How to edit Controlled Value List?

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Paul Sutherland

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Nov 18, 2025, 9:57:46 AMNov 18
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Hi folks,

I'm wondering if anyone knows how to edit the values that currently exist within e.g. restriction_type. I'm a staff user and am able to add, merge, even delete values, but I can't see how to edit them. I assumed this requires permissions elevation but that doesn't make a lot of sense given that I can do something more destructive.

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I can't even see restriction_type listed in the help center, and the interface options are the same there.

I'm on 3.5.1 if that may be a factor.

Thanks,
Paul


--
Paul Sutherland
Archivist of Indigenous Materials
Center for Native American and Indigenous Research
Library & Museum
American Philosophical Society
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Clair, Kevin

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Nov 18, 2025, 10:02:39 AMNov 18
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Hi Paul,

Creating them can be done via the "Create Value" button at the upper right, above the list of values. Defining labels for them requires additions to the /locales/enums/en.yml file in ArchivesSpace, which you can do via plugin. Here are ours at Penn State, as an example of what this looks like in practice.  -k

---
kevin clair
digital collections archivist / interim head of collection services
eberly family special collections library
penn state university libraries

From: archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org <archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org> on behalf of Paul Sutherland <psuth...@amphilsoc.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 9:56 AM
To: Archivesspace_Users_Group <Archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org>
Subject: [ArchivesSpace Users Group] How to edit Controlled Value List?
 
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Valerie Addonizio

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Nov 18, 2025, 11:21:44 AMNov 18
to Clair, Kevin, Archivesspace_Users_Group

If you mean editing one that already exists, what I usually do is create a new value that reflects my edit, merge the old value that I’m “editing” into the new one I just created, and then delete the old one. But, half the time the indexer doesn’t pick up the change from the merge (it’s driven me crazy for years that sometimes it will work and sometimes it won’t), which means you need to re-index afterward.

 

You could technically edit the values in the database directly, but I don’t recommend that unless you are confident inside the db.

 

From: archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org <archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org> On Behalf Of Clair, Kevin
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 10:02 AM
To: Archivesspace_Users_Group <archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org>
Subject: Re: [ArchivesSpace Users Group] How to edit Controlled Value List?

 

Hi Paul,

 

Creating them can be done via the "Create Value" button at the upper right, above the list of values. Defining labels for them requires additions to the /locales/enums/en.yml file in ArchivesSpace, which you can do via plugin. Here are ours at Penn State, as an example of what this looks like in practice.  -k

 

---

kevin clair

digital collections archivist / interim head of collection services

eberly family special collections library

penn state university libraries

 

From: archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org <archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org> on behalf of Paul Sutherland <psuth...@amphilsoc.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 9:56 AM
To: Archivesspace_Users_Group <Archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org>
Subject: [ArchivesSpace Users Group] How to edit Controlled Value List?

 

Hi folks,

 

I'm wondering if anyone knows how to edit the values that currently exist within e.g. restriction_type. I'm a staff user and am able to add, merge, even delete values, but I can't see how to edit them. I assumed this requires permissions elevation but that doesn't make a lot of sense given that I can do something more destructive.

 

Paul Sutherland

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Nov 18, 2025, 4:33:33 PMNov 18
to Valerie Addonizio, Clair, Kevin, Archivesspace_Users_Group
Hi Valerie and Kevin,

Thanks for your replies and workarounds. Yes, I did mean editing an existing one. I want to change the displayed description of these (their Value and Translation) for more accurate language.

I am quite surprised that this Edit functionality is missing from the interface, as it requires an odd workaround (making a new record and merging them) or elevated permissions (direct database writing), while several other things that are equally destructive (Merge, Delete) can be done in the staff interface. I'm wondering if I should submit a feature request for this. Is this generally the case across Controlled Value Lists?  

It is also quite odd that when pressing "Create Value", only "Value" is asked for, not the translation (=label? which is stored in the YAML?), which gets auto-populated from this. In existing values (the first five, presumably defaults), Value looks to be a machine name and distinct from the Translation. This distinction is not possible to replicate in the staff interface alone.

Paul

Clair, Kevin

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Nov 18, 2025, 4:40:57 PMNov 18
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There's a feature request for this already, which relates to an entry on the ArchivesSpace development roadmap. I will leave it to someone on DevPri or the development team to say more about the status of those things. It definitely comes up in relation to changes to the staff interface from time to time.  -k

---
kevin clair
digital collections archivist / interim head of collection services
eberly family special collections library
penn state university libraries

From: Paul Sutherland <psuth...@amphilsoc.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 4:32 PM
To: Valerie Addonizio <vaddo...@atlas-sys.com>
Cc: Clair, Kevin <km...@psu.edu>; Archivesspace_Users_Group <archivesspac...@lyrasislists.org>
Subject: Re: [External] [ArchivesSpace Users Group] How to edit Controlled Value List?
 

Paul Sutherland

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Nov 19, 2025, 11:43:00 AM (14 days ago) Nov 19
to Clair, Kevin, Archivesspace_Users_Group
Wonderful! Thanks for finding that. I've added my support to that one ticket with the addition of being able to edit Value too.

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