Home Search

DriveWorks Pro 21
Group Tables

Send Feedback

Group Tables

Group Tables provide access to tabular data relevant to all projects within a group.

The data held in a Group Table can be accessed through all the relevant table functions in a rule (CountIf, Dcount, DWVLookup, HLookup, ListAll, etc. etc.).

To access Group Tables, launch DriveWorks Administrator and open the required Group.

The Group Tables task is displayed under Stage 1: Group Setup from the DriveWorks Task Explorer.

The Group Tables list can be be filtered by using the filter at the top of the list.

Please see the topic How To Use Filters for more advanced filtering information.

Create a New Group Table

If Autopilot is running, you will need to close and reopen Autopilot to allow the newly created Group Table to be recognized.

A new Group Table is added by following the steps below:

  1. Click the Add button from the Command Bar.
  2. The Create Group Table dialog will open:

    Select the Simple Group Table option from the Templates section, enter a Name for the table in the Name field, click Finish.

    Table names can be up to 245 characters in length.

    However we recommend keeping the length to a minimum.

    A Blank Group Table will be created and opened in Edit mode in the Group Tables main window.

  3. Data is entered into the table by:
    • Typing directly into the table.
    • Pasting from an external source.
  4. Click OK from the Command Bar once all data has been added.

Data included in the first row is treated as column header information for functions that list all data within a column (ListAll, ListAllDistinct, etc.). I.e. Information in row 1 will not be included.

Rename a Group Table

Once a Group Table has been added the available actions that can be performed, on Group Tables, become available on the Command Bar:

Because Group Tables are not attached to a project, any rule within a project that references the existing Group Table name will require updating manually.

A Group Table can be renamed by:

  1. Select the Group Table to be renamed from the list view of Group Tables that exist in the Group.
  2. Click the Rename button.
  3. The Name field, for the Group Table selected in the list view will become active, with the cursor positioned at the start of the existing name.
  4. Enter the new name for the Group Table and hit the Return key on the keyboard, or click on another Group Table to accept the new name.
  5. Click Yes in the Change Group Table Name dialog to confirm the change.

Add Comments for a Group Table

Comments can be added to a Group Table by clicking in the Comments field.

Delete a Group Table

Once a Group Table has been added the available actions that can be performed, on Group Tables, become available on the Command Bar:

A Group Table can be deleted by:

  1. Select the Group Table to be deleted from the list view of Group Tables that exist in the Group.
  2. Click the Delete button.
  3. Click OK to confirm the action.

View/Edit the Table Data

Once a Group Table has been added the available actions that can be performed, on Group Tables, become available on the Command Bar:

View and Editing of the table allows the data held in the table to be modified.


The data in a Group Table can be viewed or edited by:

  1. Select the Group Table to be viewed from the list view of Group Tables that exist in the Group.
  2. Click the View/ Edit button.
  3. View or Edit the data in the main window.
  4. Click OK to save the changes and return to the Group Tables list.

Multi-Selection

Multiple adjacent selections can be made by ether:

  • Shift Select
    1. Select the first cell in the selection range.
    2. Hold the shift key and select the last cell in the selection range.
  • Mouse Drag
    1. Select the first cell (left mouse button and hold), row or column in the selection range
    2. Drag the mouse to the last cell, row or column in the selection range and release.

Cut, Copy and Paste

Applies to Excel Data Table and Simple Tables (Group and Project) Only.

While in Edit mode data in the table can be cut, copied and pasted by:

  1. Select the cell, row or column with the data to be cut or copied.
  2. Select Cut or Copy:
    • from the Command Bar

      Or

    • from the right click context menu
  3. Select an empty cell, row or column to paste the data into.
  4. Select Paste:
    • from the Command Bar

      Or

    • from the right click context menu
Data can be cut, copied and pasted to and from other sources such as:
  • Spreadsheets
  • Text files

Insert

Applies to Excel Data Table and Simple Tables (Group and Project) Only.

While in Edit mode columns or rows can be inserted by:

  1. Selecting the cell, row or column from which a column or row is to be inserted.
  2. Right click and select Insert and either:
    • Row - will insert a single row immediately above the selection.
    • Rows - will present a pop-up window allowing the number of required rows to be entered.The number entered will be inserted immediately above the selection.
    • Column - will insert a single column immediately to the left of the selection.
    • Columns - will present a pop-up window allowing the number of required columns to be entered.The number entered will be inserted immediately to the left of the selection.

Delete

Applies to Excel Data Table and Simple Tables (Group and Project) only.

While in Edit mode cell data, columns or rows can be deleted by:

  1. Selecting the cell, row or column to be deleted.
  2. Right click and select Delete and either:
    • Selected - will delete the selected cell data.
    • Rows - will delete the entire selected row. Subsequent rows will be moved up.
    • Columns - will delete the entire selected column. Subsequent columns will be moved to the left.

Permissions

If more than one DriveWorks Administrators are responsible for the projects held in the group, permissions to access the Group Table table data can be restricted.

To change permissions for Group Table access:

  1. Open the Group in DriveWorks Administrator and go to Stage 1: Group Setup> Security Settings
  2. Select the Team for which the Group Table Permissions are to be set.
  3. Click Edit from the Command Bar to launch the Edit Team dialog.
  4. Select the Group Table Permissions tab.
  5. Select the Group Table from the list and then check the permission option for that table. Available permissions are:
    • None - The Team cannot View or Edit the Group Table.
    • View - The Team can view the Group Table only.
    • Edit - The Team can View and Edit the Group Table.

Copy Group Tables from Another Group

Group Tables can be copied by using the Copy and Paste commands.

Copying a Group Table from one group to another will not copy any security settings that have been applied to the table. Only the data in the Group Table will be copied.

To Copy a Group Table:

  1. From DriveWorks Administrator open the Group that contains the Group Table(s) to be copied.
  2. Select Group Tables from the Task Explorer.
  3. Locate and select the Group Table(s) to be copied from the Group Tables list.
    More than one Group Table can be selected by holding the Ctrl key when selecting.
  4. Click the Copy button from the Command Bar.
  5. Open the Group where the Group Tables are to be copied.
    Launch another session of DriveWorks Administrator and have the Source group open in one, and the destination group open in the other. Both groups can be viewed side by side on your screen.
  6. Select Group Tables from the Task Explorer.
  7. Click the Paste button from the Command Bar.
    When the name of a copied Group Table already exists in the destination group, the name will be suffixed with an incremental number.

Specifications running in a browser reflect Group Table updates

DriveWorks Live is able to synchronize the currently running Specifications with DriveWorks Group Table updates.

In previous releases of DriveWorks the user was required to refresh their browser or start a new Specification before any updates to a Group Table were shown.

From DriveWorks 16 onwards, Group Table updates are continually pushed to any running Specifications in DriveWorks Live.

This eliminates the possibility of out of date data being used during Specifications created in a browser, and creates the opportunity to alter the users experience of a Project all within a currently running Specification.

Only applies to Shared Groups

Examples

New customer data is immediately available in the running Specification.

User 1 (Admin) is adding entries to a ‘CustomerData’ Group Table.

User 2 (Salesperson) is creating quotations using DriveWorks Live in a browser.

The data added by User 1 will immediately be available for selection in any DriveWorks Form Controls linked to the ‘CustomerData’ Group Table. This is a much-improved work flow and user experience.

Form design linked to a Group Table updates immediately.

Any DriveWorks Form design linked to a Group Table will update immediately in a browser. For example;

  • Image file paths stored in a Group Table
  • Text content of Labels
  • Minimum and Maximum values of Slider Controls
  • Form displayed in a Frame Control
  • Plus many more....