filling data fields

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Posted by jimspoon
Sep 13, 2011 at 05:41 PM

I think one problem with PIMs is that the process of filling in data fields can be very awkward. It can be complex to do it in a grid-type display - only a few columns will fit in a window, and you may want to enter data into a field that is not displayed in a column. Then you have to add that column to the display, or switch between column sets, etc.

You can also have a vertical list of fields (perhaps organized hierarchically and nested), but it still can be quite a chore to find the field that you want to fill. Lots of scrolling up and down, mousing around, etc.

I am wondering if any of you have seen any programs that do a particularly good job of making it easier to get data into fields, and if so, how it is done in that program.

Since I am a fan of (for lack of a better term) single-pane outliners like Ecco and Infoqube, I have an idea that somehow this could be implemented within the single-pane interface. Perhaps as you are entering text in an outline item, a “fields” area could appear immediately below the text, and pressing down the down arrow at the bottom would take you to it - and then you would go into a drop-down list of field sets. Press Alt-Down to pick the right one, and then sort of a grid of fields would appear, again, below your item text. You could tab through the fields and enter appropriate data, all without leaving the single-pane interface. If you press the down-arrow again, you’d go to your next outline item.

For example - say you are making notes about a purchase you made, a workout you just had, a person you just met - instead of moving to a different program you could just enter your field data right below your notes. It would have to be easy to bring up the set of fields that is appropriate to the thing you are typing notes about. Less disruptive to the workflow.

This might or might not be workable, but I am curious.

Posted by Pierre Paul Landry
Sep 13, 2011 at 06:16 PM

Indeed… this would be quite useful !

But in IQ, you can essentially do this with the Properties Pane:
1- Set up a grid as a single-pane outliner with very few columns
2- Create items
3- For some of these items, press F4. This will popup the Properties Pane
4- Enter some values. The Forms section is particularly useful for this
5- Cursor keys allow easy (mouseless) navigation
6- Press F4 when done to close the Properties Pane return to the outline

HTH

Pierre, IQ Designer

Posted by Jon Polish
Sep 13, 2011 at 06:35 PM

Pierre’s approach in IQ is very flexible and eminently useful. You mentioned Ecco which has an analogous feature called forms. It too is very good, but unless you use Ecco Extension, the non-resizable dialogue is difficult to use on today’s high resolution monitors. The extension fixes this.

Jon

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