Feature request: sorts and fonts

Panorama X
1

Could we get back the operation where if you do a simple sort the app returns you to the record you were on when you sorted? Command-U for example?

Also, can we have true monospace font options so that numerals will line up? Jim, we’ve discussed this before, but I don’t know if any progress is being made. Too bad Apple screwed up the font your using, but I suspect there is no way anyone can get Apple to see the error of their ways.

2

Stan, the sort issue has been discussed before (in May, 2019?). This code sorts the active field up and then returns to the line that was active before:

local SearchString
SearchString = exportlinenotabs()
sortup
find exportlinenotabs()=SearchString

You want to have a monospace font option for the Data Sheet. — In forms, you can easily use monospace fonts like Monaco or Menlo or the #FixedPitchFont for e.g. Text Display and Text Editor objects, while I don’t find this working for Text List objects. They don’t seem to make use of other fonts than the #SystemFont.

3

Yes, I remember the earlier discussion, and maybe it’s just me, but the old feature was the way to go. The “fix” requires me to do something to Command-U, or something. Hence the feature request approach.

This also may sound antedeluvian, but I have never used forms in Panorama, and I’ve been using it since Reagan was president. Things sorted out over the years so that I used Filemaker when I needed a form, at work or in volunteer data management situations. Come to think of it, I’ve never met a person face to face who uses Panorama! But again, this wasn’t a problem in pre-X Pan. We had access to all the fonts. The system font approach would be fine, I guess, except that some fools at Apple neglected to make the “1” monospaced. Jim dangled the faint hope of talking to an Apple guy at the last Mac con – of course we both know that was a pipe dream!

4

This is no “fix”. It is just a small bit of code that you would save as a procedure. Then you can assign a hot key of your choice to call this procedure. (Similarly you can have a second procedure where you replace the sortup with sortdown.)

In fact, you can have the first two lines even shorter:

let SearchString = exportlinenotabs()
sortup
find exportlinenotabs()=SearchString
5

I’ll take your word for it. I tried to implement both of them, and couldn’t get them to work.

6

… by which I should say that the key-trigger implementation and options in PanX are opaque. If I “run” from the edit window, it works.

7

Key triggers for those procedures are working here. You just can’t use combinations that are in use by the system already. (E.g. I chose cmd-ctrl-U for the sortup procedure.)

8

“Come to think of it, I’ve never met a person face to face who uses Panorama!”
santafestan, here is a face of someone who uses Panorama:
image

9

Which one is the Panorama user? :wink:

10

Something is preventing Command-Control-U from working for me, because I had tried that, as well as Commant-U (not knowing I couldn’t replace system shortcuts like I do elsewhere). But it is working with Control-Option-U .

11

For what it’s worth, here is my version of the sorting hotkeys that maintains the original record selection after sorting. I chose the Option-UpArrow & DownArrow for activation. This also allows for Undoing from the Edit menu to return to the original starting condition.

definehotkeys "Global", "OPTION-UPARROW",
     |||startdatabasechange "ALLRECORDS","SortUp"
        let srID=info(“serverrecordid”)
        sortup
        find info("serverrecordid")=srID|||

definehotkeys "Global", "OPTION-DOWNARROW",
     |||startdatabasechange "ALLRECORDS","SortDown"
        let srID=info(“serverrecordid”)
        sortdown
        find info("serverrecordid")=srID|||