Using grid controls to manage multiple records

Note: Since 5.3 release, the Revised Grid Control is no longer supported.

Grid controls allow users to add, attach, detach, edit and delete a group of related records while editing a parent record. Grids enforce user permissions. For example, a user with only view permission would not be able to create or update records. See Access control for more information about permissions.

You can add a grid to the New, Edit, or Status pages where objects have the following types of relationships:

  • A parent object that has a one-to-many relationship with a child object, such as a purchase order might have to line items. The grid will display the related records on the "many" side.
  • Both objects in many-to-many relationships.

The following screen illustrates a grid control in a room reservation system:

Grid Control on Application Page

You can add a grid control to a page when creating a relationship, or you can add a grid control to an existing page using the page editor. A grid control and a lookup field for the same related records cannot exist on the same page. To add a grid control to a page with a lookup field, you must first remove the lookup field. See Relationships between objects for more information about lookup fields.

Grid Control Examples and API describes how to customize grid behavior using the client-side AJAX API.

Rich Text Editing for Grid Control Text Area Fields

Grid controls now support editable rich text area fields. The text area field in the grid does support inline editing, but the rich text toolbar is not shown until expanded. Users can edit and format content by expanding the grid to open a full-screen editor with full toolbar access.

To enable Rich Text Editing for Grid Control Text Area Fields, do the following:

  • Navigate to any relevant record page.

  • Select the tab containing the grid control.

  • From the Grid Configuration, within the field list, locate the text area field. and clear the Read Only checkbox.

  • Save the configuration.

  • Within the grid, click inside the text area to edit content directly.

  • To access rich text formatting tools, expand the text-area field to open the full-screen editor.

  • Use the toolbar provided in full-screen mode to format text.

  • Save changes and Exit the full-screen editor when finished.

See the following topics for more information about grid controls: