multiple horizontal objects in list

[namor]

dear all

is it possible to arrange more then one values (number, text) in one row in list view? this would make things much more overlookable. i now have only a couple of small objects on the left side where as 75% per cent of the screen is empty…

thanks for any hints…

[Brendan]

Hi Roman,

If you switch to the Multi-Column view then you can see a spreadsheet view of your list of records.

On Mac, click the Multi-Column button on the View toolbar.

On iOS, tap the action menu button on the records list view, then tap “View Settings”. Then tap on Multi-Column. Tap the Save button.

Thanks!

Brendan

[namor]

brendan

thanks for your time. i’ve seen the multi column view. and maybe it’s asked too much and too difficult to implement. it would make the list view more powerful because you could see more data at once.

best, roman

[Brendan]

The regular List view can also display up to 6 fields. Just vertically. If you want horizontal, that’s what the Multi-Column list view is for.

[Sam Moffatt]

IIRC you can customise the multi column list view to hide fields and reorder them. That might reduce down the field listing and be a little easier to manage. Does that help your use case?

[namor]

ok, i agree and give up.

[john cesta]

You mean you want place some fields side by side.

Like

first name. Last name

Street. City. State

Would be nice

[namor]

exactly. nothing essential but nice and practical.

[Brendan]

@John,

You could simulate that with a Calculation or Script field to concatenate the values.

[Sam Moffatt]

I use the calculation field approach myself for embedding extra information into the single column list view. My field order for my purchases form:

– photo – having a photo field first means Tap Forms puts the image in the row for me.
– title – string title for the item I purchased
– subtitle – this is a calculation field that joins up to three other fields together (see attachment) to output something like “Delivered / Red / Clothing” in the SCLV.

The list is set to use two rows so that the title and subtitle render along side the image.

You could use a set of calculation to do this as well though it would mean that the first two fields would be read only. To work around that, you can set those calculation fields to be hidden by ticking “Hide Field” and at least in my quick testing, this will hide it from the default layout but still show them in the SCLV.

Edit: did some more testing and “Hide Field” also removed it from the SCLV display once you navigate around a bit. Looks like it doesn’t immediately refresh the list view like it does the record.

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[namor]

@sam

thanks a lot. this is very helpful!

i didn’t see, we can make a field invisible!

is this possible in the ios version, too?

and where do i put the attached?

best from zurich, roman

[namor]

…the attached code…

[Sam Moffatt]

Create a new calculation field, in the form options you can set it up. Here’s a quick recording of how do that with a calculation field.

Looks like I hit a bug/quirk that commas, even in the quoted strings, seem to trigger something. That one’s for Brendan to look at.

To work around that, I also did a similar example using a script field. It’s a little more verbose but I find the script fields easier to work with than the calculation fields because it has better error reporting (easier to know what you did wrong). That’s probably less likely if you don’t learn JavaScript but there are plenty of resources on the web to learn JavaScript.

As you can see, both of the calculation fields update the list view on the left to display the composite data. Hopefully this helps!

Edit: Had to trim the calculation field recording to get it to fit under the file size limit. I attached a screenshot of what the final calculation that worked looked like (I ended up doing some experimenting with field separators).

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[namor]

dear sam

wow, very cool!

as i’m currently on the ios version
only, this is going to be difficult
to implement, right?

but anyway. great stuff, thanks a
lot for your time, r

[Sam Moffatt]

You can do the same on the iOS version as on the Mac, in the calculation editor you need to use [Field Name] instead of clicking on the fields and also you need to make sure you use the quote button above the keyboard to avoid inserting smart quotes.

The examples above in the iOS calculation editor would be CONCAT([First Name];" ";[Last Name]) and CONCAT([Street];" ";[City];" ";[State]).

Doing the script example on iOS is a few extra taps to select the fields but not that bad. I prefer script fields because of the better error reporting and testability (just click the “run” button to see if the field will work; make sure you’re on a record first though or you’ll get an error that record isn’t defined or similar). I wouldn’t want to do a lot of script or calculation field work on iPhone but on the iPad it isn’t too bad if you have a full keyboard. I’ve written some pretty crazy stuff on the phone but doing it on the desktop and using P2P sync or CouchDB sync is much easier.

Attached is a video of doing a new script field on my iPhone in one of my test databases, reordering it to make sure it’s the first and then going to the list view on the phone.

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[Brendan]

You also don’t have to use the CONCAT() method as you can just add the fields together:

[First Name] + " " + [Last Name]

[namor]

dear brendan

thanks a lot! i could add the fields together easily
but i could find out yet how to hide the field in the form.

i have some other fields that i would like to hide as
an ascending number i use for a calculation that doesn’t
have to show up.

is there a simple script?

best, roman

[Sam Moffatt]

I use CONCAT because if one of the fields are empty, the calculation field still works properly and leaves that field blank. If I use the simple addition operator, one empty field will tank the entire calculation. Then you need to guard each read with an IFEMPTY() and at that point the CONCAT is shorter in some cases. Screenshot with the impact of leaving a few fields empty along the way.

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[Brendan]

Good point @sam.

@namor, you can hide a field by checking the “Hide Field” option on the field properties for the specified field. It will no longer show up on the Default Layout. But there’s no function to do this programmatically. It’s either showing or it’s not.

[Author]

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