2734323 - Please Do Not Change Field Types in SuccessFactors Recruiting Templates

What happens if field types are changed in SF Recruiting templates?

SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting Management

• It is NOT ADVISED to change types in the templates, as the Recruiting module uses field types to build columns inside the Database along the field id, and that is where the system stores information related to that field id and type.
• Depending on the type, the system stores information differently.
• Changing the type of the field in any template might result in a data loss and/or corruption, and may not be revertible.

For Example:

Let's say you have a field id="MyField" with type="picklist" pointing to a specific picklist. Perhaps you changed the type of this field to type="text", since the system when using picklist storages the OptionID of the picklist, you may end up losing the reference of the picklist and then in your system from now on you will only have the number of the OptionID displaying in your system.

Another Example:

If you changed a type="date" to type="text" or any other, as the system composes the name of the column in the database using this information, you will end up losing the information in this field, and also lose the historical data. In other words, you will not even be able to report on this field information anymore.

Note: If you absolutely must change a field type, the best possible option would be to create a new field with the new desired type, then hide the old field to avoid data loss or data corruption.

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