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JoshVH Task/Event Type Field on Custom Report Type
Why can I not put the standard Task/Event "Type" field on a custom report type that includes activities? It seems like a no brainer that the Type field should be on there for filtering purposes. I would use the standard report types for activities but I want to filter by contact id and that field is not available to me in the standard reports just the contact name. When I say the standard reports I mean that ones that are called "Activities with Custom Object". So my tasks are "Related To" the custom object and the "Who" is the contact id. I can get all of the information I need with a custom report type except for the "Type" field it will not allow me to put that field on the report layout. Any ideas?
I have escalated this case to salesforce support and this is what I got for the moment:
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When creating a Custom Report Type (CRT) using activities you will lose the ability to report on activity type. This is because the internal representation is not like our normal picklists, and so it’s difficult to expose.
The workaround in this situation is to create a workflow or formula which will copy the values fo the activity type field into a new custom field on Activities which is reportable. This is now possible with the Summer '08 release and replacing the need to use APEX which was the workaround before the Summer '08 release.
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I am waiting for further response as we are very keen to understand if this issue is a bug or a feature request.
More updates soon...
S
JoshVH -
I'm running into a similar issue and was wondering if you were able to successfully create the Formula Field that needs to be auto popoulated?
I have tried to create this custom Field on activities via a Formula, but cannot reference the ActivityType.
I have also looked into creating a work flow rule for a Type, but again canont assign the Type to a text field because it is a picklist value.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
Parker
I came across this same issue and needed to show Type on a custom report type. I wanted to use a custom field and a workflow rule/field update and ensure that existing Activities would be updated as well.
I reviewed this post and then implemented this process:
1. Created a custom text field on activities called Activity Type. Added reason why (standard field not available in custom report types) to the field description. Did not add this field to the page layout.
2. Created a workflow rule for activities where Type not equal to " " (null). Set it to run when a record is created or edited.
3. Created a field update on the workflow rule to pass TEXT(Type) to custom Activity Type field.
4. Activated the workflow rule.
5. Created a custom text field on activities called Admin Filter (not added to page layout and only available to admin) so that I could mass fill this field and then force the workflow to run on all records. I used the Mass Update Anything tool. (But any other mass data editing tool would work.)
6. Using Mass Update Anything, queried Activities.
7. Filled my custom hidden Admin Filter field with "*".
8. Saved the changes, thus forcing existing records to be updated by the workflow rule.
I hope that a breakdown of the process helps if you are wondering how to force a workflow update of existing records. (This also works for forcing new or modified triggers to fire.)
If there's a better method out there or someone else has other advice, please share.
We need to be able to add the Activity Type field in Custom Report Types.
This solution would be great, but we don't have workflow in Professional Edition.
I tried adding a custom field to reference the Activity Type in a formula, but found we can't access this field in formulas!
I don't understand why it can't be referenced in either formulas or the Custom Report Types.
Any suggestions on how to get around this in Professional Edition?
Thanks,
Mary
I tried to use this solution but hit a wall because I am limited to the Data Loader and the XL Connector. I cannot use the Mass Update tool to update the Admin Filter field. Is there a work around?
You should be able to update using the Excel Connector.
You can do a query where all Admin_Filter__c = "" (null)
Then put a character, such as an asterisk, in the field and use the Update function. This will force your workflow to run, if you have created it correctly and activated it.
Let me know if you get stuck.
Is this why I am not able to use this field in the REST API?
No such column 'Type' on sobject of type Event,
"errorCode":"INVALID_FIELD"
How Would I update that field?
SOAP API?