Custom Field Best Practices

What is covered in this article?

• Understanding Database Tables for Custom Fields in Enroll

• Field Names

• Importing / Exporting / Syncing

• Reporting

 

Understanding Database Tables for Custom Fields in Enroll

Custom fields must be saved to a database table in Enroll when the field is created. The table the field is saved to may impact importing, syncing, etc.

Custom fields can be saved to the following database tables:

• Student Annual  - Stores student information that has the potential to change from year to year (i.e., addresses, phone numbers, guardian info, grades). Most custom fields are stored in the Student Annual table. When in doubt, save your custom field to the Student Annual table.

• Student - Stores basic student information that is not year-specific and will not change from year to year (i.e., student name, birthdate, gender, race). It is rare that you would save a custom field to the Student table.

• Application - Stores data that is specific to the student’s program that was selected in the Application process (e.g., entrance exam score for that program). 

• Registration - Stores data that is specific to the student’s school that they are registering for. It is very rare that you would save a custom field to the registration table.

Field Names

• Do not give a field the same name as another field, even if it is stored in a different database table. It can be difficult to identify fields when reporting and reviewing change logs if the fields have exactly the same name.

Importing / Exporting / Syncing

• Data cannot be imported into the Registration table but can be imported into standard and custom fields in the Students, Student Annual, and Application tables.

Reporting

• If you are unable to add your custom field to a report, make sure that you have first included other dependent tables in your report. (e.g., You must have Student or Student Annual tables included in your report before any Application fields become available to include.)

• Use Report Builder instead of Sync Service when reporting on fields in the Application table because Sync exports only registration records, not application records.