Managing Filters

 

One of the more powerful filtering features in Tabular Space Data is the ability to filter on columns that aren’t actually displayed in the current tab. In order to do this, you use the Manage Filters window – this lists all the filters that are defined for the tab, allowing you to create new filters, edit and/or remove existing filters and control how the overall filtering is applied (i.e. whether a room must pass all defined filters, can pass any filter or must pass none of the filters).

 

 

You can access the Manage Filters window for the current tab by selecting the Manage Filters… item from the Tabular Space Data Tab menu, or by right-clicking on the tab itself and selecting the equivalent item from the pop-up menu.

 

The Manage Filters window allows you to create a filter on any available column in any available variant building model – you are not limited to only the columns already defined in the tab. In order to create a filter, you select the appropriate column to filter on from the dropdown list and then click the Add… button.

This will then display the Custom Filter window as normal, allowing you define the conditions for the new filter. Once you have set up the conditions as you desire, click OK on the Custom Filter window and the new filter will be added to the list in the Manage Filters window.

NOTE: The dropdown list for creating a filter contains a large number of items. The easiest way to quickly select the item you want to add is to click on the dropdown to display the list, then type the first few characters of the column you wish to add a filter on.

 

You can edit any defined filter either by double-clicking its entry in the Manage Filters list, or by selecting the appropriate filter from the list and then clicking the Edit… button. This will then display the Custom Filter window as normal, allowing you change the conditions for the new filter. Once you have modified the conditions as you desire, click OK on the Custom Filter window.

Note that the Edit…button will be disabled if there are no list entries selected, or if there are multiple entries selected.

 

Unlike the data grid, the Manage Filters window allows you to remove multiple filters at once. To remove filters, simply select the relevant entries in the list (use the SHIFT and/or CTRL key when clicking to select multiple items) and then click the Remove button. Alternatively, you can select the items and the press the Delete key.

The relevant entries will then be removed from the list.

 

The Manage Filters window also allows you to control the method used to apply the filters, in a similar fashion to the way you can control how the conditions within a single filter are applied. You can experiment with this to provide different results from your data filtering.

By using the Show data when… dropdown, you can control whether a room’s data attributes will be displayed in the grid only if all of the filters are passed, if any of the filters are passed, or if none of the filters pass.

 

Any modifications you make via the Manage Filters window are not immediately applied – this allows you to cancel the updates you have made if you decide that they are not suitable, or if you have made a mistake during editing. If you click the Cancel button on the Manage Filters window, all modifications will be discarded.

Once you have completed all the editing, creating and removal that is required, you can apply the changes by clicking the OK button. The data grid will then be refreshed to reflect the modifications to the data filters.

 

The Tabular Space Data status bar provides a fast method to show you both the number of rooms currently in the grid (shown in the first pane), as well as the number of data filters in-use (shown in the second pane). Some examples of the status bar display are shown below:

You can also double-click on the second pane to quickly access the Manage Filters window.