pick lists

[demonkiwi]

how do I sort records by the same custom order as the pick list that constitutes one of the 6 fields?
That is Type (pick list value) then the others?
thanks
Peter

[Brendan]

Hi Peter,

There’s no function to sort records based on the order of the values in a Pick List. The database engine that does the sorting sorts the result alphabetically, in chronological order, or numerically in ascending (or descending) order.

[demonkiwi]

Hello again,
Im still looking for a way to sort by non-alphabetical order from a pick list.
Have got to the point where I realised I can add another field which uses numerical values to represent the pick list items and which can both have a hidden value and be out of sight in the form.
I tried adding a number at the front of the pick list terms – e.g. 1 Film – but that didn’t seem to work.
I also tried adding text to the numeric field without success.
So now I would like to know if I can instead have a calculation field in which the numeric value is generated automatically – e.g. pick list term is ‘Feature Film’ and the number ‘1’ automatically appears in the companion field to denote its sorting order

thanks
Peter

PS fantastic the way we can now lock rows and columns!

[Brendan]

There’s no function in the Calculation field to take a text value and have it return some sort of numeric value.

But you should be able to do what you tried before with the number prefixed to the value.

E.g.

1 Film
2 Apple
3 Carrot
4 Banana

and it should sort that way because numerically they are in ascending order.

Here’s an attached image showing how I changed the Genres in the My Movie Library form to have numbers prefixed to them. Since my records are grouped by Genre, sorting in ascending order groups the records into the same order that I’ve specified with the numeric prefixes.

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[demonkiwi]

Hi,
Still wrestling with pick lists.
If I have a multiple choice pick list set up in TF which matches the values in a database in another format, what happens if the other DB is exported and I want to import to TF?
How does the incoming data mesh with the pick list?
And what does it mean for instructions to the manager of the source database in terms of setting up the export?

thanks
Peter

[Brendan]

Hi Peter,

The values in a multi-choice Pick List just need to be comma delimited. That’s what Tap Forms will use to determine one selected value from another.

So if you had an export from another system, you would need to comma separate the values.

For example:

Movie Title, Genres
The Terminator, “Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi”

Notice how “Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi” is surrounded with double-quotes? That’s required because we’re using the column delimiter (a comma in this example) within the body of the content.

[demonkiwi]

Thanks for that.
Just to make sure I understand:
If I’m importing a csv file that contains either single or multiple pick lists all the choices will be embodied in the file, and the ones selected in each record will show up in that record?

And if I have matched the pick list values in my own TF version of the database, the import will present the selected pick list values in each record?

I’ve got a mental picture of all these values mushing each other up!

cheers
Peter

[Brendan]

All a Pick List does is copies the values you select from the Pick List into the field in the record. Nothing more than that.

When a Pick List popover view is displayed, Tap Forms looks at the value in the field and also the values in the Pick List and tries to determine which ones are currently selected. When it finds a match, it puts a checkmark next to it (for the popover style).

You need to have a populated list of values in your Pick List in order for the checkmark to be displayed. In version 5 you can populate the Pick List from a set of values from a field in the same or other form or you can just type in a set of values.

So really that’s all there is to Pick Lists. It’s nothing complex.

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