Sean Wallbridge
I’m getting asked this a lot, of whether you can have a choice column in a SharePoint list provide a list of values and based on the selection in that list, have another choice column display relevant choices. For example, if you choose Canada as a country from a ‘countries’ list, you would then be presented with a list of provinces as a ‘Provinces’ list and could choose BC, for instance.
The bad news: Nope, it ain’t built into WSS 3.0 or MOSS 2007 and readily available (are you listening Microsoft, for future versions?)
The good news: The fine folks at Bamboo have webparts just for this (the one in particular is called “Bamboo Lookup Selector”, and it is also available as part of their Bamboo SharePoint Custom Column 4-Pack). A quick run down of what is in the 4-Pack ($1200, the individual Lookup Selector is $300 by itself):
Reference: http://store.bamboosolutions.com/onlinedoc/Default.aspx?AppName=HW41AN%20Overview.html&ProductID=75
Get It: http://store.bamboosolutions.com/ps-75-5-sharepoint-custom-column-pack.aspx
- The Bamboo Selector column eliminates duplicate entries in a single lookup column. If you create a standard lookup field which points to a column, and that column contains multiple instances of the same entry, the lookup column will include all of those references in the lookup field. A Bamboo Selector field, however, will only display unique values. It also enables users to quickly filter the available choices by typing the first several letters of their selection.
- The Bamboo Linked Selector column includes all of the functionality of the Bamboo Selector, and can also create a dependant relationship between two lookup fields, so that the value selected in one affects the available values in the other. This enables you to base the choices listed under “City” on the value selected in “State”, so that the user is only presented with relevant choices.
- The Bamboo Rich Text column enables you to store large amounts of styled, formatted text within a SharePoint column, allowing content such as Knowledge Base articles and internal documents to be stored without resorting to attachments or document libraries. Bamboo Rich Text columns also support the use of embedded images (and automatic uploading to a specified Picture Library), and enable the use of a multi-language spell check function during editing.
- The Bamboo Visual Indicator column allows you to display list information as a Color Indicator (choice/lookup information) or a Percentage/Status Bar (percentage information). The Color Indicator supports a large number of choices, and can be customized to display a different color for each.