Bug Report S30014
Visible to All Users

WinForms - It is difficult to distinguish between fields with the same name in Customization Forms

created 17 years ago (modified 7 years ago)

Hello,
This is necessary for complex properties, when you have the "FullName" property in the grid and want to add the "Manager.FullName" property.
Currently, you can find it within the "Object Model" window (it shows a tree). However, once it is added, you see two identical entries in the "Column Chooser" window with one and the same caption "Full Name".
It's necessary to specify another caption when adding a new column into the column list, and show a property name/property path for each entry, especially when it is a complex property.
Thanks,
Dan

See Also:
Tooltips in Object Model Popup of CustomizationForm
How to customize captions in the 'Object Model' window when adding an item from the 'Customization' window?
Please augment the field chooser in the layout tool
Column Chooser - Make it possible to avoid columns with duplicate columns
Please update Layout Manager to reveal via tooltip or augmented treelist to show us what field is selected

Comments (2)
AZ AZ
Arnoldas ZUKAUSKAS 12 years ago

    Hello,

    Maybe you already have solution?

    Arnoldas

    Dennis Garavsky (DevExpress) 12 years ago

      While we do not have a generic solution for this scenario. However, it has been always possible to access a grid, tree list or other controls and customize their column captions. Refer to the
      Access Grid Control Properties help article to see how to access these controls in XAF. Feel free to contact our WinForms team or refer to the documentation for these controls if you experience any difficulties with customizing column captions.
      Alternatively, you can use a solution described in the Column Chooser - Make it possible to avoid columns with duplicate columns and Please augment the field chooser in the layout tool  tickets.

      Answers approved by DevExpress Support

      created 7 years ago (modified 7 years ago)

      We have fixed the issue described in this ticket and will include the fix in our next maintenance update. To apply this solution before the official update, request a hotfix by clicking the corresponding link for product versions you require.

      Note: Hotfixes may be unavailable for beta versions and updates that are about to be released.

      Additional information:

      With v18.1.3, a tooltip will be shown for complex property paths to avoid confusion from fields with the same name. Refer to the attached video:


      Currently, this works in ListView (GridListEditor, TreeListEditor), DetailView (WinLayoutManager), and the Model Editor (runtime/design time). The only exceptions are AnalysisEditor and PivotGridListEditor, whose field lists display a full property path by default:

      Even though the last editors are rarely used, it is possible that we will come up with a unified solution here. To help us in this regard, comment on which design you and your end-users prefer more.

      To disable these tooltips, set the static EnablePropertyPathToolTip property for the GridEditorColumnChooserControllerTreeListEditorColumnChooserController and WinLayoutManagerControllerBase classes (this will not affect the Model Editor, though). To customize these tooltips, use standard solutions for the underlying customization form controls based on the ToolTipController API. Customization forms can be accessed using the aforementioned Controllers. You may find these articles helpful:
          How do I provide a tooltip for a column displayed in Column Chooser and Group By Box
          How to show a full member path in the LayoutControl's Customization Form to avoid similar captions for properties with the same last member
          Tooltips in Object Model Popup of CustomizationForm

      Note that since multiple customization forms can be opened at the same time, now the form's header also includes the View's caption. We hope your end-users will appreciate these minor usability improvements.

      See Also:
      Customization Forms and Model Editor Improvements - XAF v17.2.6

        Show previous comments (5)
        Dennis Garavsky (DevExpress) 7 years ago

          @Noxe: Yes.
          @Chris: Your solution will continue working as before. Yes, you can also disable or customize these tooltips. I've updated the feature description.
          @Others: We appreciate your feedback.

          D D
          Dave Hesketh (Llamachant Technology) / DX MVP 7 years ago

            Personally, I really like the tooltip approach more than showing the full path in the property name. I do see the advantage for some applications to have the full path listed but for some of our simple users, just the caption is preferred.

            Perhaps the option to toggle between full path in Tooltip Only, Always, and Never would be the ideal solution? Either way, I think this is tooltip option is a great usability improvement.

            Dennis Garavsky (DevExpress) 7 years ago

              Thanks for your feedback, Dave.

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