Bamboo Lookup Selectors are essentially more powerful versions of the standard lookup columns included in SharePoint. 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.
The Bamboo Lookup Selector works in almost exactly the same way, but provides additional features and functionality missing from the out-of-the-box lookup column. You set up the column by providing a source list, and source column. Then, the Lookup Selector feeds those values into a drop down menu for the user.
Additionally, the Bamboo Lookup Selector allows you to take lookups a step further, by optionally using the user-entered value in one field (a “parent” column) to determine the choices presented in a subsequent one (a “child” column). To set up a dependent relationship via a Bamboo Lookup Selector column, you need to establish several things.
- The Source List, which contains all of the information that the Lookup Selector will need to reference
- The Display Column, located on the Source List, which contains all of the possible values for the Lookup Selector
- The Filter Column, also located on the Source List, which is used to filter out irrelevant data from the full Display Column
- The Trigger Column, a pre-existing column located on the current List. When a user selects a value from this column, the choices available from the Lookup Selector column will change accordingly.
Here’s how the Lookup Selector column uses this information.
- The user selects a value from the Trigger column.
- SharePoint then takes the selected value, and compares it to the values located in the Filter Column (on the Source List).
- SharePoint instantly builds a list of possible choices by listing the Display Column values for rows with Filter Columns that match the value of the Trigger Column. These results are displayed in the Lookup Selector drop-down menu.
In short, the Bamboo Lookup Selector creates “dependent fields”. What you see in a dependent field relies on what was entered in a previous field.
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