In Settings | Data I created a new custom metadata, being a single-line text. I added one Value in the Settings | Data dialogue.
I set up a column for that single-line text field in my database.
Against a document in that database I selected the Value established in the Data dialogue. It auto-completed when I typed in the first letter.
Against a second document in that database I typed in a second Value.
I returned to Settings | Data and noted that in the Values box only the first Value created using the plus button in that box appears. The second Value created in the column in the database is not there.
In the database, if I type the first characters of the second Value in the relevant column, the Value does not autocomplete.
According to the current DT manual:
“Single-line Text: A dropdown providing a list of terms you defined for the field in the Data preferences. You can also type in a new value.”
I read this to mean that if I “type in a new value” (in the column) it would be added to the list of terms defined for the field. But the Data dialogue (Values box) does not reflect this.
Also in the DT manual:
“Set: Similar to the Single-line text, this shows a dropdown with values pre-defined for the field in the Data preferences. However, new values can’t be entered outside the preferences.”
The behaviour I am experiencing is in line with a Set, however the metadata item I established is definitely a Single-line Text.
Is Single-line Text not working as intended, or am I missing something here?
Single-line text is not a set and therefore accepts any input. Either (!) the values defined in Preferences > Data are used for autocompletion or the last 10 entered values.
I hope there is an option (perhaps a hidden preference) to disable autocompletion of recent values for a specific field.
An example: One of my fields records the volume information of ebooks. On one occasion I entered «2.1» which denotes first part of second volume. For all subsequent entries, autocompletion would suggest «2.1» when I just want a simple «2». That is not desirable behavior from the user’s perspective, because autocompletion actually increases the number of keystrokes required to complete an action.
My current solution is to set the field type to identifier, rather than single-line text. (Decimal number is not suitable in my case, because Chinese books usually use “上，ä¸ďĽŚä¸‹â€ť (lit. upper, middle, lower) to denote volumes.) This, however, is not an intended use of the identifier type.
However the last entered value in the column will not (when typed into another line, same column) autocomplete. Is this a bug or am I misinterpreting this?
And just to confirm:
It is not intended that a value entered into a column will be listed in the Value box in Settings | Data if not previously entered in the Settings | Data dialogue.
The only way to add to that Value box is within Settings | Data?
Typing new content for custom metadata in the item list will not add it to the values of a Single-Line Text attribute in the preferences. If you have a value you want to used repeatedly, you need to add it to the values in the preferences.
As to “the last entered value in the column will not (when typed into another line, same column) autocomplete”. This remains the case for the first entered value (and I haven’t typed in 10 or more values so far). However, the second entered value will autocomplete. So, a bit of a mystery, though not a significant issue for me.
Please see attached screenshot of the field. (Note: I have not had the issue of autocomplete not working arise since the one occasion reported earlier in thread).
