Enhanced Database Windows

Modified on: Thu, 28 Mar, 2024 at 4:15 PM

With the addition of user-defined table relationships, there are several new concepts and features to introduce regarding Database Windows (DBW). The highlights of which are included here:

Control Type Icons

DBW Control Types now have iconography to better distinguish controls from one another. These icons appear when adding a control type in the Field Attributes form, as well as the Fields tab of the DBW MTS.

Six new DBW Control Types have been added:

Picture	A new control for editing images.
Check Listbox	A drop-down combo presenting a list of checkable items.
Check ListView	A list view control presenting a list of checkable items.
Check Twin List	A twin list view control presenting two lists of items that can be moved between the lists.
Table ListView	Used to display multiple table records in a grid view directly in a DBW. Typically, this is the only control in the DBW.
Child Table ListView	Used to add/edit/delete multiple child table records directly in a DBW.

A new Picture Control has been added to DBWs for adding images to the database. The picture control can read/write images to Picture (BLOB) columns in a database table.

The Check Listbox is a drop-down list box with a checkbox included with each entry item. This allows for selection of multiple values within one control, while the dropdown list box occupies very little screen real estate.

The Check ListView is a static list view with a checkbox included with each entry item. Like the Check Listbox, this allows for selection of multiple values within one compact control.

The Check TwinList is a two-column control with arrows to move items between columns. Items in the left column indicate all available choices, while items in the right column are the assigned/chosen values. This allows for selection of multiple values within one control.

The Table ListView control is used to create a specific type of DBW for displaying multiple records from the same table within a DBW. Commonly referred to as a ‘ListView DBW’. The ListView DBW is only appropriate when directly editing tables within the database.

The Child Table ListView control displays an embedded listview control for child records related to the current parent record display in the DBW.

When configuring database windows (DBW) you can use the Test button to see a preview of how the DBW will look. This helps with field arrangement.
In Impact 2019, the Test button has been improved to make it easier and more efficient to configure and test dynamic data within DBWs without the need to save the MTS and use it within Impact.
The DBW test mode now also loads dynamic lookup values and will react to child/parent filtering if possible. If your DBW includes dynamic lookups that are filtered on D_CUSTOMER then it will use the customer from the current drawing or the default customer.
The DBW test mode allows full interaction with Child Table List Views, including allowing you to add/edit/delete rows from the ListView controls. No data is updated when using Test mode.