However, I would like to know more about creating a view that allows users to easily filter the records, using several filters at once.
I know many people have asked this before, and mostly the answer given is "Use the search function, and search in each column for the required parameter"
However, this is not a satisfactory solution for a number of reasons:
1) You have to know the exact value to search for (sometimes the value might be a two or three word answer)
2) It takes a long time to filter by a dozen columns, having to type into each one
3) Using the search as a method for filtering by multiple fields means you have to include all the columns you wish to use as filters. This is no problem for small applications, but for larger applications, it means including dozens of columns making the application overly complicated to view and use.
Could someone give me a definitive answer than there is no way of creating an application that allows several filters (including filters on fields that are hidden).
If there is no option using the standard GUI, is it possible to create an HTML view which uses deluge script to create a filter interface that does what I am looking for? If so has anyone got an example of how you would add dropdowns and checkboxes via HTML and link this up with deluge script to perform filter actions on the currently viewed records.
If even this is not possible, are there any plans to add such functionality?
A huge thanks in advance for taking the time to reply.
Hi Ruben, thanks for taking the time to read and reply.
It seems from your link, that you can create auto or custom filters, but you cannot allow users to use several of these filters simultaneously. They all appear in one filter drop down list, which you can only select one of. And, even worse still, you cannot filter by one filter, then filter the filtered records again by another filter in that drop down list.
So I guess your answer is that it is not possible to filter by several filters simultaneously, unless you use the search function for every column you want to search for.
Ruben, could you tell me whether in theory its possible to create a custom HTML dashboard view, which uses HTML form elements and deluge script to filter records by multiple filters simultaneously? The process would be that users would select several HTML dropdown options and select several checkboxes as required, and when a user clicked the HTML submit button, deluge script would collate the selections and filter a view accordingly.
Please let me know if this is possible with deluge script, and if it is, let me know if there are any examples where HTML and deluge script is used to filter records.
Have you tried this example that demonstrates how to create a search interface with Stateless form to get the search keywords and then display the custom HTML view based on the search
keyword. Let us know if this satisfies your requirement.
Hi Latha, many thanks for your response. I will work through your suggestion and come back to you. This might be a solution, if it allows enough flexibility to use for example multiple dropdown search boxes, from which all search criteria are directed to the HTML view.
Hi Latha, thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. Your example shows how it is possible to create exactly what I am looking for, although it does take some effort to create.
For others looking to create an application that allows users to filter a view via multiple filters simultaneously, it is possible, but the process is long winded, involves quite a bit of coding, but works very well.
I suggest installing the marketplace application 'Employee Manager' as this has a basic search(think filter) form that interacts with an HTML view.
The process is as follows:
1) Create a stateless form, containing as many search fields as you wish, I used a single line field for a key word search and then several Multi Select dropdown fields to filter by as many fields as you require. Add a submit button to the form, name it something and remember the deluge script names of all your fields and the submit button.
2) Go to Script tab in your main application menu to add script to your stateless form. Select your button under 'Form Actions' and then select the On Click action that appears. You then need to enter some script which basically opens the correct view with the search parameters chosen. The problem is the view you need to open, has to be a special HTML view created specifically for the task. My initial script for two filter parameters was as follows:
3) As mentioned, this code targets an HTML view (you seemingly can't simply target a normal view, although this might be possible, I have not yet found this out!). So create a new HTML view, and you need to define the same parameters here that are being fired from your stateless form. Then you are required to create script that reads those parameters, performs a filtered search of the records based on them, and then for each record found, you need to manually deliver the results using a combination of HTML and deluge script.
I got a basic list of records working, and also managed to use deluge script to create links to summary views for those records. You can also embed the search/filter form into the HTML view, so that the page is simply refreshed when you perform filters. Again, check out the free Employee Manager application for all the code.
Thanks for your prompt help Latha,
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