Edit a view using text mode

You can edit a view in a list or report using text mode to access fields that are not available in the standard interface and create more complex views.

Access requirements

You must have the following access to perform the steps in this article:

Adobe Workfront plan*
Any
Adobe Workfront license*

New: Standard

Current: Plan

Access level configurations*

Edit access to Filters, Views, Groupings

Edit access to Reports, Dashboards, Calendars to edit reporting elements in a report

Object permissions

Manage permissions to a report to edit views in a report

Manage permissions to a view to edit it

*To find out what plan, license type, or access you have, contact your Workfront administrator.
For more information about access requirements, see Access requirements in Workfront documentation.

Prerequisites

Before starting to use text mode in a report or list, always ensure that you are familiar with the Workfront text-mode syntax.

For more information, see:

Edit text mode in a view

Editing a view using text mode is identical for reports and lists. Accessing the view from a report or from a list differs.

TIP
We recommend that you build as much of the view as possible in standard mode, then convert it to text mode to edit it.

For information about building views, see Views overview in Adobe Workfront.

For information about creating a report, see Create a custom report.

  1. Do one of the following:

    1. To access the view from a report, go to the report, then click  Report Actions > Edit > Columns (View) tab.

    2. To access the view from a list, go to the list and from the View drop-down menu, mouse over the view that you want to modify and click the  Edit icon .

      The view builder opens.

  2. Select a column in the view.

    Or

    Select the Columns (View) tab of the report builder, then select a column.

    note tip
    TIP
    To edit a view using text mode, you must edit one column at a time.
  3. Click Switch to Text Mode in the upper-right corner of the builder.

    note note
    NOTE
    When you edit a column in text mode, Workfront adds the textmode=true line of code to the column. This indicates that the column is modified in text mode.

    The following table outlines the key lines in a text mode view:

    table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 4-row-2 5-row-2 6-row-2 7-row-2 8-row-2 9-row-2 10-row-2 11-row-2 12-row-2 13-row-2 layout-auto
    Sample Line Description

    valuefield=

    ``

    This is the name of the object or of the field as it appears in the database. For more information about how objects and fields appear in the database, see API Explorer.

    The following scenarios exist:

    1. If the name of the field you display is a phrase instead of a single noun, you must use camel case syntax for the valuefield. For example, for the Planned Start Date of a task the code is:

      Example: valuefield=plannedStartDate

    2. If you want to display a custom field, the valuefield value is the actual name of the field, as you see it in the interface. For example, for a custom field named "More information", the code is:

      Example: valuefield=More information

    3. If you want to display objects that are related to other objects in a view using the valuefield line of code the object names and attributes are separated by colons.

      For example, a column in a task view that would display the name of the Portfolio Owner has the following value for the valuefield line:

      Example: valuefield=project:portfolio:owner:name

      This indicates that from the object of the report (task), you can access the next related object (project), from there, you can access the following related object from project (portfolio), then the portfolio owner (owner) and then their name (name).

    For information about how objects connect to one another, see the section Interdependency and hierarchy of objects in Understand objects in Adobe Workfront.

    Note: If you choose a field in text mode that is not valid in the standard interface, you are not able to switch back to the standard interface within the column.

    valueformat=

    This line represents the format used to display the valuefield. The valueformat identifies whether an object or field displays as text, number, percentage, or date.

    We recommend using HTML for your valueformat, especially when using valueexpression, to ensure the most accurate display of your information.

    For information about additional values for this line, see Use conditional formatting in Text Mode.

    valueexpression=

    You can add this line to replace valuefield, if you want to display a calculated field in the column.

    You must enclose the valuefield of the objects in curly brackets every time you use it in a valueexpression.

    The following scenarios exist:

    1. If you want to display a field in a column in upper case, you would use:

      Example: valueexpression=UPPER({valuefield})

      The valuefield of the object is spelled as it appears in the API Explorer.

    2. If you want to add multiple valuefields by stringing them together, you must separate them by a period.

    3. For example, if you want to display the name of the Primary Assignee of a task using valueexpression, you would use:

      Example: valueexpreesion={assignedTo}.{name}

    4. If you want to use a custom field in a valueexpression line you must precede the name of the field by DE: to indicate that it is a custom field. The name of the field is spelled as it appears in the interface.

      Important: When you use a custom field that is placed in a custom form section that has restricted permissions for some users, the calculation of the valueexpression is blank when those users view this calculation in a report. For information about adjusting permissions on custom form sections, see Create or edit a custom form.

      For example, if you have a custom field labeled "Developer Name" and you want to display this field in upper case in a column, you can use the following valueexpression to indicate this:

      Example: valueexpression=UPPER({DE:Developer Name})

      When referencing a Typeahead type custom field, use the following expression to reference the name of the object selected in a field labeled "Developer Name":

      valueexpression=UPPER({DE:Developer Name:name})

    descriptionkey= / description=

    This line defines the text of a tool tip as you mouse over the name of the column. In this case it is using a key to translate the name value in the description text. If you want to modify the description, change this line to read:

    Example: description=Your Value.

    namekey= / name=

    This line defines the column label. In this case it is using the abbreviated value based on the key.

    If you want to modify the column name you can change this value to:

    Example: name=Your Value

    Name allows you to enter any text for the column name, whilenamekey requires you enter a key that is used to translate the name of a column.

    To change the column name you can also add the displayname line, if one is not present.

    displayname =

    You can add the following line to change the name of a column, which suspends the namekey/name value:

    Example: displayname=Your Value

    querysort= This line defines how the results are sorted when the column header is clicked. If it is not present then the column cannot be sorted after the report is run.
    width=

    This line represents the number of pixels that are used for the column. If the line is omitted or set to 0 (zero) then the column does not appear in the view.

    When you modify this field manually in text mode, you must also add the usewidths=true value to your column.

    usewidths=true You must use this line in addition to the width= line when customizing the width of a column.
    makeFieldEditable= This line defines whether the value displayed in a column is inline editable or not. If this line equals true, the value in the column is inline editable. If this line equals false, the value in the column is not inline editable.
    link.valuefield=

    Insert this line only when you want the value displayed in a column to link to the object associated with it. The link opens the details page of the object. This value should match the valuefield= line. When you insert this, you must also add the link.valueformat= line.

    For example, you can insert link.valuefield=priority in an issue view, and the Priority of the issue displays as a link. Clicking this link opens the Issue page.

    link.valueformat=

    Insert this line only when you have inserted the link.valuefield line to add a link to the value in a column. The link opens the details page of the object. This value should match the valueformat= line and indicates the format used to display the valuefield.

    Important: When viewing the text mode in a built-in column that also includes a link, you notice a number of lines referring to the link. Some of those lines might no longer be supported or are unnecessary when you create your own custom column in text mode and add the link statements to it. The lines that are mandatory when adding a linked value are link.valuefield and link.valueformat.

    aggregator.function=

    This refers to how the values of each column are summarized. There are multiple lines that start with aggregator. and they all refer to the aggregator that summarizes the results of the column.

    As a general rule, the aggregator. lines match those of the column object.

    Example:

    The Planned Hours column in a task report summarized by Sum may look like the following:

    textmode=true valuefield=workRequired valueformat=compound aggregator.function=SUM aggregator.valuefield=workRequired aggregator.displayformat=minutesAsHoursString aggregator.valueformat=compound namekey=workRequired shortview=false

    The aggregator. lines may contain a valuefield or a valueexpression.

  4. Click Apply if you want to save your changes and continue editing the view.

  5. Click Save + Close to save your report.

    Or

    Click Save View to save the view in a list.

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