Author Topic: SQLNotes...what is it exactly? (Read 902607 times)

superboyac · « **Reply #125 on:** November 28, 2007, 06:39 PM »

Can I hide that "#" column? Do I need it? Does each item have its own ID number that the program keeps track of? If I start a new grid and want to reference items in another grid, how do link to that item? I'm sure there has to be a unique ID somewhere for each one.

Also, i couldn't find how to do this, so if there isn't this feature yet, it should probably be added: expand all/collapse all. There should be a way to expand all the items and collapse them all, to save some tedious clicking sometimes.

I'm loving this program, I've already constructed the basic outline of my database.

Screenshot - 11_28_2007 , 5_00_25 PM.png

SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

PPLandry · « **Reply #126 on:** November 28, 2007, 09:00 PM »

Can I hide that "#" column? Do I need it? Does each item have its own ID number that the program keeps track of? If I start a new grid and want to reference items in another grid, how do link to that item? I'm sure there has to be a unique ID somewhere for each one.

Also, i couldn't find how to do this, so if there isn't this feature yet, it should probably be added: expand all/collapse all. There should be a way to expand all the items and collapse them all, to save some tedious clicking sometimes.

I'm loving this program...
-superboyac (November 28, 2007, 06:39 PM)

- To hide the # column, reduce its size to zero
- Yes all items have an ID. Checkout the properties pane, first line. You can drag it to the grid if you want it displayed
- Items dont belong to a grid. They are displayed in grids. So an item can be displayed in as many grids as you wish. The grid criteria decides which items are shown.
- Expand All: CTRL-9
- Collapse All: CTRL-1
- Check Grid>Save Item State. The grid will always return to the same state

Glad to see that you've seen the light. It takes a while to graps it. Congratulations

PPLandry · « **Reply #127 on:** November 28, 2007, 09:44 PM »

Your structure will work, but there is redundant information. In the Ecco concept, you could use the Item field (column):
- Author
- - Album 1
- - - Song 1
- - - Song 2
- - Album 2
...

Both are valid ways of doing. It all depends on what you want to do with your info. What kind of analysis you want. Your approach allows better data analysis. The Ecco way is simpler and visually more pleasing, but data extraction/analysis is more limited. But it gets the job done very quickly:
1- Create grid MusicLibrary
2- Start entering singer, album, song. No fields to create. Just use Item.

Either way is good!

PPLandry · « **Reply #128 on:** November 28, 2007, 10:02 PM »

Along the Ecco line, you can create special parent fields (default template has been updated with those fields). The UI would now be:

Notice that you only enter information in the items column, the other columns are generated automatically and take NO space in the database.

Have fun!

PPLandry · « **Reply #129 on:** November 28, 2007, 10:10 PM »

Or if you wanted to add a ratings column, to allow filtering (rating>2 for example), it could be:

[edit] but don't get me wrong, your approach is quite adequate, so stick with it if you want.

superboyac · « **Reply #130 on:** November 29, 2007, 12:03 AM »

THanks, yeah, I'm ok with my method. I don't mind the redundancy for two reasons: Each individual item can stand alone this way, and; it's not like I'm entering the fields manually, they are being inherited automatically.

Here's another question. For the fields that are inherited automatically (like in your example above) is there a way to make them non-editable? For example, if an item is a subtopic and inherits some fields, it would be nice to have that field non-editable so no mistakes would happen. However, I don't want that particular field to always be non-editable because if it is not a subtopic, then it has to be entered manually. is that possible?

This program is pretty great. I can already think of a million things to create databases for. I'm a very meticulous person.

PPLandry · « **Reply #131 on:** November 29, 2007, 07:41 AM »

In your method, there is no way to make inherited value read-only (currently). This feature will be added soon.

If you use the other method (ItemParent, ...), these are always read-only

superboyac · « **Reply #132 on:** November 29, 2007, 10:02 AM »

You know, I just realized that the itemparent way is better. My only issue is this: does the position in the hierarchy determine whether the item is album/artist/song? Is that going to be an issue if I try to use the same data in a different grid? How will I be able to filter out albums, artists, and songs if I don't have those distinct fields and they all go into the same field?

superboyac · « **Reply #133 on:** November 29, 2007, 10:05 AM »

Oh No! Disaster! I just opened up the database I made yesterday, and on the bottom of the screen is was saying something about auto-calc fields, and now all of the album/artist fields disappeared! This is bad.

Screenshot - 11_29_2007 , 8_03_58 AM.png

SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

superboyac · « **Reply #134 on:** November 29, 2007, 10:51 AM »

OK, I found out what the problem was. For album and artist fields, i had the "auto-update" box checked, which is bad apparently. Can you tell me what that is for?

PPLandry · « **Reply #135 on:** November 29, 2007, 06:45 PM »

You know, I just realized that the itemparent way is better. My only issue is this: does the position in the hierarchy determine whether the item is album/artist/song? Is that going to be an issue if I try to use the same data in a different grid? How will I be able to filter out albums, artists, and songs if I don't have those distinct fields and they all go into the same field?
-superboyac (November 29, 2007, 10:02 AM)

If you want to be able to filter on artist, album and/or song, it is best to either have a text field (dropdown type) where you enter the type of info, or use 3 checkbox fields (isArtist, isAlbum, isSong). Your original method will work too.

(sorry for the delay, I was at a client's today)

PPLandry · « **Reply #136 on:** November 29, 2007, 06:46 PM »

Oh No! Disaster! I just opened up the database I made yesterday, and on the bottom of the screen is was saying something about auto-calc fields, and now all of the album/artist fields disappeared! This is bad.
-superboyac (November 29, 2007, 10:05 AM)

This was certainly just a display problem. In 3 years of using SQLNotes, I've never lost anything!. I'll check on this issue

PPLandry · « **Reply #137 on:** November 29, 2007, 06:49 PM »

OK, I found out what the problem was. For album and artist fields, i had the "auto-update" box checked, which is bad apparently. Can you tell me what that is for?
-superboyac (November 29, 2007, 10:51 AM)

Auto-calc is for fields that have equations which depend on todays date (Urgency is a good example). It tells the system to update the value on a change of day.

I'll check if this can be the cause of the display problem you observed (I doubt it, but...). It definitely should be safe to use.

[edit] After checking, yes, this is the cause of the problem you observed. I'll fix it immediately. Please download the daily build. [edit] It is now fixed.

superboyac · « **Reply #138 on:** November 30, 2007, 11:55 AM »

Is there a way to transfer the contents of one column of one grid into the column of another grid, even though the columns represent different fields?

I ask, because I want to try making the database the outline way you described above using only the "item" field, but I don't want to reenter all the song titles and stuff.

I like the idea of the checkboxes or the dropdown, I think I'll do that.

PPLandry · « **Reply #139 on:** November 30, 2007, 11:58 AM »

Is there a way to transfer the contents of one column of one grid into the column of another grid, even though the columns represent different fields?
-superboyac (November 30, 2007, 11:55 AM)

Yes there is an easy way:
1- set Item field equation to: = SongTitle
2- Click update (next to the equation)
3- remove the Item field equation and save it

p.s. remember, columns are simply a display of the field. You want to operate on fields, not columns. As to grids, they are not related to fields. They serve as a window of your data (items and fields values)

superboyac · « **Reply #140 on:** November 30, 2007, 12:11 PM »

Is there a way to transfer the contents of one column of one grid into the column of another grid, even though the columns represent different fields?
-superboyac (November 30, 2007, 11:55 AM)

Yes there is an easy way:
1- set Item field equation to: = SongTitle
2- Click update (next to the equation)
3- remove the Item field equation and save it

p.s. remember, columns are simply a display of the field. You want to operate on fields, not columns. As to grids, they are not related to fields. They serve as a window of your data (items and fields values)
-PPLandry (November 30, 2007, 11:58 AM)

Hmm...I am not finding where this "Item field equation" is. Where exactly do I enter this formula?

PPLandry · « **Reply #141 on:** November 30, 2007, 12:14 PM »

In field properties:
Screen 00011.jpg

superboyac · « **Reply #142 on:** November 30, 2007, 12:28 PM »

OK, i did that, and I saw the status bar go through the items and update everything, but the column in the grid is still blank. How do I fill in the column with the values that are now stored in the field?

PPLandry · « **Reply #143 on:** November 30, 2007, 12:30 PM »

OK, i did that, and I saw the status bar go through the items and update everything, but the column in the grid is still blank. How do I fill in the column with the values that are now stored in the field?
-superboyac (November 30, 2007, 12:28 PM)

Not sure I follow you here, but you can try to refresh (F5) or close the grid and re-open.... Can you post an image if this does not help you

superboyac · « **Reply #144 on:** November 30, 2007, 12:55 PM »

OK, here is a screenshot. I set up the field "MusicItem" with the =SongTitle equation. I dragged the musicitem field to the grid, now how do I get the song titles to appear there?

Screenshot - 11_30_2007 , 10_53_27 AM.png

SQLNotes...what is it exactly?

PPLandry · « **Reply #145 on:** November 30, 2007, 01:12 PM »

Notice the top-left box. It is the folder (or field) being viewed.
If nothing is shown in the grid, it is because the field has no values.

What you want, is to see the values from MusicItem. Select that field in that box and hit enter to refresh!

superboyac · « **Reply #146 on:** November 30, 2007, 01:32 PM »

OK, that's cool. Now that the item values are populated, if I remove the =songtitle from the field equation, will the data still remain there? I want to do this so I can add other items that are not songtitles into the same grid.

PPLandry · « **Reply #147 on:** November 30, 2007, 01:40 PM »

Yes you should remove the equation (as in my previous instructions). The values will stay of course. The equation was just to do the copy.

superboyac · « **Reply #148 on:** November 30, 2007, 01:51 PM »

very cool. This program is very well thought out. What inspired you to make this program? How long did it take, and how much help did you have?

PPLandry · « **Reply #149 on:** November 30, 2007, 02:10 PM »

very cool. This program is very well thought out. What inspired you to make this program? How long did it take, and how much help did you have?
-superboyac (November 30, 2007, 01:51 PM)

I started it 4 1/2 years ago. I had been using Ecco for my information management (since 1993) and got more and more frustrated at it. When my now 4 year-old was born, I took 6 months off from my consulting activities and looked at creating my own Ecco.

The first version took 6 months or so. I've been adding features, improving UI, improving the back-end database logic, etc since then. I have 10-15 licences sold to companies (here in Montreal) who use it for CRM type applications and/or as a flexible database. I started using it for my own consulting activities 3 years ago and it does everything for me (calendar, contacts, tasks, proposals, project tracking, billing, notes, reporting, etc). I've purchased some components, otherwise, I did it all.

In june 2007, after a heated discussion at the yahoo ecco_pro group (where skeptism was obvious), I decided it was time to go public. It is evolving from a flexible database towards a power PIM. Official release of V1.0 is planned in 2008Q1