Hi again,

On our old projects/jobs database we usually select our job/projects by a 'drop down' list made up of a values list of 'active jobs'. that autofills in once you start typing.

As we'll have sometimes 20 to 30 projects active at a time, i would like to replace the mini-window pop up selection method for the filters on (especially for the projects) for the Auto fill/drop-down list similar to what we used before.

When i tried to change the Project filter field to the above, it will look like it's working, when you select in the drop down list is there. but after you select the project, it comes up with an error message: 'this field is not modifiable'.

Also, when setting it up as a drop-down list, it won't allow me to tick the 'auto-fill' option.

I have a feeling as maybe I left the field to 'display data' from the same '::FilterProjectDisplayCalc' as the original Project filter that maybe I need to replace it with something else?

Any advice greatly appreciated. Really.

*k

Hi. I think you're getting the not-modifiable error because you may be trying to enter the project id into the wrong field. _If_ you were going to do this, the field you'd enter the project id into would be FilterProjectID_kf_Glob and I'd put this "behind" the FilterProjectDisplayCalc that is already there.

At the end of the day, though, I think you'll want to stick with our portals rather than use drop down lists (you know the portal has an option to show only active projects right on it).

The reason is that we really need to run some scripts in order to set and refresh the display of the portal contents based on the filters selected. This isn't such a big deal on gantt, but it is a big deal on the other screens like Month and the "fancy" week view. In addition to refreshing the portal contents our scripts "pass" the filters to some of our other filter tables so that the filters persist throughout the solution. ie. if you're hiding the type "personal" on the day view, it stays hidden when you switch to fancy week, etc. That won't happen if you switch to native drop down lists.

The portals also make selecting more than one item at a time much easier.

Finally, I imagine your users will want all filters to work the same way (be that pop-up portals or drop down lists) and I don't think you'll want contacts to use a drop down list.

But you can certainly check it out and see how it goes.

HTH.

I see what you're saying. This might account for my not finding my appts anymore in month & fancy week view! How can I fix this? (I have a backup copy made from before this happened if i need to revert)

(we DO use the drop down list for contacts also! ) I think everyone is used to the Auto Fill method, as you start typing it in it finds it pretty quickly.

I'll try out both solutions and maybe due a test run with the pop ups & if no one complains...

Is there any way to suppress the 'passing on of filters' from the gantt view? I can understand wanting to have the filters pass on in between day/week/month view but as we'll be toggling/etc in gantt primarily through the use of filters, i don't think it needs to pass on to the others. or does it already not do that? just wondering if i'm missing my month/fancy week appts showing up because of all the changes i've been making in the gantt chart filters.

*k

msskat wrote: (we DO use the drop down list for contacts also! ) I think everyone is used to the Auto Fill method, as you start typing it in it finds it pretty quickly.

I'll try out both solutions and maybe due a test run with the pop ups & if no one complains...

Sounds good. Have at it. I can understand people getting used to auto fill.

msskat wrote: Is there any way to suppress the 'passing on of filters' from the gantt view?

Yes and no. Here is how it works: layouts are using one of two kinds of setups, layouts like Daily, Month, and Gantt are based on table occurrences based on the "Filters" table. These layouts all use the same fields for their filters. The Schedule and Fancy Week view go through the intermediary of the "Hours" table, which has its own filters.

All the filter pop-ups set the filter globals in the Filters table and the script "Filter - Pass Filters" passes these down to the corresponding fields in the Hours table.

Breaking this into more filters is a serious amount of work. You may be better off storing and restoring the filters as you move from layout to layout. For instance, if you want gantt to have its own filters you could store the filters in use on daily in some variables then clear the actual filters as you arrive at gantt. Upon leaving gantt you'd again clear the filters, restoring them to what they had been on daily.

That might be less disruptive than trying to break up the filter routines we already have.

John Sindelar wrote:You may be better off storing and restoring the filters as you move from layout to layout. For instance, if you want gantt to have its own filters you could store the filters in use on daily in some variables then clear the actual filters as you arrive at gantt. Upon leaving gantt you'd again clear the filters, restoring them to what they had been on daily.

That might be less disruptive than trying to break up the filter routines we already have.

Yes, I understand what you're saying and agree with the 'restore' method. (fyi, i've left your existing filters as is. just have created some scripts to set some parameters that 'act like' filters.... for the toggle view.)

as for the above mentioned and in other post re: missing appts in week/monthly view.... it seems like if i click in the day, the appts are there. just can't see them for some reason listed in the day????

Thanks so much for all the help & info!!!!!



*k