Required Values Check FAQ
Answers to common questions about what Required Values proves, how it differs from Expected Values, and how the anomaly is reported, grouped by topic.
Behavior
How many times does a value have to appear?
Once. The rule counts presence, not frequency, so a category in a single row passes exactly like one in a million rows.
What is the difference from Expected Values?
They are mirrors. Required Values reports values on your list that are missing from the column. Expected Values reports values in the column that are not on your list. Use both to pin a column to a known set.
Is matching case-sensitive?
On a text field, yes, and whitespace matters too: 1-URGENT and 1-urgent are different values, and a trailing space makes an entry distinct. On a numeric field the two sides are compared as numbers, so 1, 1.0 and 1.00 all mean the same required value.
Does a filter make the check stricter or looser?
Stricter. Each required value must appear inside the filtered rows, so a value present only in excluded rows is reported as missing.
Is there a limit on the column's distinct values?
The rule examines up to 10,000 distinct values, keeping the most frequent. Use it on categorical columns; for a lookup against a large set, use Exists In.
Anomaly Reporting
What kind of anomaly does the check produce?
A Shape Anomaly, one per failed evaluation. There is no Record Anomaly, because the violation is the absence of a value rather than the content of a row.
What does the anomaly message say?
It names the field and lists the values that never appeared: The field 'region_code' is missing required values: APAC. Nothing else is added to it, including the filter expression when the check has one.
Why does the anomaly show no source records?
A missing value has no record to point at. This is the main practical difference from Expected Values, where every violation is a row you can open.
Can I customize the anomaly message?
No. Custom Anomaly Description only replaces the message on Record Anomalies, and Required Values emits a Shape Anomaly only.
Configuration
Does the Coverage slider do anything?
No. It appears because it is part of the shared check form, but the rule evaluates the column as a set, so there is no per-row pass rate to relax.
Can I change the list later?
Yes. In the UI, open the check, edit Values, and click Update; see Edit a Check for the full steps. Through the API, a PUT to /api/quality-checks/{id} replaces the properties object, so send the complete list rather than only the new entries. The rule type, the target container, and the associated Check Template stay immutable.
What permission do I need to create or edit a Required Values check?
The Drafter team permission on the datastore covers Draft work (creating a check as Draft or editing it while it stays Draft). Anything that puts the check into evaluation, such as creating or editing an Active check, archiving, or deleting, requires the Author team permission (or above). Viewing only requires Reporter. See Permissions for the full matrix.
Should I use one check with several values or several checks?
One check with the full list is usually right: the values belong to the same contract and the anomaly reports all of them together. Split them when different teams own different categories and each needs its own anomaly stream.