When defining dependent picklists, review these considerations.
Required Editions
Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience
Available in: All Editions
User Permissions Needed
To define and edit dependent picklists:
Customize Application
Checkboxes
Checkbox fields can be controlling fields but not dependent fields.
Connect Offline
While controlling fields and dependent picklists are available in Connect Offline, the
logic between them isn’t.
Converting fields
When you convert existing fields to dependent picklists or controlling fields, it
doesn’t affect the existing values in your records. After conversion, the dependency rules
apply to new records and to any changes to existing records.
Default values
You can prepopulate a record event with default values in dependent picklists.
Default values on dependent picklists are available on accounts, opportunities,
contacts, leads, and custom objects.
If the Automated Account Field setting is enabled, you can’t prepopulate dependent
picklists with default values.
Dependency limitations
Before defining a dependency, make sure that your picklist has at least one value.
Standard fields such as Product Family don’t contain values until you add them.
If a standard controlling field relies on functionality that you disable, then the
dependency rules for the picklist no longer apply. For example, if you disable the
Self-Service portal, and Closed by Self-Service User is a controlling field, its dependent
picklist shows all available values.
If you replace a parent value in a controlling picklist, the picklist dependency is
lost. After replacing the parent value, re-create the dependency by using the new parent
value.
You can update the field dependency of a managed controller picklist field only
from the UI and not by using the Metadata API.
Picklist dependencies are created based on the API names of individual picklist
values. If these API names are modified after the dependency is configured, the
dependent field relationship doesn’t work as expected.
Field-level security
Field-level security settings for a controlling field and dependent picklist are
independent. Remember to hide a controlling field whenever its correlating dependent picklist
is hidden.
Import
The Data Import Wizard doesn’t consider field dependencies. You can import any value
into a dependent picklist regardless of the value imported for a controlling field.
Lead conversion
If you create a dependency for lead fields that map to account, contact, and opportunity
fields for lead conversion, create the same dependency on the account, contact, or
opportunity.
You can map dependent picklists and controlling lead fields to account, contact, or
opportunity fields with different dependency rules.
Lightning pages
Dynamic Forms-enabled Lightning pages that contain dependent picklists must also
contain their controlling picklist fields, or the dependent picklist values don't
appear.
Multi-select picklists
Multi-select picklists can be dependent picklists but not controlling fields.
Page layouts
Page layouts that contain dependent picklists must also contain their controlling
picklist fields, or the dependent picklist values don't appear.
Make sure that the dependent picklist is lower on the page layout than its controlling
field.
If a dependent picklist is required and no values are available for it based on the
controlling field value, users can save the record without entering a value. The record is
saved with no value for that field.
Picklist limitations
A controlling field can have up to 300 values. If a field is both a controlling field
and dependent picklist, it can’t contain more than 300 values.
No checks are performed for dependent fields when a controlling field is
updated.
These fields aren’t available as controlling fields.
Activity Fields
Call Type
Create recurring series of events
Show Time As
Subject
Task
Type
Contact Fields
Salutation
Contact Currency
Custom Object Fields
Currency
Lead Fields
Converted
Unread By Owner
Record types
You can define or change the record type for your dependent picklist only within the
Preview dialog when creating or editing the field dependency values. The record type controls what values are
available in the controlling field. The record type and the controlling field together
determine what values are available in the dependent picklist. For example, a dependent
value is only available if it’s available in the selected record type and the selected
controlling value.
Standard versus custom picklists
Custom picklist fields can be either controlling or dependent fields.
Standard picklist fields can be controlling fields but not dependent fields.
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