Submitted by Pierre_Admin on 2019/01/20 16:44

Hi IQ Users !

People often ask if and when IQ will ever reach v1.0... While this is certainly a valid question, I tend to compare IQ to Windows 10... a work in progress: a reliable environment that is both stable and evolving.

The next version is no different and v112 contains a number of changes, namely:

  1. View > Grids will be renamed View > Notepads
  2. Notepads can be shown in a variety of different ways, or views. Each view has advantages and disadvantages and together provide users with all the display options. Notepads have a new Default View property: Opening a notepad will open in this view by default.
  3. Some of the notepad views already exist, others will be added. For example, grids can already be shown with or without a Gantt chart, and in Timeline, Map, Pivot table and Pivot chart views.
  4. v112 will add a new view: Card View, a 2D space where users can display cards. Each card is like a good old 3 x 5 index card and shows the item name and Doc pane content.
  5. Other views will be added later on, such as a calendar view and a surface view (not to be confused with the Calendar and the Surface which are not linked to any particular notepad)
  6. Also new is an Item Editor, a floating dialog similar to the New Item / Clipper dialog which allows viewing / editing of most aspects of an item. User will be able to open multiple Item Editors. Closing and reopening an IQBase will restore these Item Editors helping users resume their work effectively.
I'm hoping that these changes, in particular the new Card View and Item Editor will help better manage the Doc pane content.
 
These changes do not affect the core functionality / database engine, so I don't expect any major issues for users.
Those that heavily customize the UI however, may find it tedious to repeatedly redo these customisations. Please hang in, I do believe that the changes will be beneficial.
 
Pierre_Admin
IQ Designer
 
hint... hint... preview of the new Card View:
 
 
 

Comments

Sounds like a big improvement ... and a lot of work.
 
I like the idea of a Surface for each Notepad (Grid).
 
 
 

I like the concepts behind the proposed approach; it will provide a more intuitive presentation for users who are not as comfortable with Grids. My suggestion would be to simply label this upcoming version as 1.00.00 Beta and be done with it. You already have enough features and functionality to make IQ a viable standalone product. I fail to see how this would substantially change your proposed development plans. You have already shown that IQ can implement powerful new features with pain-free upgrades that Windows 10 can only dream about.

A couple of other suggestions:

  • The ability to LOCK a Document Pane to a particular Notepad? This feature would allow for creating an editing environment for a Notepad that is independent of any of the other interactions going on with other Notepads within the database.
  • Include a property for ItemBorderColor (to complement ItemColor & ItemForeColor) and use it for drawing the outlines of Item in Calendars (currently uses the color assigned to the Date field), Cards, Surfaces, etc. 

 1) Thank you for the heads-up. It sounds like a very worthwhile detour from calendar/sync.
2)   I'm excited by #6 Item Editor. You must have read my mind, ever since the revised new item dialog came out, I've wished for the same tagging/fielding functionality for existing items.
Is it pretty much going to look like the new item dialog (with tags and fields)?.
It would be nice to have that 45 degree arrow symbol in the field portion to indicate it which fields are grids (like the properties pane has)
Is it going to have the toolbar functionality of the doc pane toolbars? 
 
 

First screenshot of the new Item Editor:
 
 
The Item Editor will be non-modal (meaning that you can have more than one open at once) and has spell-check and automatic URL conversion to hyperlinks  
 
[Edit] The Item Editor is turning out to be quite a bit more work than anticipated. But it's progressing well nevertheless !! [/Edit]
 
 
Pierre_Admin
IQ Designer