Pick lists

A pick list contains values that a user can select in a cell.

The values in a pick list correspond to the members of a dimension or set of a dimension. If the members of the dimension or the set change, the values available in the pick list also change. A pick list can also contain a static list of values that you specify when you create the pick list.

You can create the following types of pick lists:
Static
The pick list contains only the values that you specify.
Subset
The pick list references the values in the set. If the values in the set change, then the values in the pick list also change.
Dimension
The pick list references the values in the dimension. If the values in the dimension change, then the values in the pick list also change.

For example, a pick list is useful when staff managers do performance planning; they can assign a performance grade to their staff by using pick lists to select from a fixed list of values, such as Low, Medium, High, and Excellent, instead of typing a free form text string. If you set a pick list on a member with an existing format, the operation removes the format.

A pick list could also be used to select job codes or months.

You can create a pick list in IBM® Planning Analytics Workspace in the following ways:

Important considerations

Cell edits applied through data spreading operations and TurboIntegrator processes are not validated. Edits applied through either of these methods can result in cell values that do not conform to valid pick list values. Data spreading can be applied to cells containing pick lists only through the data spreading dialog boxes; data spreading shortcuts cannot be used in cells containing pick lists.

When defining a pick list that contains numeric values, you must use the Cultural Invariant style, which uses a period (.) as a decimal separator. The Cultural Invariant style is equivalent to English style.