Add ability to monitor for and insert values into picklist field that are not available in the picklist

Related products: CS Rules & Permissions

Sometimes automation, or dataloading is used to insert values into picklist fields that do not exist in the picklist field. It would be useful to have the ability to monitor for and insert values into picklist fields that do not exit there by adding the option to write in when reading from, or writing to a picklist instead of just being able to select one of the available picklist options.
Will - Had a discussion with the team on this. We feel that this might get tricky when there is a data issue or configuration issue the picklist might get bloated with Junk values and make this tedious to clean up.


We need to build some more sophistication on the limits / controls  before we allow this feature in Rules Engine.

We are running into this with our Industry field in Salesforce constantly having new values being added to it that are not matched in Gainsight. While yes, some control would be great, please give us the option to determine that as admins. Right now we have entire records not updating with data from Salesforce via the Connector due to this issue. I want the ability for Gainsight to autodetect and add new values so we’re not constantly having to do this manually. 


Part of the monitor could use picklist field ID’s to find unmatched between the two systems.  I believe this is doable from a hypothetical perspective as we have implemented this “unmatched” logic for duplicate account issues based on our underlying system “challenges” and were able to rapidly move invalid accounts to inactive status.

You would need the ability to sync/store the id value in GS as well.


I think this is would also need to be solved if GS wants to move to a more universal bidirectional sync anyways. It would certainly cut down on headaches between SFDC and GS admin teams as field values update and change.

 

Shameless plug for character parity in picklist values, which can also be a failure cause between systems 

 


+1


@Cornelia any idea why this has died in committee?


Hey @bradley let me quickly check with the Product Manager and check if they could revert here to give you an update on the same. 


Would love a way to keep picklists up to date without manual intervention every time


 

@darkknight @bradley Is the use case for this ask same as what the original poster had mentioned? Or there are more use cases where this functionality will be useful?


 

@darkknight @bradley Is the use case for this ask same as what the original poster had mentioned? Or there are more use cases where this functionality will be useful?

@Bhawya are you asking if there are more use cases for syncing picklist values between systems than just syncing picklist values between systems? I don’t know, data integrity? Product stickiness? Data type alignment between systems? Can you clarify what you’re asking?


@bradley If we had a capability to sync pick list from different systems like Salesforce instead of dynamically adding pick list values, will it solve the use case?


@bradley If we had a capability to sync pick list from different systems like Salesforce instead of dynamically adding pick list values, will it solve the use case?

Essentially that’s what we’re asking for - I’m not quite sure how your two options differ though so an example would probably be helpful.

 

On my end, if I have a salesforce picklist/multipicklist mapped to an MDA object field of the same data type, the only way to keep my MDA picklist values up to date with what I’m mapping to it from Salesforce is to do so manually which is not great.


@bradley Let me explain these 2 scenarios with an example -

Scenario 1 : During a data load, we come across a picklist value which is not part of the picklist field - which then needs to be added manually. By automating this picklist value addition, we get rid of manual effort but this might lead to junk values getting added to picklist field.

Scenario 2 : This is same as your example, where salesforce picklist/multipicklist mapped to an MDA object field of same data type has got new picklist values , which then needs to be manually updated in gainsight currently. In this case, automating the sync between salesforce picklist values and gainsight will ensure no manual effort is needed.

So, my question is - If we provide functionality to handle scenario 2, will it solve the use case?


@bradley Let me explain these 2 scenarios with an example -

Scenario 1 : During a data load, we come across a picklist value which is not part of the picklist field - which then needs to be added manually. By automating this picklist value addition, we get rid of manual effort but this might lead to junk values getting added to picklist field.

Scenario 2 : This is same as your example, where salesforce picklist/multipicklist mapped to an MDA object field of same data type has got new picklist values , which then needs to be manually updated in gainsight currently. In this case, automating the sync between salesforce picklist values and gainsight will ensure no manual effort is needed.

So, my question is - If we provide functionality to handle scenario 2, will it solve the use case?

Yes, if we can sync values coming and going that would be great (scenario 2).

 

The one caveat to all of this is that currently Gainsight cannot ‘see’ deactivated picklist values. So if a picklist value is deactivated in Salesforce but there are still records with that deactivated picklist, any sync job will fail. If you solve for that in the process than :money_mouth:


 

Hi @bradley , thanks for providing this clarity. We will look into this use case/functionality and update here once there is any confirmation on timelines.

 

 


 

Hello! Happy to let you all know, this feature is part of connectors team roadmap and will be tentatively picked up in Q2/Q3 2022.

 

Thanks!

 


Updated idea statusUnder ConsiderationAcknowledged
Idea merged into:

All the votes from this idea have been transferred.

Idea merged into:

All the votes from this idea have been transferred.