How does it work?
The Lookup Selector Columns is a more powerful version of the standard lookup column included in SharePoint out-of-the-box. They both work by giving users a drop-down list of choices that are pulled from a separate SharePoint list, allowing you to leverage existing data and restrict user-input to a certain set of pre-existing values. However, the Lookup Selector Column allows you to enter the URL of the site where the separate SharePoint list resides. The SharePoint Lookup column can select from lists within the current site only. When you choose the list and the specific column to display in the Lookup Selector Column, only the distinct values of that column will be shown. No duplicate values will confuse the user.
Additionally, the Lookup Selector Column allows you to take lookups a step further, by optionally using a value in another column to determine the choices presented in the lookup. This is called a dependent lookup. To set one up, you need to establish a few things:
- Current List – the list where you are configuring a dependent Lookup Selector Column;
- Source List – the list where the lookup values reside;
- Display Column – the column to be displayed from the Source List;
- Trigger Column – a column located in the Current List that will be used to filter the values to be displayed in the dependent lookup column.
- Filter Column, a column in the Source List which is used to filter out irrelevant data from the full Display Column. The values displayed in a dependent Lookup Selector Column will be from those items in the Source list where the value of the Trigger Column equals the value of the Filter Column.
Features
- Unlike standard SharePoint lookup columns, can reference lists located outside of the current site.
- Hide duplicate entries from a lookup-style field’s drop-down selection. Users only see distinct values.
- Allow list owners to create dependent relationships between two or more columns, so that the value of a parent column dictates what choices are available in the child column (which, optionally, could then dictate the values in subsequent child column).
- Find-as-you-type functionality – simply type the first few letters of a desired value to quickly select it.
- Allows for multiple or single selections.
- Automatically updates lookup values as the source list data is changed.