Using the Country2 field
A Countries business object (Country2) has been introduced that will replace the Country picklist (LAND).
 | The existing picklist for Country (LAND) should no longer be used and will be phased out - see Use new improved reference field for Country. |
In addition, a new field has been introduced, which is a proper reference to the Countries business object: Country2 (translated as: Country). So, there are now two Country fields (Country and Country2).
• For existing customers, this means that they should switch to using this new field (Improved feature).
• New customers are recommended to use the Country2 field from the start.
One of the advantages of having the Country2 business object - as opposed to the picklist - is that its entries can be translated (as country names are not the same in different languages).
Using the Country2 field
The Country2 field is a proper reference field that derives its value from the Countries business object.
This means that if a country is deleted from the Countries business object, the reference value will automatically be empty (which is not the case with the Country field).
Preparing the Country-City structure
By having a proper Country-City structure, the business objects behave hierarchically, which means that if you navigate from Countries to Cities, you only get to see the cities of the selected country. This structure must first be configured:
Procedure
1. Go to TSIs, select Cities and set it Under construction.
2. Add a new level and step: Countries.
◦ Add the Country level (with the + button) before Cities so that you can navigate from Country > City.
◦ Select the Country level and add the Country step (with the + button)
You can now proceed to add the Country2 field to the layout.
You can either use Country2 as a proper reference field, or as a Free reference field - as described in the following sections.
Using Country2 as a proper field
Procedure
1. Go to Layouts and select the business object on which you have a City/Country field and set it Under construction.
2. On the Layouts step, drag the Country2 field to the correct position on the grid.
3. Set the business object to Completed.
The Country2 field is now available for use.
Using Country2 as a Free reference field
Procedure
1. In Field definer , select the business object for which you have a free City/Country field.
2. Set the business object Under construction and set a Free reference (FreeInteger) field In use and select Country2 as Field type.
3. Set the business object to Completed.
4. In Layouts, add the Free reference field to the layout.
You will now be able to use this reference field as a proper reference to the translatable Countries business object.
Making the Countries business object translatable (optional)
An additional advantage of the Country2 business object is that you can enable it to be translated so that the proper translations will be shown in various languages.
Procedure
1. Go to Field definer , select the Country2 business object and set it Under construction.
2. Set the field Is user-translatable? to Yes.
3. Set the business object back to Completed.
4. Go to TSIs, select Cities and set it Under construction.
5. On the action panel, click Jump to Layouts.
6. Add the field LangFieldDetail to the layout.
7. Set the TSI back to Completed.
The Countries business object is now translatable.
If you go to > and select a country from the elements list, you will now be able to add translated names for the different languages in your system.
 | Also check the video on Making 'Countries' translatable on our Planon Software channel. |