Creating Custom Data Views
Data display views are a tool for arranging and controlling data presentation within the Database Browser. You can hide columns, restrict the data set using a filter, change column sort orders, apply grouping and modify the default layout(s). For example, a company that does order processing might have views defined for new orders, orders in process, and completed orders. Having multiple data views makes it easy for different users to easily switch between different sets of data.
You create and manage them from the Data Display Views menu in the Database Browser. You can learn more about linking data views with sub user accounts in the topic Restricting Subuser Access.
If your form has hundreds of fields, the visual performance of the Database Browser may be sluggish.
If you want to enhance your experience in the database browser, we recommend that you create a new data view and exclude any columns for which you don't need direct access. In the Managing Data Views section of the Creating a DataView topic, learn how to set this as your default view. This approach should result in an increase in the performance of the database browser.
On This Page
Creating a Data View
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In the top toolbar of the Database Browser, click Data Display Views > Create & Manage Views.
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If the Data Views management window appears, click the New menu item.
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In the first step of the wizard, click the Next button to go directly to the Settings panel of the wizard.
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Enter a Profile Name, and then check the Default Profile box if you want this data view to be the default view (the view that appears upon entering the Database Browser).
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In the Sort Field drop-down list, choose the field on which you want this data view to sort when the data view first loads. (NOTE: The user will be able to sort on any field; this field is simply the initial sort field.)
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In the Sort Order drop-down list, decide if you want the sort to be Descending or Ascending. (Learn more about sort order in the topic Sorting, Filtering, & Arranging Data.) A typical configuration, in which the view will show the most recent form submissions at the top, is to choose the Sort Field to be DateSubmitted, and the Sort Order to be Descending.
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If you don't plan to have many columns in your view, then perhaps you'd like to fit all of them into the view and disallow any horizontal scrolling. If so, then set ForceFit to true. Otherwise, leave it as false and click Next to continue.
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To choose which columns will be available in this data view, click the button for Edit Column Config to display the Column Config Settings window. There you'll find a listing of all of the fields and several types of settings that you may configure: Display Mode, Allow Filtering, Resizeable, and Sortable. See the Column Configuration Settings section below for more details.
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To filter the records that will be visible in this data view, click the Edit Filter button and add one or more filters. For example, you could restrict the data view to display only those records where the value of a Country field is "Canada."
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Click the Save button in the Column Config Settings window and return to the DataView wizard, and then click Next to move to the Group Settings panel. Check the box if you want to organize your data by groups. Otherwise, click the Next button.
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Choose a field to Group By. You might group by state, country, gender, or other fields which contain categorical data. This is the only required group setting. Note: If you enable data grouping, another toolbar will appear at the bottom of the Database Browser, in which you can navigate through pages of data.
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Optionally, you can edit the Grouping Title, which will already contain a [Grouped Field] and [Length] wildcards. This title will appear near the top of the Database Browser. You can also change the settings for Show Group Name, Start Collapsed (only the group headings will show at first), and Hide Grouped Column.
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Click Next to choose the Layout for the data view. There are several options available from which you can balance summary and detail views. You'll find a simple explanation for each in the wizard. Of course, you can experiment and return to edit the layout settings at any time.
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Click Next to go to the final step in the data view wizard, Record Details Template.
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Set Show Hidden Fields to true if you want to show form fields that have the Hidden property set to true. By setting Hide Headings to true, you can also hide the column headings that appear at the top of the Database Browser. Also, decide if you want the Captions for all of the column headings to be display the value of the Caption property (Admin Captions), or simply to be the value of the Field Name property of each field.
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Click Finish to save the data view profile and view the Data Views management window (see the Managing Data Views section below).
Column Configuration Settings
In the Column Config Settings window, you'll encounter a listing of all of the fields along with several types of settings for each field. These settings modify the display of each corresponding columns in the Database Browser:
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Display Mode - from the drop-down menu, choose Visible, Hidden, or Excluded.
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Allow Filtering - a check in this box will permit filtering in this view.
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Resizeable - a check in this box will allow resizing of the column widths.
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Sortable - checking this box will allow sorting on that field.
The default setting for the Display Mode corresponds directly to the Hidden property for the field-either Hidden or Visible. If the setting is Hidden, then the column can be set to Visible in the Database Browser. If you change this setting to Excluded for one or more fields, then those fields will not appear in the Columns menu.
The other settings are enabled (checked) by default, so you'll need to uncheck the boxes for any fields for which you want to disable that feature. Learn more in topic Sorting, Filtering, & Arranging Data.
Managing Data Views
You can manage your data views by following these simple steps:
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In the top toolbar of the Database Browser, click Data Display Views > Create & Manage Views.
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The Data Views management window will appear, containing these menu items in the toolbar: New, Edit, and Delete.
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Click New to create a data view, which we describe in the section above.
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Click Edit to open the Data View Settings panel and view the current settings. Once you're happy with the settings, click Save to commit the changes.
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To delete a view, click the Delete menu item and then click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the view. Click No to cancel.
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Click the Close button to exit the management window.
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