Managing Grid Page Layout and Content

Overview

About Views

The display of data on spreadsheet grid-like pages is controlled by specifications called “views” in ResourceFirst. Views are specific to page types; project, resource, assignment, and others.

Views have names that are displayed in a view selection drop down on pages to which they apply.

System-wide views are created by ResourceFirst administrators; partition custom views are created by partition administrators and personal custom views are created by individual users.

See the article User Defined Views for how to create and edit views.

Scrolling

Pages with spreadsheet type grids have a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom and a vertical scroll bar on the right if needed.

Filtering Views

Most grid-style pages have a filter “funnel” dropdown icon at the right of the page toolbar:

The filter options presented depend on the active page type..

Assignment pages have the following options:

Most pages have the Clear All Filters option. This clears all active column and view filters (NOT your main Get Data filters).

Pages where edits can be made have the Filter on Unsaved Changes menu option which hides all records that have NOT been changed since the last Save operation. Values that have changed stand out because the font is bold.

Assignment pages also have a “Filter Zero Rows” option, so you can hide assignments with no data.

Custom Filters

Project Data, Resource Data, and Assignment pages have the Custom Filter menu option. It opens a dialog in which the user creates a custom filter with one or more column filters.

For example, in the custom filter dialog below on the Assignments page, the filter specifies all records where the Assignment Effort State is equal to “Committed” and the Project Category is equal to “Growth”.

Once you’ve created all your filter and/or combinations, click Apply to apply the filter.

Note: On Project, Resource, Assignment, and Financial pages, view and column filters are sticky. They will remain in place even after browser refresh or logoff. However, you can turn them off individually in the column header drop down or use the Clear All Filters option in the filter funnel icon (see the next section below).

Sort, Filter, Show / Hide, Move, and Lock Columns

Column headers can be used to sort and filter data, show/hide columns, and lock columns into left or right horizontal scrolling panes.

Sorting Columns

To sort a column based on its values you can:

• Click on the column header text to toggle the sort direction, ascending or descending
• Expand the column header menu by clicking the down arrow and selecting the sort direction

Filtering on Individual Columns

To filter a column, hover over the column header, click the column dropdown   and select Filters.

The type of filter method is determined by the administration setting for the selected field in Admin>Column Headings.

Text Filter

This option displays every row where the field value contains the text string specified.

Below, a partial text string was entered for the Assignment Org column, so that only records with “trai” in the Assignment Org appear. Also note the little filter mark to the left of the Assignment Org column header (). This indicates there is a filter active on that column.

Note the check box on the left of the Filters menu option above. 

When checked, the filter is active. When unchecked, the filter is not active. The system will remember the last filter you selected if you deactivate the filter and activate it again later.

Multi-Value List Filter

Fields of type List have a multi-select dropdown for the filter.

Note to System Administrators: Fields can be defined as List type in Admin>Column Headings, even if no “List” has been defined. When using column filters for List-type columns with no defined list, the system will automatically assemble the list selection from the available records in the view. Avoid defining columns with a List filter if a large volume of choices would appear and no list is defined (e.g., project name when there are thousands of projects).

Numeric Filter

Fields of type Number have a numeric selector providing Less Than, Greater Than, and Equal filter options.

Show/Hide Columns

To show or hide columns, click on Columns. Check or uncheck to show or hide the columns.

Move Columns

To move a column, left click and drag the column header.

For example, in the screenshot below, the Unit Priority column is being dragged to just before Assignment Org column. The system shows the field being moved in a box as it is dragged. When the mouse cursor is in a place on the column header row where the field can be located, two green markers for the destination appear.

Lock Columns (Freeze Panes)

Column locking in ResourceFirst is similar to, but not identical, to Freeze Panes in MS Excel. In MS Excel the current selection sets the freeze (lock) line; in ResourceFirst individual columns are individually marked as locked or unlocked. Locked columns are in the left pane, unlocked in the right pane.

The default for most columns is unlocked; but on all pages one, or more columns, is locked automatically. These fields do not have an Unlock option.

The rules for mandatory locking are:

Project Pages                  Project Name is always locked

Resource Pages              Resource Name is always locked

Assignment Pages           Project name and Resource name are always locked

When you lock a field that is currently to the right, it is moved to the immediate left of the lock line.

When you unlock a field that is currently to the left, it is moved to the immediate right of the lock line, NOT necessarily to its original position. However, you can move it to its original position simply by clicking and dragging the column header.

When a view selection is made, columns that are out of their view defined positions are returned to their view position.

Note: Another difference from MS Excel behavior is that the left pane can be scrolled horizontally if there are too many fields to display in the pane.

In the Assignments screenshot below:

• The freeze line is between Required Skill and Assignment Org
• There is a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom for both the locked and the unlocked columns. If you have additional locked columns that don’t fit in the left pane, you can scroll to see them.
• The Unlock menu is enabled; the Lock menu is disabled.