04-03-2017 01:34 PM
I know it has been asked a bunch of times, but is there any reason why OnBase will use the char datatype when it creates the Keyitem tables versus using Varchar? Since the Char column is the limitation on why 250 is the maximum, I'm curious if there are any reasons why Varchar couldn't be used to leverage larger values?
We have some workflows that deal with customer complaints, so a summary of their letters is often used as a keyword to store on the complaint record. This is ultimately used to push to another system, but the summary is needed in the workflow to display to the reps so they are able to see what the complaint is about.
The problem is, the summary doesn't always fit within 250 characters. They can add another instance of the keyword, but it would be best to have it as a single keyword value.
These summaries are displayed on Unity Forms and as far as I am aware, in order to allow the input and display the field on a Unity Form it must be saved as a keyword.
I saw some other postings where people had mentioned E-Forms to link the larger values -- but I am not clear on how that exactly works. Wouldn't a E-Form still need to store a user-entered value in a keyword? Maybe I'm missing something, but I wasn't sure where OnBase would be able to store entered text anywhere but a keyword.
Again, I'm sure there is some technical reason why OnBase only uses Char columns for the datatypes, but if anyone has any clarification as to why that is the only option that would at least help me understand the limitation.
Thanks
04-03-2017 02:34 PM
Hi Brian,
The decision to used fixed length data types for Keywords was made many years ago and was largely related to performance over time as values change. Keywords are intended to be used for retrieval, cross-reference and evaluation logic and values that are actually useful in those scenarios are typically less than 250 characters.
For larger text strings, phrases, etc. - like the summaries you mention - you can store and display those on both Unity Forms and E-Forms as text without having to actually have them as Keywords. The actual content of the text is stored in the file in the Disk Group, rather than in the database. If the contents of these summaries is something that your users need to see when they are working with the documents, rather than something they need to search for, then a text field (Text Box or Multiline Text Box in Unity Forms) should give you the functionality you are looking for.
I hope that helps address the problem you're seeing.
Ansley
04-05-2017 01:39 PM
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