InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by David_H on 2008/12/27 06:41

Ecco used to use folders. I have read the posts about how IQ does not use folders nor top level items etc. and I understand the concept of why that is more powerful. However the concept I do not yet understand, and I think it is my last hurdle to really getting moving with IQ, is how to create the types of grid views (notebooks in Ecco) I was able to easily create within Ecco using their folder paradigm. With Ecoo is was very easy to create almost ANY view I wanted, but with IQ I do not have a clue how to do this. Example....

In IQ I have several different grids that may or [b]may not[/b] have similar fields in common. As an example, let's suppose I have a grid named "projects", and I have another grid named "opportunities" with completely different fields. How would I go about creating a grid that combined all of the items from those two separate grids, and to go even further, combine only certain items from those two grids (even though they use *separate fields*)? If I use grid/view source I only see the ability to choose one grid, or all grids. I do not see the ability to select a few different grids and then apply filter/s to those grids. Nor does it seem I would necessarily want to to it that way since technically those grids are just views, and what I'd really want to do is find a way to create a new grid that uses whatever unique fields those first two grids have in common, in order to combine the information that I want to see together in one new grid, and then to perform further filtering on that.

Is there somewhere I can read about this? I did not see it covered in the documentation, but I assume (hope?) all of you power users have all sorts of sophisticated views set up. Can I set up complex filters based on several variables? If so, is there a list of filter expressions I can use that is written up somewhere?

Lastly, I may start another thread about this, but it sure would be nice if a download area was set up for people to share their their IQ files. It would make it a heck of a lot easier for new users if we could see some examples of how people are implementing IQ and based on the extremly helpful community I am seeing here, I'm betting some people would contribute. I sure will...once I master this :-).

Comments

Hi David,

>How would I go about creating a grid that combined all of the items from those two separate grids

Ecco and IQ use a very similar concept.

In Ecco to view 2 folders, you'd drag the two folders to a notepad, each folder would be shown with its items. Items that belong to both folders would be shown twice (once under each folder)
In IQ, you'd set the source to be "Folder1 or Folder2" or "Folder1 and Folder2", depending on what you want to see (there are other ways, but this is one such way). You'll get a combined list of items

>combine only certain items from those two grids (even though they use *separate fields*)?

There are many ways:

Tag the items and set your grid source to ItemsTagged
Do a search. In the resulting Scratchpad grid, copy the created filter string to your grid
Set the grid source to a field that is common to all the desired items

>Can I set up complex filters based on several variables?

You sure can. The filter textbox (Alt-S to show the sourcebar) supports all logical operators (uses SQL syntax)

>If so, is there a list of filter expressions I can use that is written up somewhere?

4. Searching and Filtering Items would be a good start!

>it sure would be nice if a download area was set up for people to share their their IQ files

How about using your personal blog space for this? It seems like the perfect solution for this. The contribution will clearly remain yours, others can download and comment

Thanks Pierre,

It looks very powerful. Question - if I have two different grids with items in each grid that have *no* field except for the item field (and no tags), how would I go about creating a third grid that combines (only) the items in those two grids? Reading what you wrote above, I can see how I could address many scenarios but I'm not quite sure how I would address that one. Obviously the item field is common to both grids, but it is also common to all other grids. Of course this is easy if I can set a filter based on selecting everything from grid x and grid xx, but I do not think I can?

[quote=David_H]

Question - if I have two different grids with items in each grid that have *no* field except for the item field (and no tags), how would I go about creating a third grid that combines (only) the items in those two grids? Reading what you wrote above, I can see how I could address many scenarios but I'm not quite sure how I would address that one. [/quote]

you sayalso

"Obviously the item field is common to both grids, but it is also common to all other grids"

Each grid has a field (usually of the same name) that initially dictates what displays in that grid - (this can tend to change when in use but we'll ignore that for the moment)

e.g. InBox Grid has a yes/no tick-box field called "InBox"

So,

say you want to show Projects and MusicLibrary grids,

You could put "Projects AND MusicLibrary" in the SourceBox in Source Bar (dont include the inverted commas)

leave the SourceBox empty to show all items (or type/select from dropdown menu "(All items)" ) and put "Projects AND MusicLibrary" in the FilterBox

For info about the SourceBar scroll down to "The Grids" on Getting Started

[edit]Admin corrected the source[/edit]

[quote=Tom]say you want to show Projects and MusicLibrary grids,You could put "Projects AND MusicLibrary" in the SourceBox in Source Bar (dont include the inverted commas)

leave the SourceBox empty to show all items (or type/select from dropdown menu "(All items)" ) and put "Projects AND MusicLibrary" in the FilterBox[/quote]

I have tried this both ways with no luck. I have two grids, one names Projects and one named Reference. If I type exactly as show below...

Projects AND Reference

...everything disappears. If I type just one of them (i.e. Projects), I do get the appropriate result. I should note in case it matters that Projects and Reference are being used as grids only, meaning that I am not using the actual fields Projects or Reference in either grid.

What is probably happening is that you want to see are sub-items that are shown in the two grids, not main items. Sub-items may be shown because they are children of items which belong to the grid, as such, they may not have any field-values (other than the item field). You would have the same issue in Ecco.

In IQ, you have a number of options, perhaps the simplest one is to tag the item you want to see and set the source of a grid to ItemsTagged. You can also create a field to mark these items (this is what tagging does for you) and set the grid source to this field.

If that doesn't help, perhaps you could show us your grids and/or send me the file for analysis

In addition to what Tom wrote (Thanks!),

When you create a grid, a field of the same name is also created to "hold" the grid items.
The properties pane will show the field-values for each item (F4, filled field section)
Say you have Grid1 and Grid2. If you want to only see items that are in Grid1 AND in Grid2 [edited]:
- In Grid1, you can add "Grid2" in the filter
- In Grid2, you can add "Grid1" in the filter (both will give the same result, Alt-S to show the filter box)
- Left of the filter is a toggle button, use it to enable/disable the filter. When disabled, the fitlerbox is grey

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

Say you have Grid1 and Grid2. If you want to only see items that are in both grids:[/quote]

that confused me for a bit -

I was thinking you were explaining how to show both but of course (as you say) you are explaining how to show items that are currently in both grids

Thanks guys, this is getting FUN :)! I have a few more questions, but first I am going to play with this is bit.

[quote=Pierre_Admin]When you create a grid, a field of the same name is also created to "hold" the grid items.[/quote]

This is a source of confusion for me, When you create a grid, a field is automatically created with the same name. But that field may or may not be used in the grid, no? Let's suppose I create a grid named "Reference". IQ automatically creates a field named Reference. But it doesn't even (automatically) insert that field (as a coloumn) into the Reference grid. The only field it inserts automatcially is the Item field. So in fact the Reference field is not "holding" any items at all, is it? Unless I specifcally insert it as a column and use the Reference field, no?? I am just trying to understand the subtleties here so I can understand this correctly/fully.

This behaviour is the same as Ecco. When you create a new notepad (say Notepad1) in Ecco, a folder with the same name is created (type=yes/no) and the only column you get is the item column. Any items entered under this folder gets at least 2 values: the item text and the folder "Notepad1". Later on, you can remove that folder from the notepad, add another, etc.

The same in IQ, the new grid (say Grid1) is initially linked to the field "Grid1". When you add items in that grid, they'll have at least 2 values: item and Grid1. You can check the properties pane to see this.

As in Ecco, albeid in a different manner, you can change the grid source to show another field, or a combination of fields. This is done using the sourcebar (alt-s)

I hope this helps!

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

As in Ecco, albeid in a different manner, you can change the grid source to show another field, or a combination of fields. This is done using the sourcebar (alt-s)

I hope this helps!

[/quote]

Yes it does, I am getting there, I just want to understand every aspect of this thing :). OK, I just created a new grid called "test grid" and and see that it not only creates a new yes/no field named "test grid", that it also automatically places a check in the test grid field for every item I enter, even though the field is not displayed. This clears up a LOT for me, as I did not know that merly entering an item in the item field could also cause another field to be filled in. So my next question is, "where" is the "test grid" field automatically linked to the grid named "test grid". Even though you do that automatically, I am assuming I should be able to see the linking as a setting somewhere, and even do linking myself manually? I looked at manage grids, is it there somewhere? I have other grids where for whatever reason such a link does not exist, and an obvious difference between those grids and the one named test grid did not jump out at me in the manage grids pane.

>So my next question is, "where" is that "test grid" field automatically linked to the grid named "test grid". Even though you do that automatically, I am assuming I should be able to see it somewhere, and even do it myself. I looked at manage grids, is it there somewhere?

If you show the "test grid" field in your "test grid" grid, you'll see that every main item added gets this field checked.

The reason is simple: When you enter items in a grid, you want to be able to see it there the next time you open the grid. So it comes back to "how does a grid know what items to display? " The sourcebar (alt-S) shows 2 text boxes: the source and the filter. Notice that for your "test grid" grid, the source is set to "test grid". The software knows that whenever an items is added to this grid, it automatically assigns a value for this field

Ecco did the same thing

[quote=Pierre_Admin]If you show the "test grid" field in your "test grid" grid, you'll see that every main item added gets this field checked[/quote]

Yes, I already observed that, that is what my question was about.

[quote] The reason is simple: When you enter items in a grid, you want to be able to see it there the next time you open the grid. So it comes back to "how does a grid know what items to display? " The sourcebar (alt-S) shows 2 text boxes: the source and the filter. Notice that for your "test grid" grid, the source is set to "test grid". The software knows that whenever an items is added to this grid, it automatically assigns a value for this field.[/quote]

Yahoo, got it! Now I see. What confused me is that in another grid (named Reference) the items did not seem to be linked to the reference field. But I now see it was because I was not clicking on "top level items" and the Reference field was not set to inherit to sub-items.

So to make sure I understand, the moment I select a different sources for a grid, all top level items (at a minimum) in that grid will be linked to a field that has the name of the grid. Is that correct? Bear with me :-).

If you want further information about this,

try also viewing this post

http://www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php?q=node/169

scroll down and check the link starting here

Submitted by Armando on Mon, 2008-12-15 13:55.

and there is an updated glossary info as well about heirarchy and context menus.

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

In addition to what Tom wrote (Thanks!),

[/quote]

[quote=Tom]

say you want to show Projects and MusicLibrary grids,

You could put "Projects AND MusicLibrary" in the SourceBox in Source Bar (dont include the inverted commas)

leave the SourceBox empty to show all items (or type/select from dropdown menu "(All items)" ) and put "Projects AND MusicLibrary" in the FilterBox

...

[edit]Admin corrected the source[/edit]

[/quote]

Pierre !!!

did you change source from "Projects & MusicLibrary" to "Projects AND MusicLibrary" ?

I was sure I wrote "&" cause I find using "AND" doesnt work here - in the sourcebox nor in the filterbox

[quote=Tom]

Pierre !!!

did you change source from "Projects & MusicLibrary" to "Projects AND MusicLibrary" ?

I was sure I wrote "&" cause I find using "AND" doesnt work here - in the sourcebox nor in the filterbox

[/quote]

Thank you thank you thank you! It appears Pierre is trying to screw me

! That is why I have not been able to get this working. Indeed, AND does NOT work, but & does!

Next question :). How would I write an expression to filter to accomplish this:

I have created a multiple choice of "yes, no or maybe". How would I go about filtering and showing only;

1. Items that are "yes" or "maybe".

2. Items that are "no' or for which *no selection* was made.

Many thanks, I'm almost there ;) :)!

You can use Advanced Seach which will generate the SQL for you, otherwise:

YourField ="yes" OR YourField="maybe"
YourField="no" OR YourField is null

Thanks!

Nevermind, figured it out.

I am able to create most of the views I want now, but am not sure how to accomplish the following. Let's suppose I want to have 3 items that function as headings in a grid that we will call "Stuff":

1. Ideas

2. Famous Quotes

3. Notes

I want ideas that I enter anywhere in IQ to show up in the grid, for instance even if they are entered in another grid named Projects. So let's say I enter an idea under a project in the Projects grid and the parent item is "Smith Project", and place a check mark in a column/field named "Ideas". Now I know how to make it show up under the "Stuff" grid, that's easy enough. But how do I get it to automatically show up in the Stuff grid under the "Ideas" heading item as a child item, when it has a completely different "parent" in the projects grid?

In IQ, columns (i.e. fields) and parents are 2 different things. If you want an item to have a parent, you must assign it as such. Also, the context parent shown is the main parent. so if you assign 2 or more parents to an item, you will see the main parent in the grid. Except if you enable full hierarchy, in which case you can view the other parents. Details avail if desired

You can however use the "Group" feature of the grid to do something close to what you want:

Grid > Group items by sort column: checked
Click on the "Ideas" column. The display will now have items grouped by their "Ideas" value. Instead of using yes/no fields, this grouping feature works best with a single "category" field, as it will automatically create groups for each category.

n.b. as grid sort is not preserved on a refresh, neither is this grouping. This will be fixed eventually

Would it be fair to say that although IQ is much more powerful than Ecco, that this is the one thing that was easier to accomplish with the Ecco architecture? Because I've been trying to find something Ecoo could do that IQ cannot, and so far this is the only thing.

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

In IQ, columns (i.e. fields) and parents are 2 different things. If you want an item to have a parent, you must assign it as such.[/quote]

I follow you so far. So the question is, let's suppose I'm in the Projects grid I mentioned and am entering an idea. Is there any way to assign that item to a second parent in another gird from the projects grid. I looked under properties thinking perhaps there was a way, but I could not discover it.

[quote]Also, the context parent shown is the main parent. so if you assign 2 or more parents to an item, you will see the main parent in the grid. Except if you enable full hierarchy, in which case you can view the other parents. Details avail if desired[/quote]

Details desired.

[quote] You can however use the "Group" feature of the grid to do something close to what you want:

Grid > Group items by sort column: checked
Click on the "Ideas" column. The display will now have items grouped by their "Ideas" value.[/quote]
Instead of using yes/no fields, this grouping feature works best with a single "category" field, as it will automatically create groups for each category.
[/quote]

I am playing with this and not sure yet what it does for me. Could you elaborate on what you mean by a single category field? Do you mean a text field with a single default value??

Thanks

I am not seeing any way to use the group by sort column to accomplish what I want, but is there any way to group by column/fields? If there was a group by column command, then I could accomplish what I want in this instance. since in this grid no item will have more than one column checked.

Pierre, am I driving you crazy with my questions and you are ignoring them :-)?

Let's say I am working in "Grid 1". Is there any way as I am entering an item in grid 1, under a parent item, to also assign the item to second parent in another grid while working in Grid 1?

Thanks

Yes there is. Position you on the item that has 2 parents and do: Item > Insert > New Sibling (or context menu)

Perhaps I am not expressing my question well, because unless I am not following you, I don't think you are answering my question (following your instructions does not seem to have anything to do with my question). The item does not have two parent items (yet). It has one. Example:

Parent Item in Grid 1
1. Child Item in Grid 1

Now let's imagine in Grid 2 I have

Item 1

Item 2

Item 3

...and so on,

So...I am working in Grid 1 and just added the child item (in red above). Is there a way for me now to click (or whatever) on the red item while working in grid 1 and somehow select that I also want it to be a subitem of, just to pick one, the blue item in grid 2, so that the next time I go to Grid 2 I will find the red item as a child item under Item 2? To further this example, you could not have multiple parent items in Ecco, but you could have mutiple folders function as if they were parent itema. So when I entered an item in one notepad, I could make it show up in other notepads AND under a different folder (i.e. hierarchy) in those notepads. So far I know how to make an item show up in as many grids as I want in IQ, but the last thing I am trying to grasp to be able to do everything I was able to do in Ecco (and more) is how to make an item show up in multiple grids AND under the desired items (since IQ does not use folders) in those grids. Obviously I can go into those other grids after the fact and give those items other parents, but I am trying to figure out if I can do it from one grid when I first enter the item. Sorry if I am driving you crazy, perhaps I have a blind spot, or maybe it just can't be done, but that is what I am trying to figure out.

David, AFAIK

currently the only (?/ easiest) way to give item more than one parent is to use Control+Drag n Drop, idealy with dualpane grid layout (two/dual tab groups) so you can easily item drag from grid to another

> Control+Drag/drop can give the dragged item another parent item - if you drag it "under" another item (i.e. make it sub-item)

You can check this out in the properties pane - see the first item "Parent - child" in 4. Links

Thanks Tom, that answers my question perfectly. Again showing below an example of what I would like to accomplish... Although I can perfectly accomplish this using your drag and drop method, since I don't find that ideal when quickly entering info on the fly (as opposed to being able to quickly make selections in columns), do you have any other suggestions for different or better ways to organize or structure my information in IQ? Would you handle this differently? I am asking from a "best practices" point of view.

Grid 1

Business Quotes
- Quote 1
- Quote 2

Grid 2

Ideas
- Idea 1
- Idea 2
All Quotes
- Quote 1
- Quote 2

Me, I'm not familiar with Ecco

have you ideas for easier ways to add parents ?? (in fact you may have mentioned some already, I just skimmed previous page

)

Re best practice my only suggestion with this example would be you could make "Business Quotes" a grid of it's own but I'm sure you've probably considered that already [ - then you could just tick source field for "Business Quotes"grid and item would automatically show there ]

Using the drag/drop method is very quick - just that you have to set up the tab groups with relevant grids first

But no matter how you add parent you're going to have to navigate to the new parent ....

[edits in square brackets]

[quote=David_H]

Grid 1

Business Quotes
- Quote 1
- Quote 2

Grid 2

Ideas
- Idea 1
- Idea 2
All Quotes
- Quote 1
- Quote 2

[/quote]

Would this work, if you made "Business Quotes" to be a child of "All Quotes", using the -- link to nonexistent node ID 278 --, technique?

You'd then enter more Business Quotes in Grid 1, as normal, and just business quotes would show. However in Grid 2, the added business quotes would show, as well as ideas, and non-business quote, etc.

Thanks Tom & Keith, very helpful, I think either of these methods will do what I need. You are correct Tom, I had already considered just dedicated a grid to it, this is just my attempt to 1, minimize the number of grids I use and, 2, group things in a way that has meaning to me.

Pierre, do you think this is something you may make a little more automatic in future releases? I'd like to see some way that I could define a few items to have "field type" qualities so that I could very quickly make an item appear in multiple grids under different parents.

Thanks

Have you tried using forms. With a click of a button, you can assign multiple field values to items (right-most button just right of the form name is "apply form to items) ?
Another option is to use a yes/no field with auto-assign rules. When you check this field, a whole series of fields get values

If none of these fill the bill, with a bit more details I could see the feasibility of what you want

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

Have you tried using forms. With a click of a button, you can assign multiple field values to items (right-most button just right of the form name is "apply form to items) ?
Another option is to use a yes/no field with auto-assign rules. When you check this field, a whole series of fields get values

If none of these fill the bill, with a bit more details I could see the feasibility of what you want

[/quote]

Hi Pierre,

Thanks, here is another example. If you are looking to win over all the Ecco users out there I think this is a must feature. First screen shot:

Second screen shot:

There are many instances in which I and I assume other users would like to have several headings in a grid (in the case above "high priority tasks" etc.) and then be in another grid (in this case thew projects grid) and be able to easily assign items under those headings. Again, this was very easy to do in Ecoo because each of those "headings" would have been folders. So I could work in a Projects notepad, just click on a bunch of columns as I added an item, and make them show up in another Notepad under the heading/folder I wanted them to. If you want to win over all the Ecco users I think this is something you should strongly consider. Right after my TOP feature request that I have listed before, and I know Armando wants too ;-), which is to be able to create a hierarchy of grids.

Thanks

p.s. I am not sure why you keep referring me to thinhs like forms. Forms is for selecting fields, but the challenge here is that I want to make the tasks show up under an *item heading*, NOT a field. Related to this, I would like to be able to group by fields in a grid, just like I can in Outlook. In Outlook I can drag and column header and group by it. Grouping is I think a powerful feature for personal organization. As an example, look at this screenshot for a GTD application for Lotus notes. This is EXACTLY what I want to do. Assign a bunch of "contexts" and now items show up under those context headings in another grid. Look at the screen show named "Review Projects & Actions by Context"

www.eproductivity.com/ICA/eproductivity.nsf/dx/screenshots

Pierre,

I see you are online. I edited my last post. Please see the screenshot in my p.s., I think that sums it all up.

Thanks

Will do later on today, I've got to run now...

David, a workaround would be to give items background colours representing priority

and then sort by ItemColor

use a drop-down field with priority and sort by that, (or isnt there an inbuilt "urgency" field? *)

but anyways,

If some of the items you want to sort have different parent items -

You'd have to use flat view (no hierarchy) and ensure that all items/sub-items meet source requirements (i.e. have source field ticked) in order to sort properly

I havent really worked this way cause i find it confusing that items are shown twice - at top-level and again as sub-items where relevant.

It's possible keeping all items collapsed will work-around this

Maybe Armando or Pierre might comment about that or refer you to a thread where discussed (I usually glaze over when it gets discussed lol but I gotta figure it out too ..)

Armando works that way - have you read -- link to nonexistent node ID 169 -- scroll down to Armando's first post and read on

* urgency thing is to do with date so different - see Pierres post down the page www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php if interested

EDIT/ corrected first link

[quote=David_H]Thanks, here is another example. If you are looking to win over all the Ecco users out there I think this is a must feature. First screen shot:

Second screen shot:

[...][/quote]

I like the idea of this a lot - has it been discussed elsewhere? Is it in mantis?

>I like the idea of this a lot - has it been discussed elsewhere? Is it in mantis?

Outlook does that too. And use it all the time. It's extremely covenient as it created new hierarchies, so to speak, on the fly.

I don't think it's in Mantis perse but it's pretty similar to what the "group items by sort columns" should be able to do. I remember posting in Mantis about this "group items" feature, because (and this should probably added to mantis):

1- it doesn't stick between refreshes, which makes it pretty useless or cumbersome to use

2- You cant really addition different sort groups like in Outlook, where you could have a hierarchy where items are first sorted by categories, then by priority (all in groups, of course)

3- it can be slow on big grids (1000 of items)

4- it can be buggy... (When you uncheck the group items option, some items will sometimes stay in groups)

(5- and I suspect that ie makes my CPU go crazy but I'll have to double check that as it's been a while)

Interesting... Yes I did change & to AND as & does not work on my system, but AND does work. It must be a regional issue. Thanks for reporting, I'll look into this.

For all users, try & or AND, one of the two should work...

I actually still use IQ in quite a basic manner but I'll give it a shot here:-

> what I'd really want to do is find a way to create a new grid that uses whatever unique fields those first two grids have in common, in order to combine the information that I want to see together in one new grid, and then to perform further filtering on that.

in Sourcebox for new grid simply combine relevant source fields

e.g.

InBox OR ToDo

see Keith's post with screenshot here - and | or source / filter

InBox & ToDo

will only show items with both fields filled [as mentioned earlier in this thread]