> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flowforma.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# EDM Lookup question

> Use the EDM Lookup question to look up items from SQL entities built with Entity Data Management and return the entity ID for use in EDM operations rules.

<Info>
  This question requires the **Entity Data Manager** feature to be enabled in **FlowForma Settings > Features**.
</Info>

The EDM [Lookup question](/product/creating-flows/questions/question-types/lookup-question) is used to look up items from SQL entities created using [Entity Data Management](/product/entity-data-management).

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/flowforma/Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY/images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-1.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY&q=85&s=d69098d813ae992774db31091cb728e3" alt="EDM Lookup question configuration" width="607" height="653" data-path="images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-1.png" />

**Question title**: each question must have a title. It's a required field and will appear on the form as a label when the user fills in the question
**Question code**: each question needs a unique code. One is generated by default when you start creating a new question, but you can overwrite this and give it a different code if you prefer. The question code won't appear on the form itself, but you can use it to search and filter by when adding questions
**Question type**: EDM Lookup
**Required**: you need to specify whether the question is required or not. If you set a question as required, the user must provide an answer to it on the form in order to submit the form. However, the user can save as draft without answering all required questions. If you try to submit a form without answering all required questions, an error message will appear showing a list of questions that haven't been answered
**Question description**: it's optional whether you enter a description or not. The description is used as a tooltip on the form and adds an exclamation point beside the question on the form. If the user clicks on the exclamation point, the description (tooltip) will appear
**Publish question as list field**: check this box to save the question to the SharePoint forms list. This allows you to report on the question from there
**Entity set**: this is a dropdown of all the SQL entities (tables) contained in the database entered in the Entity Data Manager
**Entity fields**: these are all the fields (columns) included in the database entity selected in Entity set. You can select one or multiple items, and these will be displayed when the dropdown opens on forms created. The value saved is always the entity ID
**Input width**: you can decide the width of the dropdown control displayed when a form is rendered
**Show question title on form**: check this option if you want to display the question's title to the left of the actual input field. If you uncheck this option, the input field is moved out to the left and appears right under the other questions/question titles
**Place title on top**: check this option to display the question's title above the input field. If you uncheck this option, the title appears to the left of the input field, as normal
**Render, but hide question on form**: if you check this option, the question will behave as normal (default value, publishing and calculation will apply). However, the question will not be displayed on the form

Once you've entered all relevant information, click **save**. If you don't want to save the question or the changes you've made, click **close**

## Example

The following Customers table has been created using the Entity Data Manager

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/flowforma/Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY/images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-2.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY&q=85&s=0b4c4625fe9c94d1483d4f01305a2ef9" alt="Customers table in SQL Server" width="297" height="213" data-path="images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-2.png" />

An extract of the data in the table is as below

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/flowforma/Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY/images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-3.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY&q=85&s=75da20fccf02df6d925a0365c1f413e1" alt="Extract of Customers table data" width="586" height="74" data-path="images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-3.png" />

Create an EDM Lookup question to display the "Customer name" and "Contact number" fields

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/flowforma/Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY/images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-4.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY&q=85&s=e9e5f88ede65b36f7f52f6365e09e6bc" alt="EDM Lookup question with Customer name and Contact number fields selected" width="761" height="1022" data-path="images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-4.png" />

When a form is created, the dropdown will be rendered as below, with a combination of the Customer name and Contact number

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/flowforma/Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY/images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-5.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ttfqzt1QnXujKlYY&q=85&s=9c5aed72e02675b7a8564fe59cb412a1" alt="Rendered EDM Lookup dropdown on a form" width="583" height="247" data-path="images/product/creating-flows/questions/feature-questions/edm-lookup-question/edm-lookup-question-5.png" />

The EDM Lookup question is primarily designed to be used in conjunction with the [Execute EDM operations](/product/creating-flows/business-rules/business-rule-types/feature-pack-business-rules/execute-edm-operations) business rules where you can return the entity id and use this id to get, update or delete items from an entity.
