Say you're typing some text in a cell in the Item column, and want to find a certain field and assign a value to that field for that item. What's the quickest way to do that?
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Good question. I'll let power users / keyboard users answer (which I'm not).
But how about if the Omnibox also included fields and selecting a field would open a field-specific editor (same as in a grid)
I found that the easiest way for me to do that is to use a dummy field always next to the Item field.
The "Notes" field does it for me. You can write something like "<name of the field>: value".
To get the values in the actual fields, you would have two options from my point of view:
1. Filter the grid (Notes column only) for the special identifier and then copy paste the values to the respective field.
2. Use an auto-assign rule for the Notes field to change the values of the desired fields to the value you want. However, you would need a User Defined VBScript Function for that to basically go through the Notes field, look for the special identifier and extract the value you need.
A- Put your most used fields as columns in your grid, near your item column (it's the quickest way if you always need a specific set of field):
- tab/shift-tab OR left/right arrows to your column and fill it! (repeat)
B- if you don't have the field as a column in your grid (presumably not too fro from the item column...), or if you need to modify several items at once, use the properties pane to modify 1 or several items at once :
Select your item(s), then:
1- First option if you have only one or a couple fields to modify:
- F4
- type a couple letters to get to field
- Tab to get to the data entry column and start typing.
(F4 again to return to the grid or tab again to go back to previous column)
2- Second option if you need to fill specific fields, more than 2-3 and they are thematically linked, use FORMS or grouped fieldsin the properties pane to modify 1 or several items at once, :
- F4
- type a couple letters to get to a field with hierarchical organization (you organized it previously) OR to a form you've already set
- fill the fields going from one cell to the other OR apply the form (an automatic process if you've already set default values for that form)
(F4 again to return to the grid or tab again to go back to previous column)
C- if the fields need to be automatically filled, depending on the values in other fields, on the grids where items are created, etc., use
1- Auto-assigment equations (in field properties) (Also, Y/N Boolean fields can be used as triggers to act on various fields, a bit like "buttons" in a toolbar)
2- Row Equations (in field properties)
3- Column equations (in field properties)
4- Grid field auto-assign (in manage grids -> Data)
C1- If same values are always used in some fields : use lists. Or use an AHK script to help you quicky fill fields with specific string/keywords.
C2 (C with added complexity)- if need to fill a field in hierarchically organized items from the 1st level to the last one : use inheritance (equation section of field properties), that can be used in combination with hierarchical/row equations and popups (VBscript) to create sophisticated mecanisms of data assignation all the way down the hierarchy.
C3- And my personal favorite to never forget to enter specific values depending on the type of item you're working with: row equations calling VB scripts using inputbox popups that remind you to fill specific fields each time a specific field is checked.
And there are many other tricks.
(wrote fast, sorry if mistakes. could be reworked...)
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Disclaimer: "Testing IQ with the most advanced/complicated IQBase in the world". I.e. slower than average.
I'm facing this issue myself as I'm developing grids with many columns. InfoQube gives you many tools for dealing with this problem and there are some great ideas here.
If you're accessing columns by displaying them next to your item column, I think it's better to avoid having to scroll through columns to find the one you want. Going back and forth is time-consuming. You can avoid that with the following.
1) Right click tab>New tab
2) Right click the new tab>New horizontal tab group
3) Repeat above to create as many tab groups as you need.
With this, all your columns can be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Each tab set can be scrolled to the section you want to show. Each field can be accessed directly without having to scroll past other fields. If you use the same set up for an extended work session, you begin to remember where each field is, minimizing the time needed for your eyes to scan and find the needed field.
Sure, you can. On my screen, I can show about 30 fields in the forms box without having to scroll. Clearly, this is enough for most cases, but if you're really going crazy with columns, using multiple tabs allows you to easily display 100+ columns at the same time.
To see the most fields in the forms pane, you have to scroll down so the Forms header is at the top of the screen. In the past, I've run into problems with the view re-setting to the top of the pane while I'm working. As a result, I was repeatedly having to re-scroll the forms section to come into view. The multiple tabs view avoids this problem. (I haven't tried using forms for a while, so maybe the "view reset' issue been resolved.)
No, I'm only using about 20 columns. I could easily have 100+ if I used the approach of a yes/no field for each attribute I want to filter for. I think this approach has been rendered obsolete by the efficient use of multi-pick fields.
Another advantage of the multiple tabs: you can see the full display of text fields, which you can't get in the forms pane.
Wayne
Win 7, 64 bit Cyberpower Model 1, C Series (2011) 16 GB RAM
Another advantage of the multiple tabs: you can see the full display of text fields, which you can't get in the forms pane.
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You can see quite a bit of text in the Properties pane... Just make the text column wider. I've put an artificial max item height, which could be a setting if desired.
Why not use forms for this ? Perhaps I could add a shortcut key to move the focus to the forms section of the Properties pane ?
Pierre_Admin
IQ Designer
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Yes, forms are good but would probably be a bit more useful/user friendly if they could be accessed in other ways.
Some ideas I've mentioned before:
1- Forms as popups triggered/focussed by specific fields through auto-assign equations (or other equations) (e.g. task field calls a specific form, or a VBscript equation calls a specific form as a popup, etc.)
2- Forms as popups/or focussed, triggered by specific shortcut keys
3- Apply a form to a whole hierarchy : all items & subitems (inheritance way)
4- A separate and scrolling independent section for forms in the properties pane
5- Separators inside the form section of the properties to separate groups of forms (tasks forms, contact forms, projects forms, etc.), could even offer the option to be organized hierarchically, like fields (and presumably grids, eventually).
6- Dockable forms that can be popped into MDI windows of their own
That would be form heaven. :)
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Disclaimer: "Testing IQ with the most advanced/complicated IQBase in the world". I.e. slower than average.
I have an idea about fields and forms being embedded in column cells, such as the "Item" column. While entering the text in the cell for the Item field, you could use a keyboard shortcut to pop up a menu to select a form or field to embed in the cell. You would just start typing to auto-search for matching fields/forms. Select the field, and it would be embedded in the cell. If you select a form, and all the fields in the form are embedded in the cell. There'd need to be keyboard shortcut for moving from embedded field to embedded field to the cell text. Some kind of Tab keyboard shortcut. The display of the embedded fields could perhaps be toggled on/off - if off then only the text of the field for that column (e.g. the Item field) would be displayed. And of course, the same embedded fields could also be present in columns in the same grid.
The whole idea would be to make data entry as easy as possible, to minimize the amount of mousing / keyboarding required, to minimize the disruption for workflow required to find the desired fields, to maximize the amount of data visible in a view.
So it would be something like this [Field1Name:Field1Value] [Field2Name:Field2Value] and so on.
As long as we're dreaming about Forms Heaven, I thought I would throw in my beatific vision.
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