Template:User Manual using ginstr web

Creating workspaces

As soon as ginstr web is fully loaded, you will see the first workspace.

Along the bottom edge of the screen, you will find a row containing all the available workspaces:

View of available workspaces with + button to create additional workspaces

Click on the + to create another workspace.

The following screen opens:

Workspace name & layout screen

Here you can specify a name for the new workspace and the layout for it.

The name of the workspace subsequently joins the list of workspaces along the bottom edge of the screen.

Once you have made all the desired settings, save the new workspace by clicking on the

save

button.

Deleting workspaces

If you have made a mistake when creating a new workspace, or if the workspace is no longer required, you can irrevocably delete workspaces simply by clicking on the × next to the name in the row for selecting the workspaces:

View of available workspaces with × button to delete workspaces

The data displayed in the workspace is not deleted as a result. It can be displayed again at any time in another workspace.

Specifying the content of individual portlets

Each workspace is made up of between one and four portlets. Portlets are windows in which different information can be displayed.

For the workspace that has just been newly created, you can now define what information is to be displayed in the relevant portlet.

To this end, you are shown in each portlet the following list of available information:

View showing four new portlets, each with a list of available information to display in current workspace

You can filter this selection by entering all or part of the table name in the ‘quick search’ field.

For each portlet, select from the list of available information the information you would like to display or edit in the relevant portlet of the current workspace.

It is useful to group together in the individual workspaces the information that is often needed. This makes later work with the data more effective.

It is also useful to base the name of the relevant workspace on the subsequent activity in this workspace, e.g. ‘Settlement’, ‘Accounting’, ‘Team management’, etc.

Each item of information can be simultaneously displayed in the different portlets, both within the same workspace and within different workspaces. If data in a table is changed, the same data displayed in other portlets is automatically changed as well.

As soon as you have selected the information to be displayed for one portlet, you are shown the column headings and some of the saved data, if available.

Here is an example of a workspace with four portlets, each filled with a table which already contains data:

Example of a workspace with four portlets, each filled with a table which already contains data

Special portlet content

In addition to the usual tables, ginstr web also offers the following special content for each portlet:

Editing page for an individual data record

In addition to the option of editing a data record directly in the relevant row of a table, you can also conveniently edit an individual data record from any table in a separate portlet.

Editing data record directly in the relevant row of a table

To do so, please select ‘edit record details’ for the portlet content of any portlet:

Editing data record in separate 'edit record details' portlet

Once the user clicks on a data record of any table in the same workspace, this record’s data is then displayed in the ‘edit record details’ portlet and can be easily edited there.

To edit the data, double-click on the data to be changed. Now the data can be edited as desired.

Data that has been changed is automatically saved as soon as one of the following events occurs:

• the user clicks on another record in a table
• another portlet is activated
• another workspace is activated
• the portlet content is removed
• the user returns to the lobby

At the top of this portlet, there is a button which can assign this portlet to a table in the same workspace. When enabled, no other data from another table will be shown in this portlet, even if the user clicks on a data record in another table.

If multiple portlets in a workspace are open for editing data records, another table for editing data can be assigned to each of these portlets.

Map

A map can be displayed in one or more portlets per workspace. These maps can show different regions and zoom levels in the different portlets.

Example of a portlet showing a map

If one or more of the currently selected table data records in the same workspace has GPS coordinates, these will be automatically shown on all maps in the same workspace when the data record is selected.

System tables

There are currently four system tables on ginstr web.

system:automated reports

shows a list of all automated report jobs.

system:automated reports errors

contains a list of all automated report executions that failed, along with the associated information detailing why the execution did not work.

system:data imports

shows a list of all successful data imports. The table also contains the original data that was imported.

system:data import errors

contains a list of all data imports that failed, along with the associated information detailing why the import did not work. If the import of individual data records fails, it will display information on why the import failed for each data record.

Creating tables independent of a ginstr app

ginstr customers usually use table templates in conjunction with smartphone apps. However, there is sometimes the need to create additional tables which have little or nothing to do with the ginstr app table templates.

To do this, you can use the ‘add table not belonging to a ginstr app’ portlet content.

The following portlet content is shown after selecting this option:

‘add table not belonging to a ginstr app’ portlet content

First, a table name must be entered. Clicking on one of the + buttons allows you to add another table column in the relevant place.

After this, the details for the individual table columns must be specified:

• Each column must have a header
• Each column must have a data type:

Specifying header and data type in ‘add table not belonging to a ginstr app’ portlet

Further details will be required depending on the selected data type. For example, these are the settings required for a number column:

Example of settings required in ‘add table not belonging to a ginstr app’ portlet for a number column

A table will be created after all of the required information has been entered and the

apply

button has been clicked.

This table can then be immediately populated with data either manually or via a data imports.

All of the table features from ginstr apps are also available for self-generated tables.

Supported datatypes

The following datatypes are supported:

assignment

Used to display a column from a referenced table (either another self-generated table or another table created using a ginstr app) in the current table.

This datatype also allows you to assign a column from the current table to be displayed in the referenced table.

Note: see also pointer to a column of another table if the latter aspect is not required

assignment datatype options

data of referenced table to be shown in this table table name defines name of table which contains column to be referenced column name defines column in the referenced table which should be shown in this table data of this table to be shown in the referenced table column of this table defines column of current table which should be shown in the referenced table defined above headline of new column in referenced table defines headline to be used for new column (defined by 'column of this table') in the referenced table required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries

audio

Used for storing audio files

audio datatype options
For this datatype no settings options exist

date

Used for date values (yyyy-mm-dd)

date datatype options

unique if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a unique value, i.e. no duplicate entries required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries allow entering date date from defines earliest allowed date that can be entered into cell date to defines latest allowed date that can be entered into cell preset date defines date value which is entered by default when editing cell this date is not editable if this option is ticked, the value defined as preset date cannot be changed default filter contains several filter options to restrict which date values are allowed in column

dateTime

Used for date & time values (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss)

dateTime datatype options

unique if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a unique value, i.e. no duplicate entries required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries allow entering date date from defines earliest allowed date that can be entered into cell date to defines latest allowed date that can be entered into cell allow entering time time from defines earliest allowed time that can be entered into cell time to defines latest allowed time that can be entered into cell preset date & time defines date & time values which is entered by default when editing cell date/time is not editable if this option is ticked, the value defined as preset date & time cannot be changed default filter contains several filter options to restrict which date & time values are allowed in column

dateTimeDiff

Used to display the difference between values from two dateTime columns

Note: current table must contain at least two dateTime columns before using this datatype

dateTimeDiff datatype options
column of start datetime defines datetime column containing earliest datetime values column of end datetime defines datetime column containing latest dateTime values

document

Used for storing document files

document datatype options
allow uploading of data enables selection of individual document file formats that are permitted for upload

email

Used for e-mail addresses

email datatype options
unique if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a unique value, i.e. no duplicate entries required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries max. number of e-mail addresses allowed defines maximum number of e-mail addresses per cell default e-mail address defines e-mail address which is entered by default when editing cell

GPS

Used for GPS data

GPS datatype options
required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries

iBeacon

Used for Apple iBeacon protocol

iBeacon datatype options
unique if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a unique value, i.e. no duplicate entries required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries

listOfDates

Used when each cell should contain a list of dates

listOfDates datatype options
For this datatype no settings options exist

listOfDateTimes

Used when each cell should contain a list of dates and times

listOfDateTimes datatype options
For this datatype no settings options exist

listOfTimes

Used when each cell should contain a list of times

listOfTimes datatype options
For this datatype no settings options exist

number

Used for number values

number datatype options

unique if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a unique value, i.e. no duplicate entries required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries decimal places defines the number of digits that are displayed after the decimal point  % (percentage) if this option is ticked, column cell format is set to percentage, i.e. 123 is stored as 123% not negative if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a value greater than or equal to 0, i.e. no negative values list of allowed values defines specific number values allowed in column cells

phoneNumber

Used for storing phone number values (name + info + phone number)

phoneNumber datatype options
unique if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a unique value, i.e. no duplicate entries required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries

picture

Used for storing image files

picture datatype options
allowed types defines which image file formats are allowed

pointer to a column of another table

Used to display a column from a referenced table (either another self-generated table or another table created using a ginstr app) in the current table

Note: see also assignment

pointer to a column of another table datatype options

table name defines name of table which contains column to be referenced column name defines column in the referenced table which should be shown in this table filter this table depending on selection of pointed table if this option is ticked, current table is filtered based on selection of table defined above required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries

signature

Used for signature captures

signature datatype options
For this datatype no settings options exist

status

Used for to store whether something is in 1 of 2 states (i.e. TRUE or FALSE, FINISHED or NOT FINISHED, ON or OFF etc.)

status datatype options
unique if this option is ticked, it is possible to store only two records in the table: one that has TRUE status and another that has FALSE status

text

Used for text entries

text datatype options

unique if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a unique value, i.e. no duplicate entries required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries max. length defines maximum number of characters per cell multiline if this option is ticked, multiline text is enabled for each column cell align text defines horizontal alignment of text within column cells list of allowed values defines specific text values allowed in column cells

time

Used for time values (hh:mm:ss)

time datatype options

unique if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have a unique value, i.e. no duplicate entries required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries allow entering time time from defines earliest allowed time that can be entered into cell time to defines latest allowed time that can be entered into cell preset time defines time value which is entered by default when editing cell the time is not editable if this option is ticked, the value defined as preset time cannot be changed

video

Used for storing video files

video datatype options
For this datatype no settings options exist

weekday

Used for days of the week (i.e. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

weekday datatype options
required if this option is ticked, each cell in table column must have some value, i.e. no empty entries

Changing the size of portlets

Both the vertical separating line and the horizontal separating line between the portlets can be moved with the mouse.

In this way you can adapt the size of the portlets to the relevant content:

Changing the size of portlets

General portlet features

Each portlet shows the following icons in top-right corner:

Icons shown at top-right corner of each portlet

Filtering tables

Each table in each portlet allows you to filter the content to be displayed.

The filter settings can be accessed using the icon in the top right-hand corner of the portlet.

Depending on the data types used in the relevant table, different filter options are displayed in the window that opens once you click on the filter icon:

Portlet filter options

With the following buttons in the top right-hand corner of the filter window you can adopt the filter settings or clear all of the filters:

Portlet filter settings buttons

reset to default

allows resetting the filters to predefined default filter settings; it is not possible to define such default values individually

clear filters

clicking on the

clear filters

button clears all filters including the default filter settings

apply

clicking on the

apply

button filters the data sets in the current table by the specifications you defined in the filters

×

clicking on the × button closes the filter settings popup menu and discards modified but not yet applied filter settings; at any time you can re-open the filter settings popup screen for continuing to edit / apply / discard filter settings

clear

for each individual filter a

clear

button exists which allows you to comfortably remove an individual filter setting

Note:

If you would like to export only the filtered records from a table with the download data feature, please select the visible rows option to ensure that only the records currently shown on the screen (as a result of the applied filter settings) will be downloaded.

Swap the content of two portlets

The content of two portlets can be swapped with the button.

To swap the content, click on this symbol, press and hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse over the portlet with the content you want to swap with the current portlet content.

Close portlet

In the right-hand corner of the top-most row of a portlet, you can close the current portlet content by clicking on the button to then be able to select new content to be displayed in this portlet.

No data is deleted by closing the portlet’s content. However, the settings for this portlet (column order, reports, etc.) will be lost.

Online help

Clicking on the button brings up a help text that describes frequently used features:

Portlet help text

Reports

Data saved in ginstr web tables can be grouped and formatted in a variety of ways to create user-friendly reports.

• Up to 20 different Basic Reports can be configured for each individual ginstr web table.

Table data can be grouped by column values and basic calculations such as subtotals, sum totals, mean values, percentage values and checkbox counts can be performed on each data set.

Basic Reports can be scheduled to be automatically generated and sent as an e-mail attachment to predefined recipients at predefined intervals (daily, weekly, monthly etc.) See here for more information.

Basic Reports can be exported in CSV or Excel format.

• Advanced Reports can contain graphs & charts, photo attachments, company logos, text formatting, advanced data calculation and complex aggregation & examination of multiple tables.

Advanced Reports require ginstr report templates which are customised by ginstr to the customer's specification so that the information is presented in the style best suited to the reader.

Advanced Reports can be scheduled to be automatically generated and sent as an e-mail attachment to predefined recipients at predefined intervals (daily, weekly, monthly etc.) See here for more information.

Advanced Reports can be exported in CSV, Excel, PDF or RTF format.

Basic Reports

Each table displayed in a portlet can be configured to show up to 20 different basic reports.

Above each table you will see a ‘default’ tab on the left-hand side. In this tab you are shown the table’s raw data without any calculations.

Default report tab

Clicking on the + symbol to the right of the default tab creates a new report of the table.

You can configure basic reports in any number of ways, for example group the data in the current table, create subtotals and sum totals, calculate mean values, count data sets and instances of particular data, etc.

You can edit existing reports at any time by clicking on the pencil symbol.

Edit existing reports

The order of the report tabs can be changed at any time by clicking on the tab and dragging it to the left or right. The tab with the original data always remains pinned to the far left.

Once you have clicked on the + or pencil symbol, you will see a list of all the columns in the current table.

Right at the top, you can enter and/or edit the name of the report:

Report name edit box

The report name can consist of several words.

This report name will later be shown on the report tabs above the table:

Report name shown above table

Below the report name entry field, the screen is split into two key chapters:

• Specifications for grouping data sets
• Specifications for calculations

Report settings showing specifications for grouping data sets and calculations

The screen content depends on the table’s columns.

All changes are immediately applied to the report after changes have been saved.

Each line in the ‘Grouped columns’ and ‘Ungrouped columns’ chapters represents a column in the report.

Individual rows can be dragged with the mouse from the ‘Grouped columns’ to the ‘Ungrouped columns’ chapters and vice versa.

It is also possible to move a row up or down within a chapter. This enables you to specify the order of columns in the report.

Grouping data sets

‘Grouped columns’ chapter

The columns in the ‘Grouped columns’ chapter are displayed on the left half of the report in the defined order from left to right.

The report is arranged according to all the columns that are part of the ‘Grouped columns’ chapter. The sorting order is defined by the order of the columns from left to right.

Clicking on a black triangle in the chapter reverses the column sorting order.

Buttons to set column sorting order

For every column within the ‘Grouped columns’ chapter in the report, a row with sub-totals is displayed for each different content.

‘Ungrouped columns’ chapter

This chapter defines the order of ungrouped columns. These are displayed in the right half of the report in the defined order from left to right.

Clicking on a black triangle in the chapter reverses the column sorting order.

The set sort order of the ‘Grouped columns’ chapter has priority over the sorting settings of the ‘Ungrouped columns’ chapter.

Calculations

In the lower part of the screen, the following settings can be defined separated for

a) display on the screen (defined in the ‘web’ column) and for

b) data export in .csv files or .xlsx Excel files (defined in the ‘export’ column):

• Display interim results for each grouping
• Display overall results at the end of the report
• Display percentages / averages for each grouping
• Display percentage / averages at the end of the report
• Count miscellaneous content
• Count checkboxes

Each option can be activated/deactivated by clicking on the relevant icon.

Calculations options screen

The settings made here then generate the following report in our sample table.

Grouped by the values from the ‘room’ column with subtotals, totals, average values and count values for all columns:

Sample table report

Buttons

At the top of the screen, there are the following buttons:

apply

saves all settings and immediately applies them to the report concerned; the report will be created if it has not already

cancel

discards all changes and reverts to previous settings

delete

deletes the selected report; deleting a report does not delete data, nor does it affect other reports; this button is only displayed if the report already exists

Automated Reports

Both Basic and Advanced Reports can be scheduled to be automatically generated and sent as an e-mail attachment to predefined recipients at predefined intervals (daily, weekly, monthly etc.).

Automated reports are generated based on a snapshot of the currently applied filter settings, with the exception of the date and dateTime attributes which are replaced depending on the selected frequency.

Note:

The filter settings can be accessed using the icon in the top right-hand corner of the portlet.

To remove filter options applied previously, click the

clear filters

button at the top of the filter settings window to clear all applied filter options.

There is also a

clear

button at the top right of each section to remove all filter settings related to that section only.

Select automated reports from the context menu which appears after right-clicking in a Basic Reports portlet

The create automated report window

To create an automated report from a Basic Report, right-click on any record in a report and select the automated reports option from the context menu which appears. This will open the create automated report window consisting of the following fields:

report name

defines the name of the report (obligatory)

to

defines the primary recipient(s) of the report (obligatory)

cc

defines the 'carbon copy' recipient(s) of the report (optional)

bcc

defines the 'blind carbon copy' recipient(s) of the report (optional)

subject

defines the email subject (obligatory)

usable variables
$reportType
$dateFrom
$dateTo
$requestingUserAccount

body

defines the content of the email body (optional)

usable variables
$reportType
$dateFrom
$dateTo
$requestingUserAccount

frequency

this is a dropdown which is used to define at which regular interval the report should be generated

frequency	interval for report creation
daily	yesterday
weekly	last week (Monday-Sunday)
monthly	last month
weekend	last weekend (Saturday-Sunday)

If daily frequency is selected, only records created on the previous day will be included in the daily automated report.

Similarly, if weekly frequency is selected, only records created in the previous week between Monday & Sunday will be included in the weekly automated report.

status

defines whether an automated report job is active or inactive.

If an automated report is created with inactive status ( checkbox not checked), the report will not be generated nor sent until the status is changed to active.

scheduled date

defines the date of the first desired instance of report generation

type

defines the output type or file format of the automated report

type	Description
CSV	creates Comma-separated value files with .csv extension.
EXCEL	creates Microsoft Excel 2007+ format files with .xlsx file extension.
XML	creates Extensible Markup Language files with .xml file extension.

language

defines in which language the report should be displayed.

date format

defines in which date format the data should be displayed.

time format

defines in which time format the data should be displayed.

time zone

defines which time zone data should be adopted.

show thousands delimiters

defines whether the thousands delimiter should be displayed for numbers.

international call prefix

defines whether the + delimiter should be displayed for phone numbers.

include attachments

If the yes option is selected here, the report will be attached to the email as a .zip file which contains:

• the .csv, .xlsx or .xml report file depending on the export format selected as type.
• all media files (e.g. .png image files, .wav sound files etc.)

include dependencies

If the yes option is selected here, the report will also include records from tables connected through pointer and/or assignment datatype.

column filter

selecting the all columns option generates the report using all records of a table independent of currently applied column visibility settings.

In case you have hidden some columns to be shown on your screen and you choose the visible columns option, then only the columns currently shown on the screen will be included in the automated report.

A snapshot of actual visible column setting is saved in the report setting.

If you later change the visible columns for the table this does not affect the automated report.

Advanced Reports

In addition to the basic reports feature in ginstr web, the advanced reports feature offers advanced options for presenting information contained in ginstr web tables in a report format which can be easily exported in CSV, Excel, PDF or RTF format.

As with Excel or Powerpoint, advanced reports bring your data to life with graphs & charts, photo attachments, company logos, text formatting, data calculation and complex aggregation & examination of multiple tables.

ginstr report templates are customised by ginstr to the customer's specification so that the information is presented in the style best suited to the reader.

Please contact ginstr if you are interested in setting up a bespoke report template to use the advanced reports feature with your ginstr web account.

Viewing advanced reports within a portlet (on the right) generated from records selected in a ginstr web table (on the left)

Viewing advanced reports within a portlet

A workspace with multiple portlets should be used in order to select between different records to be displayed in the advanced reports portlet.

Individual ginstr report templates set up for your ginstr web account appear under the reports and statistics heading when specifying the content of individual portlets.

The advanced reports portlet displays a preview of the report populated with information from a record selected in another portlet.

If more than one record is selected, the advanced reports portlet will contain multiple reports - scroll down below the first report to view all reports generated from the selected records.

The following buttons appear at the top of the advanced reports portlet:

refresh report(s)

Reloads information from selected record(s) and refreshes the reports displayed in the advanced reports portlet.

CSV export

Exports the report(s) displayed in the advanced reports portlet to a .csv file (Comma-separated values).

Depending on your system settings, the exported file will either be downloaded by your browser's download folder automatically, or you will be asked to select a location in which to save the exported file.

XLS export

Exports the report(s) displayed in the advanced reports portlet to an .xlsx file (Microsoft Excel 2007+ format).

Depending on your system settings, the exported file will either be downloaded by your browser's download folder automatically, or you will be asked to select a location in which to save the exported file.

PDF export

Exports the report(s) displayed in the advanced reports portlet to a .pdf file (Portable Document Format).

Depending on your system settings, the exported file will either be downloaded by your browser's download folder automatically, or you will be asked to select a location in which to save the exported file.

Word export

Exports the report(s) displayed in the advanced reports portlet to an .rtf file (Rich Text Format).

Depending on your system settings, the exported file will either be downloaded by your browser's download folder automatically, or you will be asked to select a location in which to save the exported file.

separate file per report

If multiple reports are displayed in the advanced reports portlet, setting this option on () will ensure that each report is saved to a separate file when either of the

export

buttons are clicked.

The exported file will therefore be a .zip file containing multiple files (one for each report) in the specified format.

pin this portlet to table

This option ensures that the advanced reports portlet is pinned to the currently selected table.

automated reports

This button opens the formatted automatic report window which can be used to create automated reports which are generated and sent as an e-mail attachment to predefined recipients at predefined intervals (daily, weekly, monthly etc.)

Formatted Automatic Reports

The formatted automatic report window

The formatted automatic report window which appears upon clicking the

automated reports

button at the top of the advanced reports portlet consists of the following fields:

report name

defines the name of the report (obligatory)

to

defines the primary recipient(s) of the report (obligatory)

cc

defines the 'carbon copy' recipient(s) of the report (optional)

bcc

defines the 'blind carbon copy' recipient(s) of the report (optional)

subject

defines the email subject (obligatory)

usable variables
$reportType
$dateFrom
$dateTo
$requestingUserAccount

body

defines the content of the email body (optional)

usable variables
$reportType
$dateFrom
$dateTo
$requestingUserAccount

frequency

this is a dropdown which is used to define at which regular interval the report should be generated

frequency	interval for report creation
daily	yesterday
weekly	last week
monthly	last month
weekend	last weekend

status

defines whether an automated report job is active or inactive.

If an automated report is created with inactive status ( checkbox not checked), the report will not be generated nor sent until the status is changed to active.

scheduled date

defines the date of the first desired instance of report generation

type

defines the output type or file format of the automated report

type	Description
RTF	creates Rich Text Format files with .rtf file extension.
EXCEL	creates Microsoft Excel 2007+ format files with .xlsx file extension.
PDF	creates Portable Document Format files with .pdf file extension.
CSV	creates Comma-separated value files with .csv extension.

language

defines in which language the report should be displayed.

date format

defines in which date format the data should be displayed.

time format

defines in which time format the data should be displayed.

time zone

defines which time zone data should be adopted.

show thousands delimiters

defines whether the thousands delimiter should be displayed for numbers.

international call prefix

defines whether the + delimiter should be displayed for phone numbers.

Filtering advanced reports

As with other portlets, clicking the filter icon in the top right-hand corner of the advanced reports portlet opens the filter settings window. Different filter options can be combined as necessary, giving you full control over which records are included in the report(s) for display/export.

When you have finished defining the desired filters, click the

apply

button at the top right corner of the filter settings window to filter the displayed reports accordingly.

Note:

Filter settings applied to the advanced reports portlet are retained between sessions on ginstr web.

To remove filter options applied previously, click the

clear filters

button at the top of the filter settings window to clear all applied filter options.

There is also a

clear

button at the top right of each section to remove all filter settings related to that section only.

Editing features for tables

The following chapter provides a description of the features for adapting the tables in ginstr web is provided. These features can be used on all tables as long as the user has appropriate user rights.

Creating a new data set

To create a new data set in a table, please click on the

add row

button above the table. A new row automatically appears in the current table.

add row

button shown above table

If you would like to create new data sets which are to be allocated to a data set in an existing table, you can automate the allocation process by selecting the existing data set in advance.

If you select a property in the ‘Properties’ table, for example, and then click on the

add row

button in the ‘Zones’ table, the link to the ‘Property name’ column is then automatically set to that zone.

Editing a data set

If you would like to edit data in an existing data set, then double-click in the cell to be edited. Depending on the data type of the current cell, the appropriate window opens to allow you to edit the cell content.

Stop the entry of new data by confirming with the Enter button or by clicking in an empty area of one of the workspaces. In both cases, the entered data is automatically saved and immediately transmitted to other users, other portlets and all the users of the associated ginstr app.

If you have edited the content of a cell and would like to edit other cells in this row, you can jump directly to the next cell to the right by pressing the Tab ↹ button on your keyboard and to the next cell to the left by pressing ⇧ Shift + Tab ↹ together.

Alternatively, you can also move between the individual cells in a row using the arrow keys on your keyboard ( ←  /  → ) and edit the content of the activated cell by pressing the Enter button.

To delete an incomplete record (as indicated whereby any required cells left empty are shown red), first select the incomplete record with the cursor or arrow keys and press the Delete button on your keyboard to remove the highlighted record.

Editing cell within data set

Actions

In the first column of each table, you can delete the relevant data set by clicking on the icon in case you have the appropriate user rights. Once deleted, data sets cannot be restored.

Using the icon, you can allocate a colour to the relevant data set.

Allocating a colour to relevant data set

Data sets marked in colour can be filtered at any time by clicking on the relevant colour above the table.

Filtering data set by colour

Moving columns

If you would like to rearrange the sequence of individual columns in a table, left-click on the column heading, press and hold the left mouse button, and drag the column to any place you like in the table.

Moving column by dragging column heading

Once you release the mouse button, the column is moved to the desired location.

These settings only affect the table in the relevant portlet. The same table in another portlet is not affected. This allows for the display of various views of the same table, which can be very useful, particularly for tables with many columns.

This option is not available for reports. The column order in reports is determined by the settings of the respective report (see here)

Adjusting the column width

Column widths can be adjusted continuously by clicking on the separating line between two column headings, pressing and holding the left mouse button, and moving the mouse to the left or right.

Adjusting column width by dragging separating line between column headings

Once you release the mouse button, the column width is adjusted automatically.

Automatically adjusting the column width

The columns widths of a table can be adjusted automatically. To do this, right-click anywhere you like in the table. Now you have the following options:

Column options menu

force fit

automatically adjusts the column widths to the size of the portlet in which the table is displayed.

Adapt columns widths to match column titles

ensures that all headers are displayed in full, however, the content of the individual table cells will be cut off if necessary.

Adapt columns widths to match column contents

ensures that all headers and all table contents are displayed in full. If necessary, a horizontal scroll bar will be shown if there is not enough space in the portlet to show all the data.

Automatically adjust columns when changing portlet size

By default, column widths are not changed when editing the portlet width by dragging the vertical line between the portlets. If you wish to activate the automatic adjustment of a table to the portlet width, right-click anywhere in the table and activate the ‘Resize columns while dragging’ option. Now the column width will automatically adjust when you change the width of a portlet.

Hiding columns

You can hide individual columns in a table by right-clicking anywhere you like in the table.

Using the ‘hide/show columns’ menu item, you can now select which column(s) you would like to show / hide in the current table.

‘hide/show columns’ menu

Searching in tables

You will find the search field in the top left-hand corner of each table.

As soon as you enter something here, the current table is immediately shortened to those rows containing the character string entered in the search field anywhere in any column.

This search refers to all the columns in the current table.

The string you are searching for does not have to be at the start of a string. In the example below, the search string 'mit' returns both 'Smith' and 'Mitchell'.

Table search results

Detailed filter settings are possible in the filter settings (see here for more details)

Sorting tables

You can activate table sorting by column content by left-clicking on the heading of the column by which you would like to sort the table.

The small triangle next to the column name represents the direction in which and the column by which the current table is sorted. You can reverse the sorting order by clicking again on the same column heading.

Table column sort order button on column header

You can find more information on complex sorting features in the online help chapter by clicking on the button in the upper left corner of the portlet.

Linking tables

In ginstr web you can link individual tables with one another. So, for example, tables with columns which refer to other tables are automatically filtered as soon as you select one or more data sets in the table referred to by another table.

Example

Unfiltered tables: The table with the ‘Public Holidays’ (right) refers to the table with the ‘Public Holidays Categories’ (left):

Example of unfiltered tables

Now select a Public Holidays Category in the left-hand table by clicking on a row. This causes the right-hand table with the Public Holidays to automatically shorten and to show only those Public Holidays which belong to the selected category.

Example of filtered tables

If you would like to filter the second table by several values, you can select the data sets to filter by as follows:

• Multiple selection of individual data sets:

by holding the Ctrl key and clicking on any data sets in any order one after the other in the left table

• Selection of several consecutive data sets:

by holding the ⇧ Shift key and, at the same time, clicking on two data sets in any order in the left table

You can combine the two methods for selecting data sets in whatever way you like.

Please note that, due to the links between the tables, under certain circumstances you may no longer be able to see a newly created data set in the ‘Public Holidays’ table once it has been saved. This may be because you clicked on one or more Public Holidays Categories and the ‘Public Holidays’ table was therefore automatically filtered by the category or categories selected; on the other side, the newly entered Public Holiday does not correspond to these filter criteria and therefore the newly added record is saved but not shown on the screen. You can clear this filter by clicking on the

select none

button in the ‘Public Holidays Categories’ table.

If data sets disappear after being entered, they have not been deleted; rather, they have indeed been saved but are not visible at the present time.