InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by Pierre_Admin on 2015/08/26 15:10

Hi All !

I'm a big fan of GMail for many reasons, one of them is the concept of archiving items... Out of sight but still there if needed...

Through filters, one can do this in IQ of course, but how about if this was really integrated in InfoQube ?

Archiving items would hide them from grids by default, but one could choose to show archived items.

Who would use this feature if available ?
How do you see this implemented ?
Where would archived items be shown ? and not ?
Would archiving only hide items in the grid where archiving took place ?
Would archiving be limited to the Inbox (the same as GMail) ?

Please express yourself !

Pierre_Admin

Comments

I'm interested but have no definite ideas - here, off the top of my head:

Who would use this feature if available ?
=>
me (!)
How do you see this implemented ?
=>
vague ideas:
archived items given conditional formatting in 'archive' field,
-- or highlighting in the first '#' field
Where would archived items be shown ? and not ?
=>
not shown by default;
shown normally in grid if 'turned on' for that grid
Would archiving only hide items in the grid where archiving took place ?
=>
Yes
Would archiving be limited to the Inbox (the same as GMail) ?
=>
no -
but I would still use it if limited to the inbox

Right now I don't see myself using an Archive feature.

To keep the number of items reasonably small in my all-purpose input grid, I use an "itemcreated>now-3" filter.

As Jim suggests, I don't think that there's a need to add a way to "archive" items since it's easy to achieve with filters -- gmail uses filters too BTW.

To be useful archiving would have to be along the way of Outlook : archiving in another DB to save space. To make things clear though, I've used IQ for quite some time (7-8 years?), and pretty intensively -- Pierre can confirm -- and I'm about 1/4 of the DB full capacity. At that pace I should be good for another 20-25 years.

That said, I'm open to changes...

-------------------------------------------------------

Windows 8.1

Sony Vaio S Series 13 (SVS131E21L)

Ram:8gb, CPU: Intel i5-3230M, 2.6ghz

IQ has a DB full capacity? I hadn't heard of that! What are the limits on an IQ database? probably is in the documentation somewhere.

2 GB currently

By the time anyone is anywhere close to this, we'll have moved to a larger capacity engine with cloud storage support. No need to worry !

I have to admit -- part of the reason I find archiving interesting is that I have never really learned how to filter.

From that point of view, maybe more uninitiated-friendly filtering (if possible) would be better (?)

And yet, I could do the archiving thing pretty easily using column filters (couldn't I ?)

[quote=Tom]

And yet, I could do the archiving thing pretty easily using column filters (couldn't I ?)

[/quote]

Actually no... the grid has this long standing "bug" that you cannot add an item when the column filter is on.

The issues lies with grid supplier which insists on applying the filter for new items, and as new items don't match the filter, they are not show...

[quote=Tom]

I have to admit -- part of the reason I find archiving interesting is that I have never really learned how to filter.

From that point of view, maybe more uninitiated-friendly filtering (if possible) would be better (?)

And yet, I could do the archiving thing pretty easily using column filters (couldn't I ?)

[/quote]

So many things can be achieved with the main filter. That said, it's true that for some, an "archive" option, with a system field and a per grid activation (some button, etc.), could probably be useful.

Yet, I have the feeling that it could just crowd the UI even more -- as another option to consider when applying other filters. And if the famous "named filters" (http://mantis.sqlnotes.net/view.php?id=19) or something similar were implemented, it would probably render any archiving option pretty superfluous.

IMO, the decentralization of options affecting what's displayed in a grid must be considered carefully : source, main filter, filter criteria applies to subitem or not, hoist, alphanumeric filter, date filter, hierarchies on/off, column filter, context parents and the various sort options which can all act at the same time, are parts of what makes IQ grid management already difficult for the general user**; not to mention a few idiosyncrasies that have to be worked around (sub items -- grand-children -- reappearing as top level when meeting source + filter + under a sub-item itself not meeting the source; see http://mantis.sqlnotes.net/view.php?id=213).

I use all these options frequently, but they feel (felt) a bit scattered -- at least some of them. That said, I'm so used to all that that I don't really care anymore. But I wonder about other users.

** I've suggested a long time ago to centralize all these options directly affecting grid display on one toolbar -- maybe the source bar -- making the survey of all things affecting how and what items are displayed in a grid less of a challenge for users allergic to filters or whatever.

-------------------------------------------------------

Windows 8.1

Sony Vaio S Series 13 (SVS131E21L)

Ram:8gb, CPU: Intel i5-3230M, 2.6ghz

^ good points Armando

[quote=Armando]

[...]

I use all these options frequently, but they feel (felt) a bit scattered -- at least some of them. That said, I'm so used to all that that I don't really care anymore. But I wonder about other users.

what you say at the end there ties in with my idea that "The Column Filter options would seem to me to be more helpfully shown on the Filter dialogue (Ctrl+G)" -

please make everything impossible to miss, Pierre ;-D