You use a spreadsheet interface when dealing with multiple rows that share common columns and is targeted towards meeting the needs and features of the CX23-R.
The spreadsheet allows you to see many rows and columns at once and navigate using the keyboard or mouse. Spreadsheets can be read-only or editable. They can be filtered, sorted, and configured different ways.
This section documents features available when using certain spreadsheets. Some forms may impose restrictions or rules on what can and cannot be done within a spreadsheet. The topic is a general overview on how to interact with spreadsheets and what their behavior is. The spreadsheet interface is nothing more than a smart grid with intelligence built in relative to the context in which it is being used.
A spreadsheet (grids) consists of rows and columns. The intersection of rows and columns is a cell. A cell can contain any value that can be visually represented. This includes different rendering types such as text, combo boxes/lists, check boxes, or buttons. Regardless of what the contents of cells, the operations that can be performed on the spreadsheet is common.
Spreadsheets always have columns, which have column headings (titles). The headings are in a human readable form and subject to localization. The language chosen determines exactly what heading displays. The behavior and navigation will always be the same regardless of what the column names or titles.
There are no row numbers in spreadsheets. Usually all interaction is by column name and row selection. Since rows can be filtered or sorted, the row numbers will never remain the same. For these reasons, numbers are not shown.
To aid in the visualization of rows within a spreadsheet, they are zebra stripped. Odd positioned rows are a light blue color while even positioned rows are a darker blue. The mouse-over color of a row changes to gray when the mouse cursor hovers over a row (read-only). When you it becomes the current row and changes to a medium blue color. The only exception to these colors is when the row contains Diagnostic Messages during setup configuration.
Spreadsheets can be editable and read-only. Editable spreadsheets allow you to manually edit individual cells. Depending on the renderer used, and what rules are allowed for that cell, the interface for the edit may be slightly different. But, you can change the cell values.Editable spreadsheets can change their size dynamically. You can insert or delete rows.
Read-only spreadsheets generally are static in size and contents. You cannot edit these and generally you cannot add or delete rows.
For example:
Editable spreadsheet
Read-only spreadsheet
Spreadsheets are used when large volumes of similar structured rows are to be displayed and/or manipulated. They are used extensively in the CX23-R CX23‑R web interface to display rows for users, profiles, networks, and channels.
When a spreadsheet is initially rendered, it is organized in a predefined way as deemed appropriate for typical use cases. However, you can customize spreadsheets. Depending on what is organized and where it is organized, the customizations made may actually persist. This means that the next time the same spreadsheet is rendered, it remembers the last settings and honors them. For example, the Channel Setup interface spreadsheet remembers all customizations made.
For spreadsheets where you can perform row operations, a “selection” column is automatically inserted. This is usually the very first column. This column has no heading text, but does have a “Select All” check box to select all or none by toggling the header check box. This column cannot be hidden, sorted, resized, or filtered. It operates exactly the same way in all the places where it is defined.
The following lists all customizations you can perform on a spreadsheet. Interactions happen at the row, column, or cell level.
Column widths are initially predefined by the application when they are first rendered. You are free to change the size. To do this, “grab” the right side handle of the column header with the mouse and drag it to the required size. A thin vertical black line guides you to the new position.
If the value in a cell (including the header) cannot fit into the allocated width of the column, then ellipses (…) display for part of the value that cannot be shown. This is just a rendering visualization and is not part of the real value of that cell.
By default, a spreadsheet is not ordered. The rows display in the order the application deems appropriate. You have the ability to re-order the entire spreadsheet by any column that permits ordering.
To order in column ascending order, click the heading of the column by which you want to sort. A small upward pointing arrow displays in the column header to indicate that row is sorted ascending. Click the column header again and it toggles to descending, reversing the direction of the arrow. You can repeat this process any number of times.
NOTE
Once user ordering has taken place, it is not possible to remove the sorting and revert back to its original rendered order. You need to re-select, re-render, or restart the form.
The sorting algorithm of the spreadsheets is aware of the type of values contained in columns and the order honors that type. Numerical values order numerically and date columns order by date.
Sometimes, it does not make any sense ordering a column – like a column for check boxes. In this case, ordering that column is inhibited.
Besides clicking the column header to sort,you can also mouse-over the right of the column header to reveal a drop-down menu where sorting.
The columns shown in a spreadsheet are those that the application sees fit to show. You can customize the columns you do want to see and those that do not interest you. For those of no interest, select to “hide”. The column still exists, contains values, and persists, they are just not shown at that particular time.
To hide and show individual columns, navigate the mouse to the right of the column header where a drop-down context menu displays. Use the menu option for Columns. Navigate to the right of that option and a list of all currently available columns displays. You can select or unselect columns you require. Selections made reflect immediately in the underlying spreadsheet.
There are two restrictions to selecting and unselecting columns:
Click outside the columns list to close it.
Where permissible, you can move rows within a spreadsheet. For single row moves, click and drag the row to the desired location. For multiple row moves, select each row be checking the Select check box and drag the entire selection to the desired location. The rows move in the order selected. If the rows where checked in the order 3, 2, 5, 1 and dragged to the end of the list, then that is the order they will be moved to the end: 3, 2, 5 and 1.
To aid in exactly where the moved rows will be dropped, a dotted blue line displays as you hover the mouse cursor over the rows while dragging is taking place. This dotted line determines the drop location. It will either be before a certain row, or after a certain row. While this is taking place, a text with the number of rows being moved displays.
NOTE
There is no keyboard support for performing row move operations.
NOTE
You cannot initiate a drag operation by clicking on the selection check box. You must click on any other part of the row for the drag operation to start. Use the selection check box for selection as cannot use it from which to drag .
Some columns allow the selection and/or filtering or rows as defined. Click the down arrow to the right of the column header and the context menu displays a Filters option. You can turn on and off Filters by clicking the Filters check box, or drill down further to select specific filtering.
The filtering interface may be different for different columns. Where appropriate, a specific renderer may be used. For example, filtering for a name may be a text field, whereas filtering for sample rates may be a pick list .
Once you apply a filter by column, that column’s header text displays in bold italics.
Some spreadsheets allow you to use the right-click context menu. This is a short-cut that generally simulates the checking of a row and performing an operation. If appropriate, when you right-click a row, a context menu display the actions that you perform. Selecting an option to perform that action.
The operations you can perform on rows are usually denoted by buttons in the Task Pane. This is a good guide to tell if you can use right-click short cuts.
NOTE
The right-click context menu displays and applies to a single row only. This is the row the mouse was on when it was clicked. It is not possible to operate on multiple rows using this method.
For read-only spreadsheets, navigation and access to individual cells is not permitted. It is not possible to traverse the spreadsheet by cells. The only way to navigate is to use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars to reposition the viewing area.
Editable spreadsheets offer greater navigational abilities. Not only can you reposition the viewing area, you can navigate at the cell level. Navigating to a cell in an editable spreadsheet has two modes: In-Focus and Out-Focus.
In-Focus means that the cell has focus and you can change the value. Usually this is indicated by the mouse cursor in the field or by the existing value being automatically selected. This happens when you click that cell with your mouse, or when you navigate away from editing a cell to another editable cell.
Out-Focus means the cell has focus and you can edit it, but you are not currently in edit mode. This displays by a solid light blue box over the entire cell. This usually occurs when you navigate away from a non-editable cell to another cell using the keyboard. You can click that cell or press Enter to start editing that cell.
You can perform navigation using the mouse or the keyboard. The keyboard navigation includes:
Keyboard | Description |
---|---|
Arrow up | If in a read-only cell, position to the same cell in the previous row. If no previous row, stay where you are. If in an editable row, move within the renderer in that cell. For example, if the renderer is an edit box, do nothing. If the renderer is a list, navigate that list. |
Arrow down | If in a read-only cell, position to the same cell in the next row. If no next row, stay where you are. If in an editable row, move within the renderer in that cell. For example, if the renderer is an edit box, do nothing. If the renderer is a list, navigate that list. |
Arrow left | If in a read-only cell, position to the previous cell in the same row. If no previous cell, go to the last cell in the previous row. If in an editable cell, move the cursor to the left of the existing value. If already positioned to the left most character of that field, move to the previous cell. |
Arrow right | If in a read-only cell, position to the next cell in the same row. If no next cell, go to the first cell in the next row. If in an editable cell, move the cursor to the right of the existing value. If already positioned to the right most character of that field, move to the next cell. |
Tab | Go to the next cell. If no next cell in that row, go to the first cell in the next row. Keep the same focus mode you were last in. If in Out-Focus mode, the next cell will be in Out-Focus mode. If in In-Focus mode, the next cell will be in In-Focus mode. |
Shift Tab | Go to the previous cell. If no previous cell in that row, go to the last cell in the previous row. Keep the same focus mode you were last in. If in Out-Focus mode, the next cell will be in Out-Focus mode. If in In-Focus mode, the next cell will be in In-Focus mode. |
Home | Go to the first page in the spreadsheet. |
End | Go to the last page in the spreadsheet. |
Page Up | Go to the first row of the spreadsheet. |
Page Down | Go to the last row of the spreadsheet. |
Enter |
For read-only spreadsheets – nothing.
Switch between In-Focus and Out-Focus. |
For spreadsheets that allow editing, you can edit individual cells using any renderer that the application makes available. Currently, you can edit:
It is very common that when a cell changes, certain rules and validations will be applied to it to make sure that it is a valid value. These rules only act on the cell when editing is complete. The completion of a cell edit is defined by when the cell loses the In-Focus mode, such as when you press Enter or when navigating away from this cell. This is the only time the edit is considered complete. Attempting to save changes before a cell is considered complete may result in that cell not being saved. It would be good practice to press Tab upon the completion of any cell edits.
When an editable text field cell gains focus, the selection of that cell’s value is determined by a User Preferences “Select cell text on focus”. If this preference is set (checked), the entire cell’s text is automatically selected and any input replaces all the selected text. If this preference is not set, no text is selected and the editor cursor is positioned to the end of the text in that cell.