Initializing Metrics with Default Display Values

You can set up a metric so it displays a default value before a user enters data into the metric, rather than initially displaying blank. After a user modifies the data in the metric, the link with the source metric is broken, and the modified metric contains the data entered.

Important! Initializing a metric with a default value only displays the value in the target metric within Accolade. The value does not transfer to Smart Excel documents or reports.

Metrics that pull a default display value from another metric cannot be on the same page within Accolade as the metric from which they get their value. Therefore, a metric that is set to contain an initial value from another metric should conform to the following rules:

• The metric should not be in the same category as its initializing metric.
• The metric should not be editable or appear together with its editable initializing metric on the project creation page, Home, or Details pages within a project.
• The metric should not be in the same Smart Excel document or online form with its initializing metric.

To initialize a metric with a default display value:

1. From the System menu, select Content Sources > Metrics.

To narrow the metric list, search by the metric name, system name, or category.

2. Do one of the following:

• To add a new metric - Click Add New in the upper right corner of the page.
• To edit an existing metric - Click the name of the metric to open it for editing.
• To create a metric based on an existing metric - Click in the Copy column to create a copy that can be used as a base to build a new metric.

3. Create any metric type.
4. In the Initialize From field, select the metric value to use in this metric until another value is entered or selected.

If you are creating or modifying a metric that uses the List or Multi-Select List data type, select an initializing metric that has an identical set of list items. If either metric is query based, ensure that the initializing metric contains all the list items that could occur if both metrics are based on the same query.

5. Click Apply to save your changes.

Notes:    Administrators can view existing metric definitions, but cannot add or modify metrics. If the metric selected in the Initialize From field is deleted or made inactive, new instances of the metrics that use it for their default value are blank. Metric initialization is affected by the Default Online Form Fields to Dirty parameter available in the Administration Console. More... If the parameter is enabled, metrics that are set for initialization behave in an online form as if the initializing value is entered manually when the form is first opened. That is, the initializing link is broken and no further automatic updates of the value occur. If the parameter is disabled, the initialized metric continues to change when the source metric is changed until the initialized metric is changed manually.