Filtered Tree View

[TMF]

Originally posted by quant
but I suppose bonsai filters only based on the item title

You can filter almost against any aspect of the database with Bonsai filters. I think ShadowPlan outliner was also good in this respect.
Btw. MLO mentioned above, will have this soon.

Is is that crucial to see the tree structure for the items matching filter in the search result pane?

It certainly helps, sometimes a lot.

You can navigate the search result pane, see given item's parent's, children, open it in new tab, rerun the search etc.

UR is flexible and one can do a lot of things. The thing is, if you do this often, are you going to bother, or are you going to use something better suited for that particular functionality?

Can you give an example or explain when having a filtered tree is a necessity for the problem at hand, so that I can better understand its usefulness?

I can't speak for others, but this is not about necessity.
In same manner, I could have asked "Is it necessity to use UR, when I can as well store all my text snippets in Word", but I didn't and purchased UR, because it works smarter.
For me, tree filtering is about working smarter, quicker/saving time, and having a better visual grasp of the situation, and avoiding confusion.

I don't have time to read whole thread, just would like to add my vote for the tree filtering.

[reesd]

Originally posted by TMF
You can filter almost against any aspect of the database with Bonsai filters. I think ShadowPlan outliner was also good in this respect.
Btw. MLO mentioned above, will have this soon.

I haven't seen an inidcation that MLO is adding tree filtering, could you point me towards your source on this? The lack of tree filtering is the main reason I stopped using MLO....
Thanks,
d

[reesd]

Originally posted by quant
Can you give an example or explain when having a filtered tree is a necessity for the problem at hand, so that I can better understand its usefulness?

I'll try and and give a quick example.
You want a tree when things have a parent/child relationship. You want to filter when you just want to narrow down what you are looking at while still keeping that relationship.

Here is a simple example of a backpacking list (it seems simpler to than a todo list which is my main use case). The tree is used to group similar items or group them by where they are packed. I have a people column that indicates if an item is used when I am going solo (lighweight being important) or with a group (need to support group and can share load with them). So I can quickly filter the list to just the stuff I will need.

backpacking list         people
  sacks
    big backpack         group
    small backpack       solo
  cooking
    stove
    utensils
    small pans           solo
    big pans             group

My actual backpacking list is much longer than this and has 4-5 aspects that I use to filter including weight, people, number of days, etc. Tree filtering is key to keeping the structure but also being able to ignore/see the right items.

d

[TMF]

Originally posted by reesd
I haven't seen an inidcation that MLO is adding tree filtering, could you point me towards your source on this? The lack of tree filtering is the main reason I stopped using MLO....

I hope it's OK to post here since I can't send PM nor email through the forum interface, and MLO is not a UR competition.

I'm sorry this was probably a mistake, as far as I can see on re-reading the url posted below. MLO's advanced filtering will most probably be implemented in it's ToDo view which is flat one, not in the tree.

Anyway here are the screenshots:
http://groups.google.com/group/myLif...d3327a519a83ae

[wilser]

Well specified. It's similar (and more complete) than something I was already thinking would be very nice in the product.

I vote Yes.

[janrif]

Originally posted by reesd
I'll try and and give a quick example.
You want a tree when things have a parent/child relationship. You want to filter when you just want to narrow down what you are looking at while still keeping that relationship.

Here is a simple example of a backpacking list (it seems simpler to than a todo list which is my main use case). The tree is used to group similar items or group them by where they are packed. I have a people column that indicates if an item is used when I am going solo (lighweight being important) or with a group (need to support group and can share load with them). So I can quickly filter the list to just the stuff I will need.

backpacking list people
sacks
big backpack group
small backpack solo
cooking
stove
utensils
small pans solo
big pans group


My actual backpacking list is much longer than this and has 4-5 aspects that I use to filter including weight, people, number of days, etc. Tree filtering is key to keeping the structure but also being able to ignore/see the right items.

d

Why not add boolean attributes, Ex: group, share, solo or whatever for all your complete backpack list. Then check off what goes where. Then set up an automated search: group, share, solo with the appropriate criteria. Make each one of those searches a favorite so w one click it would bring up a speccialized list of items.

Wouldn't that accomplish what you want?

[wilser]

janrif--

I think his was just an example. So your suggestion would fit that one case, but is not a generic solution like he wants.


Let me give another example of why I would love the filtered tree: project tasks...

A project contains tasks, which might be 2-3 day items so are further broken down into sub-tasks, etc.

We want the *generic* ability to filter the items shown in a tree, WITHOUT losing the tree structure.

I might want to filter on just tasks that have estimated-time of < 2 hours. Or tasks that don't require hardware to complete. Or tasks that can be done at home. Etc. Etc. But I still want to see what Project and Parent Task the sub-tasks are underneath, which we lose with the current Search Item behavior.


The trick I would see is that a filtered tree view would also need the ability to show parent items, even if the parent item doesn't match the criteria. My preference would be to show in a different color or format (like dimmed), but still show them so we'd have the tree structure visible.

[janrif]

hmmm, ok I see what you mean.

This sounds a little more ecco pro-like which should be available in SQL notes. It's still in beta but allows user to create a view on the fly with portions of larger outline in a view based on filtered criteria. That would probably do the trick.

There are 'elders' on this forum who might disagree but I don't see what you are wanting to be on the drawing boards for URp. In fact, I'm not sure it's even possible.