Records scoped to Discipline do not update table-based pick lists in different collections

[lexiclevenger]

Describe the bug
Reported by Nate Shoobs at Ohio State on Discourse:

Also, what is the expected behavior for picklists in tables + fields shared between collections within a division and discipline, such as CollectingEvent or Accession? I would expect that they would update for all collections if a value is added in one, but I don’t think that’s what I’m observing

If a record in a table scoped to Discipline is created, the value is not added as a pick list item in Field From Table/Entire Table pick lists that belong to another collection. However, records scoped to Institution are added to the pick list.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Create a pick list for any field with the Entire Table Type
2. Choose a table that is scoped to Discipline (Collecting Event, Locality, etc.)

4. Switch collections
5. Create a record in the table you chose
6. Go back to the original collection
7. Go to the form with the pick list and search for the record you created
8. See that the record is not included as a pick list item

Expected behavior
Records from tables scoped to a level higher than Collection, including Discipline, should be added to the pick list.

Screenshots

Vertebrates collection:

Invertebrates collection:

Specify 7 System Information - 2025-12-24T22_32_22.745Z.txt

Please fill out the following information manually:

• OS: Mac
• Browser: Chrome
• Specify 7 Version: 7.11.3
• Database Name: calvertmarinemuseum_2025_09_09
• Collection name: Invertebrates
• User Name: spadmin
• URL: https://calvertmarinemuseum20250909-v7113.test.specifysystems.org/specify/view/locality/1727/

[specifysoftware]

This issue has been mentioned on Specify Community Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/picklist-scoping-and-syncing-between-collections/3197/3