Send/receive visible fields

[Susie]

I work on a project where there are several of us doing send/receive regularly, and we work on different parts of the same database.  Because we work on different parts, there are different parts of the lexeme entries that are helpful for each of us to see, so we have different settings as to which fields are "always visible," "hidden if not empty," and "always hidden."  However, especially now after updating to 9.3.8 (but perhaps before that as well), it seems like when we do send/receive it also sends those settings.  So I am regularly going into the settings to change which fields are visible, and I notice that my co-workers are, too, as we fight over which fields we want to be visible.

Is there a way to make it so that I can see the fields I want to see, and my co-workers can each see the fields they want to see, without forcing us to see the fields that the other wants to see?

Thank you!
Susie

[Ann Bush]

Yes, this is a problem. Flex stores the data entry field settings in *.fwlayout files in the project ConfigurationSettings directory, and they are included in Send/Receive. So, with colleagues changing, them, their changes will be merged with others and sent back to Lexbox to share with others, resulting in constant frustration. The original design of these configurations was that all colleagues would share the same settings. Obviously, a bad decision in this case. The ConfigurationSettings directory has other files and directories. Two .xml files hold settings for column settings including filters, window sizes, etc. These two files are not included in Send/Receive, so are not shared. There are two directories Dictionary, and ReversalIndex that are shared, and this includes all of the layout configurations in the Dictionary Configuration dialog.

One way to do what's requested here is after doing a S/R, in the project folder make a copy of the ConfigurationSettings folder (in Windows File Explorer, Ctrl+C will copy a directory and Ctrl+v will paste a duplicate directory with 'Copy' appended to the file name). Set up the parameters you want, which will be in the default ConfigurationSettings directory. Before next S/R, make a copy of your personalized ConfigurationSettings directory, and rename the original copy back to ConfigurationSettings, then do S/R. S/R will not copy renamed versions of the directory. Then after your S/R, rename the ConfigurationSettings folder and then replace the contents with your Configuration backup files.

One disadvantage of the above process is that it includes all files under ConfigurationSettings, so if someone wants to change the dictionary configuration, it would be lost when the next user restores their backup. To prevent this from happening, what you really want to do is copy all of the fwlayout files to some directory and only update those. So, you could have two directories on your hard drive. MyLayouts, SharedLayouts. After doing S/R, copy the fwlayout files to SharedLayouts, and then copy the fwlayout files in MyLayouts to ConfigurationSettings. Next time before doing S/R, copy the fwlayout files into MyLayouts, and then copy the fwlayout files from SharedLayouts back into ConfigurationSettings, then do S/R. Note all of these copies should be done when Flex is closed.

Ken

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[susie....@gmail.com]

Hi Ken,

 

Thanks for your help here.  I’m curious – is this a setting that you’re planning on keeping this way in the versions to come, or that you plan to change in future versions?  I guess I can see both ways being helpful in different cases.

 

Thanks again for your help!
Susie

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[Timothy Haasdyk]

Hi all,

I'll just take this opportunity to mention that "Custom Views" have recently been added to FieldWorks Lite.

Currently only project managers can manage (create/edit) custom views.

The views themselves are synced to all FieldWorks Lite users, but the currently selected view is stored on each user's device (i.e. not synced).

The screenshot of the "Edit custom view" dialog also documents which fields are currently available in FieldWorks Lite.

Warm regards,

Tim

[Jeff Heath]

Could we add an option in Send/Receive to ask the user (if their layout is different) if he/she wants to replace their current layout or not? We do NOT want people having to manipulate configuration files manually! This option would allow a user to keep their own layout if they want to. This isn't really a long-term solution, as there will still be a "fight" over which fields are visible in the "Send" part of each "Send/Receive" - my layout overwrites what is there, then the next person will overwrite it again, etc. But it would at least allow someone to preserve the configuration they set up.

Jeff