The Grids view presents an Excel-like matrix generated by the data in the selected structure. It is a frequently used view that provides a good overview of the information and allows users to filter, sort and group the data as needed. 


Grids are configured for use with a specified item type so a particular grid will only be available or useful if you are standing on an item of the type that it is configured for. Grids are typically configured by an Architect user as only users with the Architect role can save grid configurations. Non-architect users can still make on-the-fly changes to grids for their viewing needs at the moment, but they cannot save modifications to existing grid configurations nor save new configurations. This article describes how to interact with and use configured grids.


Prerequisites


Select an item in the structure for which you know that a grid view has been configured. The grid view can then be selected via the Items Ribbon (if configured by an Architect to display there as a button), or by selecting it in the View drop-down list. 



All grids configured for a selected item type with be available in the View drop-down. In the above example, there is only one grid configured for the "Unallocated design" item type selected, however, multiple grids are available in the View selection menu. They just do not display as buttons on the Items ribbon: 


Getting Acquainted with the View

The view consists of 3 tabs - View, Definition, and Description. The view is useful for models that contain some kind of modeling pattern that lends itself to grid presentation.



Grids are meant primarily for users to view the data online. Therefore, you will likely remain on the View tab. The two additional tabs - Definition and Description - are used by Architects for configuration. See Creating Config Item Views or Configuring Tables and Grids to learn more about configuration of configured views and, in particular, grids. 


The right-click context menu offers some tools and options which are described below. 


Grouping the Data

Grouping lets you interact with the data. To group by the values in a particular column, grab the column and pull it to the Grouping row that appears above the grid when you select the option. 



Right-click in the Grouping row to access options there: 


Filtering the Data

There are a number of options for filtering. To filter by a particular value in a column, select the filtering option and begin to type the value in the filter row in the column to filter by.



There is also a filtering option in the form of a "funnel" icon in each column header. Click on it to open a menu with filtering options. 


Note: The Grouping and Filtering options may already be activated and ready for you, by default, as part of the configuration of the view. 

Refreshing the Content and Layout

To refresh the content of the grid, and reset the display to its configured format, press the F5 key or click Refresh from anywhere in the grid. 


Opening an Issue

If the grid contains issues, you can select an issue in the grid and open it in its project by using the Open issue option.



Tip: Use the Ctrl+Alt+O shortcut to open an undocked Edit Issue dialog. It also enables you to view multiple issues simultaneously.

Selecting, Opening and Copying Items

If you click on a cell in a grid that represents an item in view in the tree, the item will be highlighted with a green indicator. 



To open an item that has data displayed in the grid, right-click on the cell and select Open item. It will open in a new page tab. 



If you want to copy one item or multiple items in the grid, right-click on the cell and choose Copy (or use the Ctrl+C shortcut). You can then, for example, use Ctrl+G in the structure tree to find the occurrences of the item there, or you can open them from the clipboard in a new page tab. 


Exporting to Excel and CSV

The configured grid view offers an option to export to Excel or .CSV. Right-click anywhere on the header row and, if the option is available, select Export to Excel. The Excel worksheet will include one row per item/part in the order displayed in the tree. Parts that are not turned on (i.e., hidden) in the tree will not be included. Your output will include other properties which you can just remove. 



Note: Export to Excel is of plain text only. Any images or tables in Description or RVF type attributes will not be included in the export.

Text Wrapping Option

The right-click Auto height option wraps the content of all cells and adds enough lines to the cells to fit the content. Often, Architects will activate this option in the configuration if it makes sense for the given use case. If not, you can turn it on and off by using the right-click menu option.


Auto Height Turned Off

Auto Height Turned On

Editing Data

The view can be configured to enable users to create and edit data directly in the grid. Examples of operations that can be performed if the configuration supports it: 

  • Selection of attribute values
  • Editing of item names
  • Updating parts
  • Remove parts
  • Add an issue
  • ...and more


Editability is defined by an Architect. 


Examples

Setting attribute values (a suitable editor will display)


Batch creation of items


Add an issue


Handling versions in Occurence Column

A grid can include an Occurence Column which can be used to to look for occurrences of an item in a list given a defined part type. It can also be used to manage that list by adding, removing and synchronizing Items. 


Example


Version inconsistencies are indicated in yellow is shown above for "Comp0Sig0".

Versions in sync are shown in green.


The following options are available for occurrences: 

Select Connect to add a part to the list. 

Select Disconnect to remove a part from the list.

Select Sync version to synchronize the versions in the list.

Selecting a Parameter

In the same way as with a Report, a grid may be parameterized by an Architect so that users of the view can make specific selections for the grid, like choosing a specific context of the item to be used for the grid. If a grid offers a parameter, you will find a drop-down list with options at the top-left of the view as shown in the below example.


Standard Grid Functionality

You'll find standard grids and tree views throughout the SystemWeaver swExplorer client because they are so useful and effective. See Customizing Grid Views to learn more about changing column widths, adding additional columns and removing columns on-the-fly for your immediate viewing needs in a configured grid.  

What's Next?

Learn about how to use the Secondary Item view as this feature is useful when you want to lock a grid view as a view to the right while continuing to navigate in the tree to view different items.