InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by jan_rifkinson on 2009/01/03 16:29

Pierre, et al

Thinking of automation as exists w Zoot smart folders, I'm considering the following scenario:

Populate the 'Inbox' w a lot of check mark category columns. Example

Then create views for / house / car / todo / finances / girlfriend / tech / journal/ with Inbox as source

Specialized views are then created & this method would automatically populate those views w the appropriate data

First, I'd like comments on this approach.

Second, what's a better approach for this kind of thing?

Third, the problem I see comes in the specialized views. Example: Tech

Let's say I use 10 different programs & I want to amass all tech notes in this view

What's the best way to filter for the individual program notes.

I could re-create the cascading views as I've done above but that seems kludgy to me

Thanks.

Comments

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Zoot smart folders are like IQ grids: their content is dynamic, based on some criteria

I think your approach of checkmark columns can work. I would tend to use a single text field: a category field, and select from it, but either will work

re: Tech notes: I'd arrange them as:

Program 1
- Notes1
- Notes2
- ...
Program 2
- Notes1
- ...
...

When viewing notes without context parents, you could drag the ItemParent field to your grid, to get the relevant program shown in the grid

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Zoot smart folders are like IQ grids: their content is dynamic, based on some criteria

I think your approach of checkmark columns can work. I would tend to use a single text field: a category field, and select from it, but either will work [snip]

When viewing notes without context parents, you could drag the ItemParent field to your grid, to get the relevant program shown in the grid

[/quote]

Re: Zoot, yes this is true but user can set up conditions, i.e. if data contains word 'x' it is moved / copied (user choice) to proper folder / db. It's the A.I. portion that I'm most interested in.

Thanks for txt / category field. That's definitely a better idea

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

>Re: Zoot, yes this is true but user can set up conditions, i.e. if data contains word 'x' it is moved / copied (user choice) to proper folder / db. It's the A.I. portion that I'm most interested in.

True. This feature is planned, as an extension to the current auto-assign rules

[quote=Pierre_Admin] [snip]This feature is planned, as an extension to the current auto-assign rules[/quote]

OK, here comes some more ignorance on my part....... what current auto-assign rules?

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

From 3. InfoQube Data: Items, Fields, Tags and Links :

Auto-Assign Rules

Auto-Assign Rules are used to assign values to other fields when values in this field is changed. They are also called Push-Equations (as opposed to Pull-Equations discussed here). The syntax is Flags:Field = equation/value.
The flags indicate when the rule should be applied (they can be combined):

A: flag: Action will be triggered when a value is added (initially no value in the field)
M: flag: Action will be triggered when a value is modified (initially there is a value in the field)
E: flag: Action will be triggered when a value is deleted You can have as many auto-assign rules as you wish separated by vertical bars, they'll be executed in the sequence that they are entered.

Here is an example that calculates the color when a field is added or edited and clears the ItemColor when the field is erased: AM: ItemColor=CalcColor (DurationHr - BudgetHrs) | E: ItemColor=
Push equations are actually more efficient than Pull equations, since it is the field that is causing a change that triggers the calculation to run. Plus they allow many equations in a single field.

Thx, Pierre. Your explanation -- no fault of yours -- is way above my head. All I know is that I don't have to create any equations to get Zoot data moved around automatically.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

> Push equations are actually more efficient than Pull equations, since it is the field that is causing a change that triggers the calculation to run.

can someone explain the difference between push & pull equations?

Pull equations are the type you know from Excel. A cell equal to an equation from other cells. Only 1 equation per field. Details: Field Management Dialog - Equations
Push equations are also called auto-assign rules. A change to a cell (i.e. a field-value) will push changes to other field-values. You can define many equations per field. Details: 3. InfoQube Data: Items, Fields, Tags and Links

Yes, Jan I second that.

I had asked before about assigning colors, etc.

In the old SQLNotes forum, Tom had posted some good stuff on this, but I didnt really get it.

I've been playing around with the assigning colors, etc for a couple of days with no success. Finally found in the manual at the bottom of the page that you have to close and reopen grid for this to work -- refresh doesn't do it.

I think this tip needs to be in bold large letters and frequently reiterated to save frustrations. I know there are a lot of little quirks and bugs but I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!

>I know there are a lot of little quirks and bugs but I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!

Thanks and yes: MANY GRID CHANGES REQUIRE CLOSING THE GRID AND RE-OPENING IT. (I'm not screaming, just hoping to make it really really clear

)

Please do not hesitate to update the relevant documentation with this warning

added to "Auto-Assign Rules"

Remember:-

MANY GRID CHANGES (including this one) CURRENTLY REQUIRE CLOSING THE GRID AND RE-OPENING IT

to 3. InfoQube Data: Items, Fields, Tags and Links