Data Entry with Linked Combos
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I have a scenario where I have three combos. All three are populated with the same data, but use different fields from the data for their display text. The Extension, Name, and Room combos are all populated from the Extension table. If the user selects an extension, the Room and Name combo selections must update to the values for the selected extension. The same if they select a Name, then extension and room get updated. Often, many extensions are found in one room, or under one name, etc. So now, if the user selects a 'busy' room, what I figure I'll do is filter the extension combo to only those for that room, and give a visual indication of this, maybe a visible link between the combos. If the user decides they wish to ignore the room, and search all extensions, they click a 'clear' entry in extensions, and it loads all the extensions. Is this a feasible way of doing this? Are there any established patterns for scenarios like this?
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I have a scenario where I have three combos. All three are populated with the same data, but use different fields from the data for their display text. The Extension, Name, and Room combos are all populated from the Extension table. If the user selects an extension, the Room and Name combo selections must update to the values for the selected extension. The same if they select a Name, then extension and room get updated. Often, many extensions are found in one room, or under one name, etc. So now, if the user selects a 'busy' room, what I figure I'll do is filter the extension combo to only those for that room, and give a visual indication of this, maybe a visible link between the combos. If the user decides they wish to ignore the room, and search all extensions, they click a 'clear' entry in extensions, and it loads all the extensions. Is this a feasible way of doing this? Are there any established patterns for scenarios like this?
We do something similar except we use check boxes to determine whether or not to link the combos. The check boxes provide the visual feedback so that the user knows whether or not they're seeing filtered data and at the same time allows them to control whether or not they want to see filtered data. I don't know of any established patterns for this but it really doesn't take that much to implement a solution.
:Badger: