The Client Merlin will try to anticipate your every move by filling in many of the required fields for you! These default values come from a variety of different places. In the following table, we have listed out all the fields (in the order in which they appear in the Client Merlin) that could potentially be completed for you by WebCATS, as well as where the field values are coming from. If a field is not listed here, then it is a field that will always require your data entry effort.
| Field Name |
How the Default Value is Determined |
| Center |
This field defaults to the current active center. |
| Primary Counselor |
This field defaults to the default counselor that is associated with your user account. |
| Client Status |
WebCATS makes the educated assumption that any new clients you create are active clients. |
| Client ID |
With each new client, this field is automatically assigned and incremented by WebCATS. The client ID format and incremental numbering is set by a database administrator within each center record. (Whether you may overwrite this ID depends upon your account permissions.) |
| Company Status |
If no date is present in the Date Company Established field, this field defaults to "Pre-venture/Nascent." If a date is present, the field defaults to either "Start-up (in bus. <1 year)" or "In Business (> 1 year)," based on a comparison of the current date with the established date. |
| Position (contact's position at company) |
If a value other than "(Undefined)" is initially present here, your WebCATS database administrator chose that value as the default value for this field—probably because it's the most common selection for your center's operations. |
| Home Phone |
If a work phone number is entered into the preceding Work Phone field, the home phone number initially defaults to the work phone number. |
| City (as part of contact's personal address) |
This field default comes from the default city that is assigned to the current active center's record. |
| State (as part of contact's address) |
The WebCATS database administrator has the ability to assign default values to most drop-down fields from WinCATS' global configuration settings. The value in place for the State field comes from these default drop-down values. |
| County, Federal Congressional District, State Representative District, State Senate District (as part of contact's address) |
The WebCATS database administrator has the ability to to map ZIP Codes with corresponding county and district information. If ZIP Code mappings have been configured in WinCATS, these fields will be automatically completed based upon those mappings. |
| Contact interested in receiving mass mailings/e-mailings? |
By default, WebCATS always selects these options. |
| Gender |
If a salutation of "Mr.," "Mrs.," or "Ms." was chosen for the contact, this field defaults to the salutation's implied gender. If a salutation of "Dr." or no salutation was selected, WebCATS looks to the default value (most likely "(Undefined)") that is assigned to the Gender field. |
| Race, Hispanic Origin, Veteran Status, Reservist Status |
If values other than "(Undefined)" are initially present for any of these contact classification fields, your WebCATS database administrator chose them as the default values for these fields—probably because they represent the most common selections for your center's operations. |
| Company Name |
If the Company Status field found on the first page of the Client Merlin remained set to “Pre-venture/Nascent,” then this field defaults to the contact’s name (last name, first name). If the Company Status field has a value of “Start-up” or “In-Business,” this field will not have a default value. |
| Business Phone, Business Fax, Business E-mail |
These three business fields initially default to the phone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the contact. |
| Company Gender, Company Veteran, Business Size, Business Type, Organization |
If values other than "(Undefined)" are initially present for any of these company classification fields, your WebCATS database administrator chose them as the default values for these fields—probably because they represent the most common selections for your center's operations. |
| Disadvantage Status |
If a value other than "Not Certified" is initially present for this field, your WebCATS database administor chose this value as the field's default value—probably because it represents the most common selection for your center's operations. (This field only comes into play if "Disadvantaged Small" is selected for the Business Size field.) |
| Company Address, Company City, Company State, Company Zip, Company County, Federal Congressional District, State Representative District, State Senate District |
These company address fields default to the address information of the contact. |
| Company interested in receiving mass mailings/e-mailings? |
By default, WebCATS always selects these options. |
| HUBZone |
The WebCATS database administrator has the ability to to map ZIP Codes with corresponding HUBZone data. If ZIP Code to HUBZone mappings have been configured in WinCATS, this field will be completed based upon those mappings. If no ZIP Code mappings for HUBZones are in place, WebCATS looks to the default value (most likely "(Undefined)") that is assigned to the HUBZone. |
| Distressed Area |
The WeCATS database administrator has the ability to to map ZIP Codes with corresponding distressed area data. If ZIP Code to distressed area mappings have been configured in WinCATS, this field will be completed based upon those mappings. |
| Signature/Start Date |
This field defaults to the current day's date. |
| SBA Relationship, Referral From, Referral To |
If values other than "(Undefined)" are initially present for any of these fields, your WebCATS database administrator chose them as the default values for these fields—probably because they represent the most common selections for your center's operations. |
| Funding Source |
This field defaults to the funding source that is associated with your user account. If no funding source is assigned to your account, then WebCATS applies the default value assigned to this drop-down field from WinCATS' global configuration settings. As a side bar, it may be worth noting that when a client activity record such as a counseling session record is created, the funding source of the activity also defaults to the funding source assigned to your user account. If no funding source is assigned, WebCATS looks to the funding source associated with client that you are creating the activity record for. If the funding source is undefined for the client, WebCATS lastly looks to the default value assigned to this drop-down field from WinCATS' global configuration settings. |
| Bid Output Method |
If an e-mail address is present for the company or contact, WebCATS defaults to "E-mail" as the bid output method. If no e-mail address is present, WebCATS defaults to "Print." |
| Bid Output E-mail Address(es) |
This field defaults to the e-mail address entered for the company or, if no company e-mail address is present, the e-mail address entered for the contact. |
| Compressed Print? |
By default, WebCATS always selects this option, but it only comes into play if the bid output method is set to print. |
| Bid E-mail Format |
The WebCATS database administrator has the ability to assign default values to most drop-down fields from WinCATS' global configuration settings. The value in place for the Bid E-mail Format field comes from these default drop-down values. |
For more information on the Client Merlin, view our other popular resources on this topic: