Assessments can now collect data for related custom object records directly within a questionnaire question. For example, you might want a Partner to submit a list of their Key Personnel (name, title, start date) or a list of Trading Errors tied to a Fund. The new List answer type lets you map a question to a Custom Object and collect, evaluate, and map that data back to your platform records — all from within the questionnaire.
This article covers the following topics:
- Mapping a Question to a Custom Object
- Configuring the List Answer Fields and Settings
- Required Parent Entities and Publishing
- Pre-Populating Existing Records on Publish
- Answering a List Question
- Mapping List Answers to Custom Object Records
- Importing and Exporting List Answers
- FAQ
Mapping a Question to a Custom Object
From the Edit Questionnaire Screen, enable the Map Answer to Attribute toggle for a question as you would for any other mapped attribute. On the Map Answer To card, you'll now see a Custom Object radio option alongside Partner, Product, Contact, and Files.
Selecting Custom Object hides the cards below (the same behavior as selecting Partner with no attribute chosen yet) and displays a single-select dropdown listing the Custom Objects configured for your account. Once you select a Custom Object from the dropdown, the question's answer type is set to List and the configuration cards described below appear.
Note: Switching away from Custom Object and back resets the selection — you'll need to choose the Custom Object again.
Configuring the List Answer Fields and Settings
Once you've mapped a question to a Custom Object, the question displays a List Answer configuration table so you can control which fields your Partner sees and how they behave.
- The table includes a row for every editable field on the Custom Object, in the same order configured in System Admin. System-managed fields (such as Created On, Modified On, Created By, and Id) are not shown.
- Field Name displays the field's display name as read-only text.
- Label is an editable input, pre-filled with the display name, so you can customize what your Partner sees.
- View is a dropdown with three options: Editable (the default), Hidden, and Locked.
- Required is a toggle, enabled by default. It's automatically disabled when a field's View is set to Hidden or Locked.
Below the field table, a List Settings section controls what your Partner can do with rows:
- Allow respondents to add new records
- Allow respondents to remove records
As with other answer types, click the Save button once you've finished configuring the question to ensure your changes are saved.
Required Parent Entities and Publishing
Every Custom Object is tied to a parent entity type (for example, a Key Personnel object might be a child of Fund, while a Security Systems object might be a child of Manager). When you add, edit, or remove a List answer question, the questionnaire automatically recalculates its Required Parent Entities — the set of parent entity types that must be represented among the entities you publish to.
For example, a questionnaire with List questions mapped to the following Custom Objects would have these Required Parent Entities:
| Custom Object | Parent |
|---|---|
| Trading Errors | Fund |
| Key Personnel | Fund |
| Security Systems | Manager |
Required Parent Entities: Fund, Manager
This validation runs whenever you publish a questionnaire that has Required Parent Entities, across every publish flow:
- Publish (single assessment, single entity) — validated on the Partner & Purpose step
- Publish To Multiple (bulk publish) — validated on the Recipients step
- Add Assessment (multiple assessments to one entity) — validated on the Questionnaire step
- Schedule New (multiple assessments to one entity) — validated on the Questionnaire step
If the entities you've selected to publish to (and their related entities) don't cover every Required Parent Entity, you'll see an error and won't be able to proceed to the next step:
"This questionnaire requires the following entities: {entity1}, {entity2}…"
Pre-Populating Existing Records on Publish
The platform can automatically populate the list with existing custom object records when you publish:
- The platform identifies the Custom Object's parent entity type.
- It finds the selected entity records in your publish scope that match that parent entity type.
- It retrieves the existing child custom object records tied to those selected parent records.
- It populates the List answer with those records.
Pre-population only occurs when Populate with existing records is enabled on the List answer, and only pulls records from the parent entities you actually selected in the publish workflow — not from other related entities. If no existing child records are found, the List answer starts empty. If multiple parent records of the same entity type are selected, records from all of them are included.
Answering a List Question
When your Partner answers a List question, they see a table with a column for each field marked Editable or Locked in your configuration (Hidden fields aren't shown).
- If no records were pre-populated, the table starts with a single empty row.
- If records were pre-populated, each one appears as a row with its values filled in.
- Each row has a view state, showing the field values as read-only text with Edit and Delete icon actions. The Delete action doesn't display if Allow respondents to remove records is disabled.
- Clicking Edit switches that row to an edit state — Editable fields become editable inputs, Locked fields stay read-only, and the row's actions change to Save and Cancel. Only one row can be edited at a time; the edit and delete actions on other rows are disabled while a row is being edited.
- Saving a row with an empty required field shows an error on that cell.
- If Allow respondents to add new records is enabled, an Add new record action lets your Partner add rows to the table.
- The full table is shown when the answer is expanded.
Note: On submit, the platform validates that every required field is filled in across all rows before the questionnaire can be submitted.
Mapping List Answers to Custom Object Records
List answers can be mapped back to your Custom Object records from the Map Answers modal during evaluation, alongside your existing Partner, Product, and Contact mappings.
Each List answer appears as a row labeled with the Custom Object's name, with three links:
- Current Value shows a link with the count of existing records, for example N records. Clicking it opens a read-only table of the existing values on the parent record(s), with a Cancel action to return to the main modal.
- New Value shows a link with the count of records selected out of the total, for example X/Y Selected. Clicking it opens a table of the updated records from the assessment (new records shown, removed records excluded), each with a checkbox, and a header checkbox to select or deselect all. Use Save Selection to confirm your choices (the count updates accordingly) or Cancel to discard them.
- Edit Values opens a table of the updated records where you can click the edit icon on a row to make its editable attributes editable inline, then Save or Cancel that row. Only one row can be edited at a time.
When you complete the mapping, updated records are saved, new records are added to the parent, and any populated records that were removed during answering are archived rather than permanently deleted.
To read more about mapping answers, please refer to this article: Mapping Answers during Evaluation
Importing and Exporting List Answers
Answering List answers offline is not supported. The values will not appear in the export and cannot be imported back in. The answers must be added in CENTRL directly.
FAQ
Can I delete a record my Partner submitted?
Removing a record depends on your List settings and where you are in the workflow. If Allow respondents to remove records is enabled, your Partner can remove rows while answering. Records removed during the Map Answers flow are archived rather than permanently deleted.
What happens if I don't select an entity that covers a Required Parent Entity when publishing?
Publishing is blocked with an error listing the missing required entities. You'll need to add an entity of that type to your publish selection before you can continue.
Can my Partner add or remove columns from a List answer?
No. The fields (columns) available on a List answer are configured by you when you set up the question, based on the Custom Object's fields. Your Partner can only add or remove rows (records), and only if you've enabled those options.
Does grading/scoring work the same way for List answers?
List answers follow the same evaluation workflow as other answer types on the Evaluation Screen. If you have questions about grading a specific configuration, please reach out to Support.
Why can't I see the values from a previous submission when I edit the questionnaire?
The List Answer configuration table controls the question setup (fields, labels, and view settings), not submitted data. Submitted records are visible on the assessment itself, in the answering, evaluation, and Map Answers views described above.