Option lists

An option list is a named set of values that a column may hold. Attach one to a column and every form that shows it offers a menu; the server checks against the same list, so a value nobody can pick is also a value nobody can send.

Studio → Option lists.

The three built in

List	What it holds
Countries	The 249 ISO 3166-1 country codes
US states	The 50 states, DC and the territories
Gender	Female, male, other

Their names are shown in the reader’s language; their values are the codes, which is what your column stores. They cannot be edited — but Make an editable copy gives you your own list seeded from one, which can be.

Making your own

A list is a key, a name and the options. Each option is a value — what goes in the column — and optionally a label and a colour.

The value is the contract. Your reports, your exports and anything else reading the table see it, so a value is worth choosing once and keeping: shipped outlives “Shipped (new process)”.

Store the label instead of the code

Some tables were built to hold Germany, not DE. Turn on Store the label instead of the code and the column keeps the label while the list still decides what is allowed.

Turn it on for an existing column only if the rows already hold labels — otherwise new rows will disagree with old ones, and Adminium cannot tell them apart.

Attaching a list to a column

Studio → Schema → a column → Rules → Option list. A rule that names a list is checked against the list that exists: naming one nothing defines is refused at the save, because a rule that quietly checks nothing is worse than no rule — the form would promise it.

A column whose own type already fixes its values (a CHECK constraint, a native PostgreSQL enum) does not take a list. The database has already answered the question, and the answer is shown in Schema → Design.

A list that is in use

Deleting a list that a column names is refused, by name: the columns using it are listed so you can remove the rule there first.

Removing a value from a list does not change rows that already hold it. They keep the value, the form shows it marked as no longer in the list, and nothing is rewritten behind your back.

Lists in a project folder

Option lists are configuration, so they are part of a project folder: each one is a file under lists/, and adminium check validates them like everything else.