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MSVRadMSVRad 

How to Retrieve Picklist Values

I am writing visualforce pages where I need to retrieve values from a picklist and I know how to do it this way:

 

	public List<SelectOption> getFinalsOptions(){
    	List<SelectOption> Finalsoptions = new List<SelectOption>();
    	Finalsoptions.add(new SelectOption('null','-- Select One --'));
    	Schema.DescribeFieldResult Finals = Schema.sObjectType.Business_Review__c.fields.Interest_in_Finals__c;
    	for (Schema.PickListEntry FinalsPickVal : Finals.getPicklistValues()){
        	// create a selectoption for each pickval
        	Finalsoptions.add(new SelectOption(FinalsPickVal.getValue(),FinalsPickVal.getLabel()));
    	}
    	return Finalsoptions;
    } 
 
Then the visualforce looks like this:
		<apex:pageBlockSectionItem >
		  <apex:outputLabel value="Interest in Finals" />
          	<apex:selectList value="{!Business_Review__c.Interest_in_Finals__c}" size="1">
            	<apex:selectOptions value="{!FinalsOptions}" />
                	<apex:actionSupport reRender="brBlock" event="onchange" status="" />
             	</apex:selectList>
	 	</apex:pageBlockSectionItem> 
 
  
 
The issue is that I can only have so many describe calls and I have a large number of picklist fields where I need to retreieve their values so that I can create a series of dependencies to other fields from the picklist. 
 
So the question summed up: Is there a way to write a query that just extracts the values in a picklist.
If I have a picklist Month__c with values: jan, feb, mar, apr, may, jun, jul, etc... How do I write a query just to get the values from that field?
 
I have found some information about possibly using a map:
Map<String, Schema.SObjectField> M = Schema.SObjectType.Account.fields.getMap();
I am just not sure how to get the value that I need from the map. So that I can extract the picklist values.
 
Any suggestions - I have not been successful so far.
 
Thanks in advance!
Message Edited by MSVRad on  12-17-2009 12:52 PM


ShikibuShikibu
How about something like this:
 
 
public static String getPicklistValues(Sobject obj, String fieldName) {
    Schema.sObjectType t = obj.getSObjectType();
    Schema.DescribeSObjectResult objDesc = t.getDescribe();
    Map<String, Schema.SObjectField> fieldsMap = objDesc.fields.getMap();
    return List<Schema.PicklistEntry> pickListValues = fieldsMap.get(fieldName).getDescribe().getPickListValues();
}

 
 You may also want to cache the Schema.DescribeSObjectResult in a Map to reduce describe calls.
 
 
 
 
 


MSVRadMSVRad
Thanks for the reply.
 
my only issue with that snippit you provided is that you are trying to return a list, but the return value you have set is of type String - so wouldn't I need to return a string value? 
 
So heres another question. Is there anyway to extract the picklist values from a picklist without using the "getPickListValues()" method? I can only call this method 10 times before I hit a governor limit. But, I have nearly 30 picklists that I need to use this method on in order to get the values from the picklist. 
 
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I have not been able to find anything about not using the getPickListValues method thus far. 
 
Thanks!
Message Edited by MSVRad on  12-21-2009 12:01 PM


ShikibuShikibu
Hi MsvRad,
 
The snippet I provided was part of a utility method that returns a single picklist value as a string; I intended it as something just to get you started.
 
I don't think you'll be able to get around this limit. You might try filing a case with salesforce support.
 
Good luck!