Disclosure: I work at Skyfall Labs, an official Zoho Partner, so I have a commercial interest. The facts below are from Zoho's own help pages, linked at the end; advice is labelled as advice. Originally published on skyfallhq.net.
Messy free-choice dropdowns lead to reports that cannot be trusted: the same thing recorded three ways. Zoho offers Map Dependency, where the options in one field depend on the value of another, and global sets, which share one list across picklists. This post sets out what Zoho's pages say.
Map Dependency, per Zoho
- Zoho describes a parent-child relationship: Map Dependency controls which child-field options appear for each selected parent option.
- Parent and child can be any option-based field in the layout or subform: picklist, multi-select picklist or radio button. Multi-select picklists can only be child fields, and a child can also be a parent in another mapping.
- The layout must contain at least two option-based fields. Subform parent fields can only map to fields in the same subform.
- It needs administrative privileges. Setup path: Setup, Customization, Modules and Fields, open the module, Map Dependency Fields.
- Steps: Create Map Dependency, select the layout, parent field and child field, map the values, check the Preview screen and Save. After saving, child values change with the parent when records are created or edited.
- Zoho's page gives a search bar for more than 10 options and an Advanced view for 50 or more options.
What that page does not say
The Map Dependency page I read does not state a maximum number of dependency levels or mappings, the effect on existing records, API support, or which editions include it. Check these in your own account before relying on them.
Global sets, per Zoho
- Global sets are collections of picklist values that can be associated with multiple picklists across modules. You can link only the whole set to a picklist, not parts of it.
- Zoho says changing a global set value updates it in all associated picklists and in existing records, workflow rules, field updates and reports.
- A picklist can be switched from local values to a global set and back. Values present in both are mapped automatically; local values missing from the set must be mapped manually.
- Users need the Modules Customization permission. Zoho lists limits by edition on the page; check them for your edition.
Layouts also affect what people see
Zoho's page-layouts FAQ says the picklist values a user can see depend on their layout access: with 3 layouts and 5 values each for a picklist, a user with access to 2 layouts sees 10 values.
Pitfalls (practical advice)
This section is advice from experience, not vendor documentation.
- Agree one list of values with the people who use the reports before building dependencies; changing a messy list is harder than starting clean.
- Prefer a global set where several modules need the same list, so one change is made once.
- Test a dependency on a few records in a sandbox first, and check how existing records with now-invalid combinations behave in your account.
- Keep dependency chains short so users are not forced through long cascades of dropdowns.
