Default value rule – prefill a field of a new record¶
A default value rule fills a field once, when a new record is created. Afterwards the field belongs to the user. This page describes its settings and behaviour. It is intended for administrators who configure business rules.
1. At a glance¶
| Purpose | Prefills a field of a new record |
| Typical use | Today's date, the current user as owner, a status "New", a value from a global value |
| Related | Calculation rule (keeps a value up to date), Set before save rule (on every save) |
2. Settings¶
| Setting | Meaning | Default / required |
|---|---|---|
| "Field" | The field that receives the default value | required |
| "Value" | The expression that computes the default value. It is evaluated against the new record. | required |
| "Disabled" | The rule does not run | off |
Plus "Display Name", "Description" and "Tags" (see Business rules).
3. Behaviour¶
- The rule runs once, right after a new record was created and before the user sees it – in a form, in an action that creates a record and through the REST API.
- It never touches existing records, also not when you create the rule later.
- Writing the value is a normal field change. The validation rules of the field check it, and it can start calculation rules and event based rules. A value that a validation rule rejects is not set; the field stays empty.
- Default value rules run before the calculation rules with "Trigger on record creation". These calculations therefore see all default values.
- Several default value rules of one entity run in no defined order. A default value expression should therefore not read a field that another default value rule fills.
- A rule without "Field" or "Value" does nothing. If the selected expression no longer exists, however, creating a record of the entity fails with an error until you fix the rule.
4. Examples¶
Owner. Entity Ticket, "Field" = Owner, "Value" = the id of the current user. Every new ticket starts with the user who creates it; the user can hand it over to someone else.
Status. Entity Ticket, "Field" = Status, "Value" = the text New. If a list
validation rule restricts Status, New must be one of its values – otherwise the default value
is rejected and the field stays empty.
Due date. Entity Task, "Field" = Due date, "Value" = today plus 5 business days (a date calculation with business hours).
5. Limitations¶
- No order between several default value rules.
- A default value that a validation rule rejects is dropped without a message.
- Records created before the rule existed do not get the value.