2.6.4  Synchronizing Selection Elements and Input Elements

You can synchronize selection and input elements within a Viewsheet or across multiple Viewsheets so that a selection in one element is automatically propagated to other compatible elements. The following elements can be synchronized:

Range Slider

Selection List

Selection Tree

Calendar

Radio Button, Check Box, Combo Box

Slider and Spinner

TextInput

There are three general cases where synchronization is useful:

Note: Selection ele­ments based on the same Data Block in the same Viewsheet are always automati­cally synchronized.

1. A Viewsheet displays data from multiple Data Blocks, and two or more of these Data Blocks share a common field that you wish to simultaneously filter.

For example, consider a Viewsheet which has two charts, one pre­senting data from Data Block A and the other presenting data from Data Block B. Assume that each of these Data Blocks contains an 'Employee' field. In order to allow the user to filter both charts based on their respective 'Employee' fields, you need to create one Selection List for each Data Block. However, these two 'Employee' Selection Lists are not synchronized by default, which means that the user is free to select different values in each list. In this case, you can synchronize the two elements as described below, and then hide one of the two selection components (set 'Vis­ible' property to 'Hide').

2. A “parent” Viewsheet contains a nested “child” Viewsheet, and the child Viewsheet contains elements that should be filtered by selections the user makes within the parent Viewsheet.

To synchronize ele­ments across Views­heets you must specify a shared filter, as described below, even if the elements utilize the same Work­sheet Data Block.

For example, consider a Viewsheet that contains a chart displaying 'Total' vs. 'Employee' and also contains a Selection List to filter the 'Employee' field. Nested within this parent Viewsheet is a child Viewsheet that contains a chart displaying 'Quantity' vs. 'Employee' and also contains a Selection List to filter the 'Employee' field. The two 'Employee' Selection Lists (one in the parent and one in the child) are not synchronized by default, which means that the user is free to select different values in each list. In this case, you can synchronize the two elements as described below, and then disable the 'Visible in External Viewsheets' prop­erty of the Selection List in the child Viewsheet. (This prevents the child's Selection List from appearing in the parent Viewsheet, thereby avoiding duplication of components).

3. A “parent” Viewsheet contains hyperlinks to a “child” Viewsheet, and the child Viewsheet contains elements that should be filtered by selections the user makes within the parent Viewsheet.

For example, consider a parent Viewsheet that contains a chart dis­playing 'Total' vs. 'Employee' and also contains a Selection List to filter the 'Employee' field. Assume that this parent Viewsheet con­tains hyperlinks to a child Viewsheet which contains a chart dis­playing 'Quantity' vs. 'Employee' and also contains a Selection List to filter the 'Employee' field. The two 'Employee' Selection Lists (one in the parent and one in the child) are not synchronized by default, which means that the user is free to select different val­ues in each list. In this case, synchronize the two elements as described below.

To synchronize Selection Components and Input Components, assign them the same 'Shared Filter' ID. Only elements that have the same data type and same data binding should be synchronized. Follow the steps below:

1. Open the Viewsheet in the Visual Composer

2. Click on the 'Options' button in the toolbar. This opens the 'Viewsheet Options' dialog.

3. Select the Filters tab.

4. In the 'Filters' list, click on a selection or input component that you would like to synchronize, and drag it into the 'Shared Filters' list. (You can also double-click the item to add it to the list.)

Components that have the same ID (within the Viewsheet or across Viewsheets) will be synchronized.

5. Click on the component label in 'ID' column of the 'Shared Filters' list, and enter a suitable name.

6. Repeat the above steps to add additional components to the 'Shared Filters' list.

 

7. Press the 'OK' button to exit the dialog box.

8. Repeat the same process for other Viewsheets (nested Viewsheet or hyperlinked Viewsheets).

Use identical IDs for components you wish to synchronize with one another. For example, to synchronize an 'Employee' Selection List in a “parent” Viewsheet with an 'Employee' Selection List in a nested “child” Viewsheet, follow the steps below:

1. Open the 'Options' dialog box for the parent Viewsheet. Assign the 'Employee' Selection List in the parent Viewsheet a shared filter ID such as “SharedEmployeeFilter”, and press 'OK'.

2. Open the 'Options' dialog box for the child Viewsheet. Assign the 'Employee' Selection List in the child Viewsheet the same shared filter ID (“SharedEmployeeFilter”), and press 'OK'.

This will synchronize the 'Employee' Selection Lists in the two Viewsheets.

See Also

Hyperlinks, for information on configuring hyperlinks.

Nesting Viewsheets, for information on how to embed one Viewsheet within another Viewsheet.

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