SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

3797624 - Can the placeholder text displayed in custom MDF fields, such as the Effective Start Date field, be changed?

Symptom

  • The customer would like the Effective Start Date field (or Date data type field) to display the current date instead of "e.g. 31 DEC, 2026" as the default placeholder value in the Latest People Profile.
  •  Is it possible to change the default placeholder value for this date field?

Disclaimer: Image/data in this KBA is from SAP internal systems, sample data, or demo systems. Any resemblance to real data is purely coincidental.

Environment

SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite

Reproducing the Issue

  1. Login to SuccessFactors
  2. Go to Employee Profile
  3. Open a custom MDF object in Latest People Profile and click Edit.
  4. Observe that the effective start date does not show the current date.

Cause

In Latest People Profile (PPX), the placeholder ("e.g. Dec 31 2026”) is hard coded and cannot be modified and is working as designed.

Resolution

As a workaround, customers can follow the suggested options below:

See Also

Keywords

effective start date, custom mdf, people profile, ppx, placeholder, manage languages, default today, onChange rule, initialize rule, evaluate purpose, rule trace, non-editable portlet, effectiveStartDate field, mdf field help text, date defaulting, default text, hard coded, date automatically showing in the date field , KBA , LOD-SF-MDF-PPX , MDF on New People Profile , Problem

Product

SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding all versions