InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by David_H on 2014/12/09 17:17

I'd like to create a couple of fields/columns for applying attributes to items, I would want to choose only ONE item for each column from a multi-select list. Something like this:

"Item Type"

Action
Information

In other words, Item Type would be a column and Action OR Information would be the possible selections. What would be the best way to do this. I don't need complete directions, just an explanation of what function in IQ would be best to accomplish this and I'll read the documentation from there.

Thank you in advance.

Comments

You could set the item type field to be.an auto-list.

HTH !

Thanks, I found some references to it, I'll give it a shot....

Pierre, will multiple selection (as in Ecco) ever be possible?

Jon

Sony Vaio Z, Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 672 GB SSD

Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

Yes, it is definitely planned, and soon. Initially at least, it will only support yes/no fields

Not sure I understand. Yes/No fields would be single selection, since you should not have both yes and no. I'm referring to a drop down list where you can CTRL+Click multiple selections.

Jon

Sony Vaio Z, Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 672 GB SSD

Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

In ecco, you could have all types of fields in the drop down (text, dates, numbers, checkmarks). In the implementation coming soon, only checkmarks would be allowed

So I could select three people to be assigned a task from a list of employees? Their names would then appear in the column? That would be great.

Jon

Sony Vaio Z, Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 672 GB SSD

Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

So I'm trying to get started with something related to this, and using the sample data. I see how if I go to the Next Task grid, there is a column titled "Project" and I can select the default projects, Project 1 or Project 2. However let's say I go to the Project grid and create a new project titles Project 3. I can't get Project 3 to show up in the column. I don't see what field defines whether it shows up, I'd think it would be automatic if it was a top level item in that grid?

What am I missing?

Thanks

That's because the project field doesn't know anything about your projects. it's a simple auto list field.

If you open the field properties dialog (column > Field properties), look at the "editor" section of the project field and you'll see that "auto-list" is checked. Anything you'll write in that field will be part of the auto-list the next time you click on the dropdown button. Also, be aware that inheritance is turned on for that field : anything you'll write in it will propagate to subitems.

I've personally given up on inheritance most of the time as it's hard to manage.

Anyway... You could create a field that would "know" your projects names automatically and offer you the possibility to select one.

In the editor section (the text box under pop-up list and auto-list -- uncheck auto-list) of the project field, if you write something like :

SELECT item AS Project FROM Projects

...the field will be populated with Top level items from your projects grid.

[EDIT : I forgot : it's important that you make your "projects" grid visible : Grids menu > properties > select you "projects" grid > it's the last option in the "options" section : "Grid visible to applications" . This is supposed to be fixed in the release to come. ]**

There are many possibilities, depending on your work flow, taste, etc.

**Also, keep in mind that changes to a grid - adding and removing/moving columns in particular -- are only saved when you press ctrl+S, or when you close them, maybe also when it's refreshed... this is not important in everyday use, but can become important when you use/test SQL queries like above... as if you added a column to a grid and the grid wasn't saved, the query might not work if you refer to a non existent column (for example). I know my explanatin isn't super clear... I 'll try tomorrow...

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Windows 8.1

Sony Vaio S Series 13 (SVS131E21L)

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

Thanks, I'll absorb this when working with it and report back if I have further questions.

Edit: playing with them some more...may have figured it out....

I'm starting to play with these auto-lists. However I'm concerned because it's not uncommon for me to start with a convention/method and want to adjust it as I get further along. With a conventional pop-up field that is easy, because you can just go in and adjust the name of a field and update across the entire program.

But with these auto-lists it looks like if I start with a convention/method and apply a name to hundreds of items, and then need to update it later, I'm pretty much screwed unless I were to manually go in and change hundreds or thousands of items with those values? Am I missing something?

(I am referring to those auto lists that I would populate manually, not the ones I might create that would inherit a name automatically as in your example)

Yes, this is a problem. There might be ways around that "inflexibility"; maybe Pierre has ideas?

As you said, a field can be renamed and since its one field with a yes/no value (...presumably, in that situation), it's not really the value that changes but what's holding that value. However, a value inside a field doesn't exist "independently" of its... value. So it's more complicated to change it afterwards if its distributed across the database.

How are/were tags managed in Evernote? I can't remember if one can/could easily rename a tag once it was applied to many items.

In any case, my around it is... to not change my mind, as much as possible! Once I decide on a tag, I keep it. I created a system for my tags (and project names "coding") and so I rarely change them once they exist. When I need to change them, I do a search and replace.

**Note that there's no official search and replace in IQ (I created my own in the mean time) -- I know Pierre worked on something but I don't know when it'll be available

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Windows 8.1

Sony Vaio S Series 13 (SVS131E21L)

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

Thanks Armando.

Ya, tags can be renamed in Evernote.

Yes, that's what I thought. In Evernote, tags are like fields.

One could probably use fields as tags. I decided not to -- although I do, sometimes, but not really at the same level : fields are more at the "meta" level, and tags are mostly (but not only) used to define specific themes for references, notes, projects, etc.

I think that what Pierre had in mind with the "multi select" fields was something in between both : values in a field, but those values could be renamed like fields (i.e.: renaming one value would propagate everywhere.). But let's see what he has to say about that.

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Windows 8.1

Sony Vaio S Series 13 (SVS131E21L)

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

I have to test it but am wondering if I make the autolist populate based on a field such as the example shown in the link below for "manufacturer" if it would then make it easy to rename en masse. I am thinking if I renamed a manufacturer it would simultaneously rename that value across every single location I had used it from the autolist?

http://www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php?q=node/294

Oops, I was still on this page and doing research and posted that before I saw your last response. I think we had the same idea.

[quote=David_H]

http://www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php?q=node/294

[/quote]

No, it wouldn,t work. What such a list does is inserting text selected in a list. If you change the values in the list, the previously inserted text won't change.

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Windows 8.1

Sony Vaio S Series 13 (SVS131E21L)

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

Duh, I don't know what I was thinking! The entire reason I was looking at pre-populated lists was because I had realized that limitation about auto-lists. So obviously using a list that references a field that uses an autolist isn't going to work either!

[quote=David_H]

[/quote]

Yes, exactly... In many cases, it's not really a problem, but it becomes one if orthography/syntax might change. Like in a tagging system, maybe, or with project names, etc.

I personally manage my tags outside of IQ -- then I use them in IQ, of course.

My tags are system-wide.For that I use AutoHotKey.

So I create my tags in AHK as abbreviations that are expanded when I type. That way 1- there is no miss-spelling, 2- it's everywhere the same, 3- it's fast to enter anywhere.

For tags I use simple IQ text field (I have 4 fields for tags : Wikitag, projects, ClassificationContext, VerificationContext... Yes I know, it looks complicated, but it's not that bad in reality). In those fields, tags are simply space separated. A tag is never more than a word -- and f I need more words, I link them together

I've explained all that in details somewhere.

That works well for me, and I wouldn't move to another method (unless that method would allow to correct orthography as you described, while being as fast as mine)... But I can certainly understand it won't for most people.

In my experience, tags need to be treated rigorously to be useful.... otherwise, they can rapidly become a mess. AHK provided me a way to see all my tags in a single text file that I could visually reorganize at will.

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Windows 8.1

Sony Vaio S Series 13 (SVS131E21L)

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

[quote=Armando]

**Note that there's no official search and replace in IQ (I created my own in the mean time) -- I know Pierre worked on something but I don't know when it'll be available

[/quote]

Hi Armando, I know this goes back a ways .. but I'm wondering how you created your own search and replace for use in IQ. I guess maybe you'd use VBScript to extract the current contents of the target field, then more functions to replace the search string with a desired replacement string. Then you'd do a search for all items that contain the replacement string, and use an auto-assign to replace the contents of the target field with the new contents (with string replacement). Am I on the right track here?

It might come in handy until IQ has its own native S&R (which the user manual says is not yet implemented).