A literal is an alphanumeric or special character that is used as a separator between two attributes, or as a prefix or suffix to an attribute.
For example, if a user selected Smith, John as the applicant in a loan record, set Loan as the default category, and entered 20,000 as the loan amount, and the three attributes containing these values are added to the Loan naming pattern, the name of the project would be saved as Smith, JohnLoan20,000. Adding literals to the three attributes would create a clearer name for your users.
For example, you can add an apostrophe "s" with a space after it ('s ) as a literal after the contact attribute and a hyphen with two spaces around it. After adding these literals, the name of the project would be saved as Smith, John's Loan - 20,000. Otherwise, you can add a space as a separate character.
Important: A name cannot consist of literals only, it must have attributes.
You can select the literals you want to use in your naming patterns from the Object Attributes section of the Name tab of the custom object definition.
Literals and Object Attributes on Name Tab
The following table describes the items in the Object Attributes section of the Name tab that you use to specify literals.
Field
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Description
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Item type
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Select Literal to add a literal to the record naming pattern.
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Literal text field
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Enter the appropriate characters to create either a separator between two attributes, or a prefix or suffix for an attribute.
Tip: To add spaces between literals and attributes, type the space together with the literal, for example, a space before and after a slash. To add a space between two attributes, you must add it as a separate literal called space character.
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Format
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Select the format for the literal by selecting one of the following options:
•Always show this item—The literal always displays as part of the name when the user saves the record. For example, if creating a literal "record," you may want the word "record" to always appear in the name. •Don't show if the previous item is null—The literal will not display if the object attribute before it has no value or is non-existent. For example, if creating a literal "'s," you may not want the "'s" to appear if there is no name in front of it. |
Order
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Enter an integer to indicate the display Order of the literals.
The integer you enter reflects exactly where in the naming pattern you want the literal to be displayed (at the beginning or end of an attribute, or between two attributes).
Items with the same display order are sorted and displayed alphabetically.
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Item List
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Displays the object attributes and literals that are used in name pattern for projects.
Select the check-box of the desired attribute or literal and click either the edit or delete buttons to make changes.
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