Date field keyboard

Key	What it does
`Tab`	Moves through the day, month and year in turn, then leaves the field. On an empty date it leaves at once. `Shift`+`Tab` goes back.
`Alt`+`↓`	Opens the calendar.
`↑` and `↓`	With the calendar open, move the highlight a week back or forward.
`Alt`+`←` and `Alt`+`→`	Move the highlight one day.
`Page Up` and `Page Down`	Move the highlight one month. Add `Alt` to move one year.
`Enter`	Picks the highlighted day and saves.
`Esc`	Closes the calendar, then cancels the edit. In an Add or Edit dialog with nothing left to undo, it closes the dialog.

Format rich text

The editor has a toolbar. Hover over a button to see its name. To drive it from the keyboard, see Toolbar keyboard.

The @ mention list and the More formatting menu belong to the comment box only. A rich text field has neither. See Comment on a record.

Group	Buttons
Character	Bold, Italic, Underline and Strikethrough.
Text style	Text, Heading 1, Heading 2 or Heading 3.
Blocks	Bullet list, Numbered list and Quote.
Text alignment	Align left, Align center, Align right or Justify.
Clear formatting	Removes the formatting from the selected text.

Select the text you want to link. If you select nothing, the address you enter becomes the link text.
Click Link. A box opens for the address.
Enter the address and click Apply. The text becomes a link.

To change a link, put the cursor in it and click Edit link. Click Remove to take the link off.

The toolbar is one stop in the Tab order, so you do not tab through every button.

Press Tab to enter the toolbar.
Press ← or → to move between buttons. The row wraps round. Home and End jump to the first and last button.
On Text style or Text alignment, press ↓, Enter or Space to open the menu.
Press ↑ or ↓ to move down the menu, then Enter to choose. Focus returns to the text.
Press Tab to go into the text.

Press Esc in an open menu to close only that menu. The dialog or panel around the editor stays open.

Choice fields

Type	What you enter	How it looks
Select	One value from a list your admin maintains.	A coloured pill, coloured text or plain text, depending on how the admin set it up.
Multi-select	Several values from a list.	One chip for each pick. In an editor you remove a pick with the ✕ on its chip.
Status	One state from the list. See Statuses.	A coloured pill.
Priority	One level from a scale. The default scale runs Highest, High, Medium, Low, Lowest.	An icon and label, coloured by urgency.

When you open a choice editor, the first row of the menu is a search box. Type to narrow the list. Your current picks stay visible while you search.

A required choice field cannot be cleared, because an empty value would only fail validation.

Link fields

Type	What you enter	How it looks
Relation	One or more records from another module, for example a Task's Project. Use the searchable picker.	See below.

Relation values show differently depending on how many links there are.

One link: the record's name, which you can click to open it.
Several links in a table: overlapping avatar heads. Hover over a head to see the name. A wider column shows more heads. When they do not all fit, a chip such as +3 shows how many are hidden. A narrow column always shows at least five.
Several links in the panel: one line of names ending in See more. Click it to show them all, then See less to collapse.

Clicking a linked name opens that record in the panel. See The record panel.

When you add a related record, the link also appears on the other side. If you link a Task to a Project, the Project can show that Task.

A linked record you are not allowed to open shows as Restricted instead of its name.

Calculated fields (read-only)

These fields are worked out by Gembaa. You cannot type into them.

Type	What it shows
Formula	A value calculated from other fields on the record, or from a field of the record it links to, such as a total or the days between two dates. It updates when those fields change. Admins write the formula: see Formula basics.
Rollup	Not a type of its own: an admin can set most fields, such as a number or currency field, to total a value across the record's child records. Formula and Relation fields cannot be rolled up. For example, the total budget of a Program's Projects, or a count. It shows only the children you are allowed to see, so two people can see different totals for the same record. A rollup can feed another rollup.

Type

What it shows

Formula

A value calculated from other fields on the record, or from a field of the record it links to, such as a total or the days between two dates. It updates when those fields change. Admins write the formula: see Formula basics.

Rollup

Not a type of its own: an admin can set most fields, such as a number or currency field, to total a value across the record's child records. Formula and Relation fields cannot be rolled up. For example, the total budget of a Program's Projects, or a count. It shows only the children you are allowed to see, so two people can see different totals for the same record. A rollup can feed another rollup.

A number formula shows in the Display format its admin chose, such as #,##0.00 or 0%. Without one it shows as a plain number. Sorting, filtering and totals use the unformatted number.

A rollup keeps the type and formatting of its field. A currency rollup keeps its symbol and sorts, filters and totals like any other number.

ID field (read-only)

Every record has an ID field that Gembaa fills in. It is the module's ID prefix, a hyphen and the record's number, for example PRJ-12. It can be a table column that you sort, filter and search, and a row in the record panel, which also shows it in its header strip.

Admins can rename the field and change the ID prefix, which updates every record's ID at once. Nobody can edit an ID, and a CSV import ignores an ID column.

Module fields (read-only)

Admins can add these to show information from another module without opening it.

Type	What it shows
Latest pulse	The latest Pulse check-in as a row of coloured squares.
Allocation	The record's total allocation over a period, in hours, days, cost or FTE. On Staff it can show allocated capacity as a bar.
Current Rate	A staff member's current hourly or daily rate, taken from Finance. You see it only if you can view Finance.
Skills	A staff member's level in chosen skills, or an average for a skill category.

An admin sets what each of these shows when they add the field. The settings are in the field's Field settings panel.

Type	Settings
Latest pulse	Indicators shown: All indicators (new indicators appear automatically) or Selected indicators. Also Overall and Show forecast arrows, which applies to the cell only. An entity can have several Latest pulse fields.
Allocation	Show as: Total allocation, or Allocated capacity (Staff only, and it needs a period). Also Scenario, Period, Unit, Decimals and Scale (None, Thousands (k) or Millions (M)). A relative period is worked out each time the field is shown.
Skills	Show: Skills (this person's level in each) or Skill categories (the aggregate for each). Then Show which to pick the skills or categories.
Current Rate	Show: Hourly rate or Daily rate. Also Decimal places and Rounding.

A currency field has its own settings: Symbol (a list, or Custom…), Decimal places and Symbol position (before or after the amount), with a Preview.

Messages in cells

A read-only cell can show a message instead of a value. Hover over it for the full text.

Message	What it means
"Pulse off"	Pulse is turned off for this module, so there are no check-ins to show.
"Not assessed in the latest check-in."	The latest check-in left this indicator out.
"You don't have access to Allocation for this record."	You cannot view Allocation for this record.
"This total includes cost, which needs Finance access."	The total includes cost, and you cannot view Finance.
"No capacity in period"	The person has no working hours in the chosen period.
"Set a period on this field to show allocated capacity."	An Allocation field set to Allocated capacity has the period All dates, which has no span to compare against. An admin sets a period in the field settings.
"Allocated capacity is only available on Staff."	An Allocation field set to Allocated capacity sits on a record type other than Staff. Use Total allocation there.
"You don't have access to Skills for this record."	You cannot view Skills for this record.
"A Skills field only resolves on a Staff record."	A Skills field sits on a record type other than Staff, so it has nothing to show.
"No skills or categories are selected for this field yet."	An admin has not chosen which skills to show.
"No finance entry covers today"	The rate shown is the workspace default, not one from a finance entry.
"No working day in the current finance entry, so there is no daily rate."	A daily rate cannot be worked out. Use the hourly rate.
"Couldn't load this value."	A linked value did not load. Reload the page. If it keeps happening, tell an admin.
"No child records yet"	A rollup has no child records to total.
"No child record has a value for this field"	A rollup has children, but none has a value to total.
"There are too many child records to total"	A rollup has more children than Gembaa can total.
"This value can't be calculated. Please contact your administrator to correct the formula."	A formula cannot be worked out. An admin can find the cause under Evaluate: see Fix formula problems. A rollup that depends on itself, or reads through too many levels, cannot be calculated either.

"Leaving Gembaa" warning

Whenever you click a web link that was typed in by a user, Gembaa shows a Leaving Gembaa dialog first. It shows the full destination. Click Proceed to open the link in a new tab, or Cancel to stay. This applies to URL fields and to links inside rich text. Links to Gembaa itself and email links open straight away.

A URL field has some rules.

If you type example.com, Gembaa saves it as https://example.com.
Only web addresses starting with http or https are accepted. Anything else shows "Enter a valid URL".
Your admin can tie a URL field to a text field in the same record. That text then shows a small external-link icon, and the tooltip says "Redirects to:" followed by the address.

Names with badges

Some records show a small badge after their name, such as a department or grade on a Staff member. An admin picks which single-select field supplies it. It appears wherever the name does: tables, panels, pickers and exports. You cannot click or edit the badge there. Edit the underlying field instead.

On Staff, two further badges can appear after the name:

G. marks a Staff record that is not linked to a user account.
Inactive marks a deactivated person. Hover over it to see the date they were deactivated.

Good to know

Required fields show a red asterisk in the Add and Edit dialogs.
Field and module names can be renamed by your admin, so what you see may differ from the examples here.
System fields such as who created a record and when are always read-only.