Limit Select Options with Permissions? (Multiselect or Single Select)

[Sistema_Aotearo]

When creating a form, we can limit the options the submitters can select. Is there a way to do a similar set up at the user level?

I was thinking maybe, at the interface level, we'd be able to limit the selection of a single select field. But that doesn't seem to be an option.

Maybe there's another way to do this? Here's my scenario:

I have a dropdown that my users can edit, but I don't want to give them all the options. Maybe I split the options and connect them with formulas?

I have an Inventory Table with a drop-down where users can change the status. Some of the statuses are for office use only, so I'd like those options to be filtered out.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

[TheTimeSavingCo]

Hmm, yeah, splitting the options seems like it'd work.  It seems like you technically have two different statuses you want to track (Office and something else), and so splitting seems like it might be nice in general?  Not sure what that business logic is though!

Hmm, if we replaced that single select with a linked field could we tie the the "Status" records to specific users and then use the interface's "Filter by Current User" thing?  The UX wouldn't be as nice as a dropdown tho

[Sistema_Aotearo]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into setting up a new table for each option, though this seems slightly excessive for the desired purpose. I'd also lose out on the coloured options which is very useful!

As for splitting, the statuses are just each item's storage location.

In the "office", we have many different cupboards, shelves etc. Each specific spot is an option in the dropdown. There are maybe 10 of these options.

For the "something else", it's when an item leaves the building and is being stored on site. My users can change an item's storage location to one of the sites they manage.

These are the things I need from this system. For my users, I'd like them to find any items from our "office" they need quickly, simply by looking at the item's location status. They can then change it to be any of their external sites. When they don't need it anymore, or it breaks, it comes back to the return cupboard in our office, which the users will also have the ability to choose as an option.

I could split these into an "Office Location" dropdown and an "External Location" Dropdown. I just don't know what formulas I could use to display one over the other. If I was looking for item 001, how would I know if it's in the Office Location, or in the External Location?

[kuovonne · Accepted solution]

One option is to use interface button elements to update the record with the new single-select value, instead of having users update the single select directly. Here are two ways of going about this.

- Have one button for each possible single-select choice you want the user to have access to. Use the "update record" action for the button.
- Have a separate helper single-select with only the options allowed. Then have a button that runs an automation that copies the choice from the helper single-select to the actual single select.

If you go with splitting the single-select into two fields, you don't have to loose the colored **bleep** display. Formula fields can now be formatted to look the same as single-select fields, colors and all. As for determining whether the formula would display the {Office Location} or {External Location}, you could have a "returned to office" choice for the {External Location}. If the {External Location} is "returned to office", then use the {Office Location}. (Or vice versa.) You might need some other automations or buttons to keep the two fields in sync with each other.

[Sistema_Aotearo]

Thanks @kuovonne! All these are great solutions!

I've ended up splitting the fields and used the "Returned Cupboard" option as you suggested in both the {Office Location} and {External Location}. I've also made the condition on displaying {office location} be if {external location} returns blank. This way, the "Return Cupboard" option is available to both me and my team and can act as a buffer between the two types of locations.

I also think this will help me expand if we need more specific locations within each external site!