Recently my apps behavior has slightly change...

[Phil_Corbiere]

Recently my apps behavior has slightly changed and I do not recall making any changes myself. I do not have anyone else using the app, so i must have done something.

I have created a field data entry app that is in sync with a spreadsheet. Originally, my app was functioning exactly how I wanted. I would populate the spreadsheet with basic information and then I would use the app to add information (collected in the field) to the app. I would hit save and then the new information I put it would populate into the spreadsheet with the rest of the data that I had pre-entered.

What’s happening now is after I collect my data and hit “Save”, an error message is coming up saying “There is already a row with the key”xyz”.”

To be clear “xyz” isn’t actually What I see. I see the row key’s name.

What have I done? How do I fix this?

[pravse]

Hi @Phil_Corbiere, it sounds like you are trying to add a new row with the same key value as an existing row. Instead, could you try editing the row that already exists?

[Phil_Corbiere]

@praveen

Ultimately I am trying to edit the row that already exists. The thing is, I have 100s of rows and even though they are in an organized order, it’s a pain to sift through to edit. I could be mistaken but before I was achieving this without having to create a new row from scratch and I know for sure I wasn’t selecting each row to edit.

Is there any other way I can do this besides scrolling through to find the row and then edit? Maybe by “adding” a row that already exists I can just have it replace it? Is this an option somehow?

@Aleksi_Alkio you have helped me before with this particular app. Do you have any suggestion?

[pravse]

Phil, it seems that logically you want to find the row and then edit it, right? Can you find the row using the search bar at the top of the app? So instead of scrolling thru rows, you’d use search to quickly find it.

[Phil_Corbiere]

@praveen

Yes, using the search bar essentially makes that search easier for sure. But it does add time. This was created for easy field evaluations with basic info about each evaluation (each row) would already be filled in. This way you could just add the remaining info (the columns that are left empty prior to using it).

I suppose using the search bar takes less time than it does to filter through the info once you open each row.

Thanks for your help!

[pravse]

You confused me a bit with this sentence …

“I suppose using the search bar takes less time than it does to filter through the info once you open each row.”

The way I see/understand this, your user needs to find and update an existing entry. There are only two ways to do this:

a) scan thru a display that shows all the entries and visually pick out the one you want. for a small list, this is feasible. I’d suggest using the Table view (most compact) and have it sorted by the key or label used to “search” — this makes it easy to find what you want when scrolling

b) use a search mechanism to type in the key or label you want to find and that quickly identifies the row. We could provide some kind of dropdown to help type in the search term — we don’t do this right now, but it is something we hope to add in the future.

The pattern that you suggest is some kind of hybrid add-or-edit UI. This is not too standard and you don’t normally see this in apps because it can be confusing for users.

[Phil_Corbiere]

@praveen

I see. This can be frustrating because I went through the process of adding references and dependent dropdowns to my columns, but these will not be utilized if what you’re saying is true.

See, half of my columns need to be filled out prior to each field visit. These columns are full of references and drop downs so that you can edit those rows fast without having to search for them between each job at each field visit.

If I do not pre-load half of my columns prior to each visit, then the entry of each takes a long time. I think I may need to explore hiding some of the columns to make it seem quicker.

Thanks for the clarification! This app is becoming quite interesting to design and develop.

[pravse]

Phil, you may be misunderstaning me. You can certainly define dropdowns and app formulas for fields.

However, we were talking about how to find an existing record.

[Phil_Corbiere]

@praveen

Yes, I think I did misunderstand you. Sorry about that.

However I figured out a solution that sort of mimics the add/edit hybrid. By using a couple spreadsheets as references, I can use an additional sheet as a place where the combined data (the pre-loaded AND the data I collect at each visit) is stored.

Thanks again for your help and your patience!