Grid views are one of the core components of the IMMS user interface. Examples of such views include All Cases, Issue Monitor, Device/Equipment List, Spares, and many others. Such views typically display the broadest range of records of the particular kind (e.g., Cases, Assets, Locations, etc.) Additionally, they display certain attributes for each record and provide the ability to customize the data presentation using a combination of search, filters, column configuration, and custom sort order.
Each standard view comes with a default configuration, which displays a broad set of records and the most commonly used data fields in its grid view. However, in many cases, a User will need to tailor what data records are shown and how they are presented in order to support specific operational objectives. For example, you may need to:
- review the firmware versions (stored as device custom fields) of all cameras deployed in a particular building;
- review all closed Issues for a particular period of time with their respective resolution descriptions; or
- review physical dimensions of all locations of a particular type.
To effectively address these kinds of requirements, IMMS features enable Users to configure views for the display of a carefully filtered and well-structured data set, as discussed in detail below.
Enabling/Disabling Common Grid Columns
Grid views provide a shortcut for enabling / disabling the most common columns. Hovering your mouse over any column header will reveal a drop-down arrow. Clicking on the arrow will present a list of common columns. Use the check-boxes next to the column names to enable or disable them.
If the column you are interested in is not part of the presented list, proceed to the Advanced Options, as discussed below.
Selecting Grid Columns - Advanced Options
If the active view supports the advanced configuration options, you will see the View button within the Grid Commands at the top of the grid view.
The advanced customization capabilities are being added to other areas of IMMS. If you are interested in adding this functionality to a particular view not currently supported, please use the Submit Feedback option to submit your feature request.
To use the advanced column configuration options:
- Click the View button at the top of the grid view
- Select Columns from the drop-down menu. This opens the Select View Columns window.
- From the Select View Columns window, you can select the grid (i.e., data) columns to be included within your custom view configuration.
- The column selection window provides intuitive controls to add and remove columns using the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons:
- To add a column to your view, click the plus (+) icon next to the desired column in the Available Columns section.
- To remove a column from your view, click the minus (-) icon next to that column in the Selected Columns section.
- Click OK to apply your column selections.
The lists of data columns may be quite long. To speed up the selection, use the search fields above each section to search column options by keyword. You may also use the collapse/expand controls to hide and show groups of available columns.
You can drag and drop columns in the Selected Columns section to rearrange their position in your customized grid view.
Important
IMMS column selection supports both standard and Custom Field data. When you add a custom attribute (i.e., Custom Field) to your custom view configuration, IMMS will automatically add a corresponding filter widget to the Filter panel.
For example, let's say your project is configured to include the Custom Field "Tenant POC" on all Issues. When you add the "Tenant POC" column to the view configuration, IMMS will automatically add the corresponding filter widget to the bottom of the Filter panel, thus giving you the ability to filter records by that attribute.
Furthermore, the kind of the filter widget added to the Filter panel depends on the data type for that column. For example, when you add a Custom Field defined as text, the corresponding filter will be a keyword filter. However, if the added column is a date field, the corresponding filter will be a date range filter. In most cases, the kind of the filter widget added will be intuitive and self-explanatory.
Resizing and Rearranging Columns
After making your column selections, you can further adjust the view by resizing columns and modifying the order of the columns. Rearranging columns is a simple drag-and-drop feature in IMMS. Simply click and hold on a column header and then drag it to the desired position.
Filtering Records
Once you have selected and arranged the grid columns for your custom view configuration, you will next apply filters to remove any unwanted data records from the custom view. For guidance on using IMMS filters, please reference Using Filters.
Changing the Sort Order
Records can be sorted from most standard data columns (e.g. Issue Type, System Element Type, Priority, etc.) within your custom view configuration. Hovering your mouse over any column header will reveal a drop-down arrow. If that data column can be sorted, the drop-down menu will include the Sort Ascending and Sort Descending options.
For any data column that can be sorted, you can simply click on the column header to sort the data. Clicking on the same column header again will toggle the sort order between ascending and descending. The column header will display an up- or down-arrow indicating the sort order.
Next Steps - Saving Views, Exporting Data
The view configuration features discussed in this article serve as the foundation for the the Saved Views and Data Export capabilities:
- If a User opts to save a custom view configuration for future use, he/she will be given the option to share that custom view configuration with other Users. See Using Saved Views for more information.
- Combining the custom view configuration features with the Excel / CSV export functionality is the most effective way to export data from IMMS and meet the project reporting requirements. See Exporting Data from Grid Views for more information.