Boolean fields

A Boolean field contains a value that is either true or false. There are two most common uses for Boolean fields:

• Boolean fields may be used to indicate whether the real world entity represented by a record is classified in a certain way or not. For example, a Boolean field may be used to indicate if a task is a milestone, if a lease includes a particular service, or if a country uses the Euro as its currency.

For classifications having more than two possibilities, it is usually simpler and less confusing to use the List or Classification data types.

• Boolean fields may be used as an alternative to state transitions to note things about the current state of something. Boolean fields are sometimes more useful for this purpose if you need to reason about combinations of states. For example, boolean variables may be used to note if the data in a record is up to date, if a document has been reviewed, or if a piece of equipment needs to be picked up rather than being delivered. Having three Boolean fields to represent these things would avoid having at least eight states in the state transition family to represent the eight possible combinations of possibilities.

Boolean fields display as checked/unchecked check boxes in non-editable queries and reports.

Boolean fields can be selected as runtime filters or as static filters in metric queries.

To filter a Boolean field, use the values TRUE and/or FALSE.

The form uses all of the usual field properties, which are described in "Field properties".

To minimize user confusion, do not check the Required check box for a Boolean field. Required is useful for data types that allow a distinction to be made between fields that contain a value and those that do not. A Boolean field always contains a true or false value. Since there is always a value in a Boolean field, making it required is meaningless.