Develop > Tailoring > Data management > Help systems > Field help editor > How does Service Manager determine which help record to display?

How does Service Manager determine which help record to display?

A field help record must have a field name and either a table name or a form name to be displayed.

  • The default record for a field must have the field name and the table name, but no form name. HPE Service Manager displays the default help record for a field for all forms that use the field, excluding those that have a form specific help record.
  • A form specific help record for a field includes the form name. Service Manager only displays that particular help record when it displays that particular form.

If there is no help record for a field, Service Manager displays “No Description”.

If there is no form name or table name in a help record, Service Manager will not display that record as help on a field. However, you can still search for the record and open it using the Field help editor. This is useful if you want to create a glossary of terms, for example.

Best practice

To ensure consistent field descriptions on all forms, omit the form name from the field help record.

If you add a form name to a field help record, the text displays only when Service Manager displays that form. Adding a form name can be a useful technique for documenting special forms, but may increase the number of help records to maintain.