Large Notes Field contents

[Tony Moss]

Brendan,

I took the Database (converted from FileMaker Pro) to my friend yesterday. He was delighted with it and purchased Tap Forms immediately. (As in fact have I.)

A couple of points we’d be grateful for your comments on, if possible:-

1: The Notes field. The contents of this field on many of his records are very comprehensive – the largest has over 2,500 words. It would be really, really helpful if the Notes field could include a scroll bar. Currently the only way of moving through the data is via the arrow keys when the field is selected.

2: Related to 1: above, there doesn’t seem any way to print record details including the entire contents of the Notes field. Any advice? (We’ve tried exporting to Excel where we can wrap the text in a cell, but we found that there seems to be a limit on the row hight in Excel (14.43 cm) – not enough to display all the text!)

3: When entering data (e.g. for a new record), the Tab key seems to operate in the reverse direction to the accepted “standard”. In Tap Forms, pressing Tab moves the selection “Anticlockwise” (from bottom to top) whereas Shift+Tab moves the selection “Clockwise” (top to bottom). Having to remember this makes data entry a little more difficult. Is it just us, and if so how do we correct it?

Sorry if this is giving you extra grief, but I’d be grateful for any advice to enable me to impress my friend even more!

Thanks in anticipation,

Tony

[Brendan]

Hi Tony,

1. You can certainly scroll the Note field without having to use the arrow keys. Which view are you using for that? A custom layout or the Note field edit window? Both have scrollbars. You just have to scroll the mouse or swipe up and down its your trackpad when the cursor is within the Note field content area.

2. Extremely large note fields won’t print spanning multiple pages. That’s something I need to try to figure out how to do.

3. That’s very odd. It works properly for me. When I press the tab key, the cursor goes to the next field downwards. But perhaps you’re using a custom layout where you don’t have the tab order specified on your fields? There’s a tab order button at the top of the layout design area you can click on to show the tab order for each of the fields on your custom layout. Click on them, type in a new value, then press the Return key to accept the new value. Disable layout edit mode by clicking the Layout button again to dismiss the layout inspector panel on the right, then click into a field and then tab and see how that goes. You can also adjust the tab order on the Layers tab.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Tony Moss]

Thanks so much for replying so promptly, Brendan. Hugely impressive!

In reverse order:-

3. So that’s what the Tab Order button does! Works a treat – brilliant, and totally logical.

2. Printing large Notes – good to know it isn’t just me. It will be great when you get it sorted, as I’m sure you will.

1. I’m using a custom layout – screenshot attached. There is a scroll bar on the layout itself, but as you’ll see, none in the Notes field, even when selected (as in the screenshot). Even then, scrolling the mouse simply moves the entire layout up and down, leaving the displayed contents of the Notes field unchanged.

Hope this helps,

Thanks again,

Tony

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Brendan]

Well I just tested and although the scrollbar doesn’t show up right away, it does when I use the trackpad to scroll with the cursor within the note field area. Do you have a real mouse or a trackpad?

[Tony Moss]

Hi Brendan,

Both Stuart and I have the latest iMac, with the latest Magic Mouse. Both experiencing this issue.

However, I also happen to have a Trackpad (some years old, now and rarely used) – Firmware version = 0x0160. I’ve set it up and tested it but with no improvement. Still no scroll bar when the cursor is within the Notes field, and swiping the trackpad causes the entire layout to move.

As a last resort I connected a USB mouse – still no difference I’m afraid!

Sorry – but over to you. . .

Tony

[Brendan]

Aha! I think I know the problem.

You have a Text field there instead of a Note field.

I would recommend switching that field to be a Note field instead of a Text field.

Then if you don’t get the scrolling behaviour, delete that object from the custom layout and drag it back in again from the Fields list on the lower-right of the Layout Inspector panel.

Note fields have a built-in scrollview whereas Text fields don’t.

So that’s the issue.

Sorry it took me this long to figure it out. But I’m positive this is the issue.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Tony Moss]

You are, of course, perfectly correct, Brendan. Our saviour!!!

Many apologies for causing you to waste your valuable time on such a trivial issue. However, I’m gradually getting familiar with Tap Forms, so hopefully won’t need to trouble you too frequently.

Many thanks for such a terrific support service.

Tony

[Brendan]

No worries. I’m glad we figured it out.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Author]

Posts