When a user selects a record in a datagrid I launch a pop-up window with more detailed info. The user can make changes to the record in this window but they don't have to save them. For example, they can click the X to close the window.
Unfortunately, I am stupid and whenever a user makes changes I update the object directly.
Is there a pattern for copying the object and then mapping the changes to it when a user confirms they want to save?
Thanks!
I wouldn't go with copy and merge. Why don't you just update the object only if the user explicitly wants to update/save? Let the UI be UI and condense the relevant information from it as soon as you need it.
Another way that may be appliable, if you want something like temporary edits, would be using commands for every atomic update, where every command has an inverse - undo - command. If you keep these in a history, you could just go back to the initial state.
Related
I want to allow user to update data from form, but not from direct table. I added Before Change event on table, and raising error if the user group is 'basic'. This is working as expected if I enter data in table. But, it is also raising error even if saving data from form. Can anyone help me to resolve this issue?
Thanks in advance!
In general the way to deal with permissions in Access is to only ever show your users the forms; they should never directly interact with a table or query. So instead of adding Before Change code to your table, you instead want to hide the table.
The things you need are in the Current Database section of the Access options. For this example I'll assume you just have the one form, but the same applies if you have many forms and a "Home" form.
Use the "Display Form" dropdown to select the form you want the user to see when they open the application.
Un-check "Use Access Special Keys" to prevent keyboard shortcuts showing objects you don't want shown.
Un-check "Display Navigation Pane" to hide the object list.
Un-check "Allow Full Menus" to prevent users from creating new objects (or use other database development functions)
With this done, the user will see only the form interface you selected and the basic data entry toolbar.
Note that when you want to make changes to the file as a developer you must hold down Shift when opening the application, which will display the navigation pane etc. Of course, any user who knows about the Shift override could do the same. Which is why distributing in a compiled accde, which cannot be unlocked, is a good idea. But you need to set up the application using the above options before that matters.
Sorry - I'm a total newbie with InstallShield. I've inherited an InstallShield 2013 project that presents the user with a dialog that let's the user select a SQL Server and based on their selection sets a value in a config file. That's not working, so I opened the project in IS and looked in the Text File Changes under System Configuration and there's nothing there that would do this. So how do I figure out where this is happening (or not happening in my case), and then how do I get it to work? I need to set both data source and initial catalog in a file called server.config.
So how do I determine what the user selected and then save that in this file? It looks like I can set up a Text File Change, but how do I access the values selected by the user? And how can I figure out where the "code" is that is supposed to be doing this?
Thanks,
Ben
I would try to track this from the dialog and controls in question, or by following the value through a verbose log. Since you say it doesn't work today, there will probably be an interruption in the flow I describe below, and since you don't know the full state of the installation project, it may be hard to identify. So search from what you know.
Top down: what gets configured
First, find the dialog that you fill out as a user making the selection. Then figure out the property that the particular control is associated with. Now you've got a thread; pull on it.
Search in the direct editor for references to the property. If the property is named MYCONFIG search for just that: MYCONFIG. You'll probably find some sort of use that looks like [MYCONFIG] instead, which is typically a format string specifying to use the value of MYCONFIG. You may also have to search all the files related to your project, as Custom Action implementations can be code stored outside of your InstallShield project.
The use may be in a ControlEvent, CustomAction, or some other table. If it's in a ControlEvent, it may be used to set another property. Ditto if it's in a CustomAction that sets properties (type 51) which may be easier to understand in the Custom Actions and Sequences view. In that case, also search for the property that gets set.
If you find it in a table like ISSearchReplace* or ISXml*, or IniFile, it's probably part of the Text Files Changes, XML File Changes, or INI File Changes, and that view should make it easier to understand.
Maybe that thread dead-ends somewhere. A property gets set, but never referenced. So try to search from the other end.
Bottom up: what gets written
If there are text file changes, xml file changes, ini file changes, or custom actions that reference the file you need updated, see where they get their information. Try to follow it back. If they're well written, you should be able to identify the property (noting that one called CustomActionData comes from a property matching the name of the custom action it's used in), and then trace that further back using the same ideas as above, but in the other direction.
Where's the problem?
If the threads don't connect, that's probably the problem. It's also possible that a custom action lacks permissions but doesn't reports a failure, or that the file name or path got misconfigured somewhere along the way. Look for small things like that if things look like they should work but don't.
It turns out that I misunderstood the problem and the project was never set up to change that value, so all I had to do was set up a Text File Change and it works perfectly. Thanks #Michael Urman for the thorough response - I really appreciate it!
I've been working on a database for a little while here, and while I'm still kinda new to MS Access, I do know how to code some basic things. Nevertheless, what I'm trying to do isn't so much needed as it is something that I would like to add in just to make the database easier to use.
What I've got right now is a form that will allow a user to put in first name, last name (UserID will concatenate both last and first names, respectively) and the password, but here's the thing: If a user opts to close out of the form before saving, I've successfully implemented the On Unload event to ask the user if they'd like to save said information before closing the program. The issue is, it does that ANY TIME the form closes. Is there some way I can have the Save Record button be tracked, or be able to track any sort of updates on the form itself?
I can think of two potential solutions (not in any order of preference):
If the form is as simple as you say (just 4 or 5 controls) then when it loads save the information in some "state" in your form. Then, in the Form_Unload event, check to see if the form content is different from the one in your state. If it is, prompt the user if they want to save the data, otherwise carry on and do nothing since there have been no changes. Of course, if the user at any time presses the "Save Record" button, then you'll also need to update your state to contain the latest saved information.
Another way is to keep a clean/dirty flag for each control that you are interested in (username control, password control, etc.) and that the user can type data into. Most/All controls have an event to track if the data inside them has changed. So use that event and set the dirty flag to True if any edits happen in each control. When the user presses the "Save Record" button, then the flags should become clean, since the information has been saved and is up-to-date. Again, in the Form_Unload event, check the flags and if any are dirty then prompt the user to save, otherwise carry on and do nothing.
Let's say I have a form for editing a furniture.
In my business logic, a furniture can have finishings.
In my ORM logic, "finishing" is a separate entity from "furniture", with a many-to-many relationship.
So in my "edit/furniture" form I present the user a "finishings" subsection,
with 2 UI (form) elements:
an autosuggest field, feeded by finishings.json (a file),
allows the user to attach already existing finishings to the furniture being edited,
a "+" button, that make fields appear, to enter one or more finishings.
allows the user to add finishings on the fly.
I want the user to be able to add finishings without leaving the "furniture/add[edit/$id]" REST url, so he doesn't experience a page reload.
To this end, I use the "form within form" trick, which means I'm not submitting the entire furniture form : I don't want the user to leave the page, nor do I want it to reload it. So the "submit new finishing" is a fake submit button that triggers the "finishing/add/" REST url. The REST part of the app is responsible for rewriting an updated finishings.json file that reflects the modified DB. Pretty standard stuff.
The real trick is : I would like the autosuggest field to reflect changes in realtime, doing this by "re-reading" the finishings.json file.
Here are 2 options:
Instead of the "form within form", I could just update the UI and push new finishings entries into a JSON object built upon the initial finishings.json file reading. I could push the new entries into this $scope object which would give the UI what it needs. Upon submitting the "edit furniture" form, I would prep data and sort stuff out: go through every finishing attached bu the user to the furniture, and separate the existing ones from the "just added" ones.
I keep my "form within form", because I want my finishings.json file, not a json object, to be the "source of truth".
I think I can manage option 1, but I'd really prefer to go with 2.
How would you do that?
What is the proper way in AngularJS to reload the finishings.json file on demand, and having it refeed the autosuggest with a fresh new batch of options, in real time?
Is the purpose of having this fresh data from the finishings.json file to enable every application user to be aware of new data in that file?
I mean... if me as user A am adding a new finishing, you want my finishing to be accounted by every other application user? Is that part of the suggestion algorithm?
If this is the case, and in fact what you're looking for is some sort of changes listener, you would have two options to solve this:
a) Using $timeout to pool the file every x seconds (I personally don't like this kind of approach).
b) Create a service that uses some form of WebSockets implementation (Socket.io, SignalR, etc). At an high level it would work this way: Your clients connect to the socket server/hub and subscribe to a data change event. Then, everytime a finishing is added to the file, you would then emit a data change event to the socket server which in turn would broadcast that event to every connected client.
I was wondering if there was any way of changing the background in access. The standard grey is ok but I would like to change it to an image that shows instructions or what was updated last. Also, if I can allow a user to change the background to an image of their choice that would be cool as well.
Can this be done
To be honest, I'm not sure if this is possible or not, but if it is, I'd advise you not to do it. Why?
Users will expect instructions under a help menu or on an intro
splash form
They will expect info. like what was updated last to appear in more
conventional places like the status bar
Allowing users to personalise your application with their photos can
make your application look pretty bad and increase load times.
Only advice though - good luck with it!
I have been able to allow users to change the background of the database. It works great and it works no matter what computer they log onto the database from. I did have a problem with remote users so I added a macro that allows them to disable the functionality. It works great. It was a little complicated to se up initially. Some of the modules below may have more stuff contained in them then what is needed for the purpose of this question. But here is what I did to make it work:
Add the Following modules to your database: modChangeMDI, SetBackgroundImage, and clsCommonDialog
Link to a zip file containing the code for the above modules: http://www.filedropper.com/changebackgroundimage
You can set the default location that a users sees when the search for file dialog pops up. This is located in the ThisFileToOpen function of the SetBackgroundImage module.
clsCommonDialog <-- Used to open the find file dialog box
modChangeMDI <--Used to change the background image
Create a table called $BackgroundLocation with the following fields. On my database this is contained in the backend database.
ID (AutoNumber, Primary Key)
UserID (Text, Required, 250 in length, don't allow zero lengths)
BackgroundLocation (Text, 255 in length, not required)
DisableBackground (boolean)
Create an AutoExec macro and add an action that runs the code SetTheBackgroundPictureOnStartup (1)
Create a BackgroundDisableEnable macro and add an action that runs the code DisableEnableBackground()
Create a BackgroundSet macro and add an action that runs the code SetTheBackgroundPictureOnStartup(2)
Then assign the BackgroundDisableEnable and the BackgroundSet macro to their own menu item.
When the database opens it will run the AutoExec by default.
You can use a start-up form as I suggested above. You can even base the start-up form on a comments table that can be edited by the users and will display the most recent and / or relevant information. The form can be displayed at start-up and then referred to at any time by the users.
In the past, I have included a ? button on forms that open such a form at the relevant page.