Modify Last Find

[kennedy]

Okay, I give up... and I'll let my ignorance show...

How the heck do you use Modify Last Find???

I want a script that simply goes back into Find Mode with the fields filled in like they were the last time Find was performed. (Not with what were there when the Script was created.)

I tried just doing Modify Last Find... it doesn't go into Find Mode.

So, I tried doing Modify Last Find and then Enter Find Mode [].

That goes into Find Mode... and I briefly see my previous find settings... but then they vanish away. As if Enter Find Mode wiped them clean.

So, I tried doing Modify Last Find and then Enter Find Mode [Restore].

That restores the settings that were there when I created the script.

So, I tried the commands in the other order. Nope.

Sigh, what's the trick?

[LiveOak]

Modify Last Find is the correct script step. If it is the ONLY step executed, it will leave you in find mode. If you want to use this script step and allow a user to modify the entries, you must follow it with a Pause. A Control-R (or Command-R, Mac) will put you in Find Mode with the previous request (if any) restored.

My guess is that you are using the Modify Last Find step with no pause. By the time the script terminates you are no longer in Find Mode.

-bd

[CobaltSky]

Just an added note of caution...

You might also want to think about preceding your 'Modify Last Find' script step with an appropriate 'Go to Layout [ ]' step. Ohterwise, though the find will still 'work', it may produce results which baffle the user, if find criteria which have been reinstated are not present on the layout with which they are presented when the 'Modify Last Find' step is called.

[Keith M. Davie]

"I want a script that simply goes back into Find Mode with the fields filled in like they were the last time Find was performed. (Not with what were there when the Script was created.)"

If the Modify Last Find is showing fields contining "what were there when the Script was created", you may need to see if you have performed a find in which you are allowing a [Restore]. But I could be wrong about this.

[kennedy]

You might also want to think about preceding your 'Modify Last Find' script step with an appropriate 'Go to Layout [ ]' step.

Interesting point. I was trying to decide whether its better to have my find button always start with the last find and have a button to clear the form, OR start with a blank form and have a button to fill it in with the last find (assuming that's possible). Your point implies to me that the latter is probably best (since I want to allow find's from any layout). I am going to experiment with that UI design. Thanks.

[kennedy]

My guess is that you are using the Modify Last Find step with no pause. By the time the script terminates you are no longer in Find Mode.

Thanks. I tried it with a Pause, and sure enough it worked... though I had to hit Continue and then Find. Weird.

So, I tried it with an Exit... it worked fine! But shouldn't that be the same as with nothing?

So, I tried it with nothing... only thing in a Script. Worked! No way! A bit more experimentation and then... it didn't work! Huh?

I finally realized what's happening in my endless experiments to figure this out... Modify Last Find often returns an error and does nothing... not sure why, just it happens often... so, by wrapping error detection around it, it is working now... with no explicit Pause needed.

Anyway, THANKS! I got it working now.

Now to experiment with the UI design around this ability...

[LiveOak]

It might be useful to show us the script. It's a little hard to tell exactly what is going on without it, there are a lot of possibilities. The script might look like:

Modify Last Find

Pause/Resume Script

Perform Find()

-bd

[kennedy]

Here's the script I have right now:

Set Error Capture [On]

Modify Last Find

If ["Status(CurrentError)"]

Enter Find Mode []

End If

That consistently leaves it in Find Mode... and if there's no error, it leaves it with the last find's values in there. (It seems to be in error state if you did Enter Find Mode but did not do Perform Find.)

Then I have two buttons that appear when you are in Find Mode... "Find" which simply does Perform Find and "Clear" which simply does "Enter Find Mode" which clears out the entries. (Actually, there are several other Find buttons that appear as well.) There's never any paused scripts this way.

This is designed to work the same no matter what layout you are in... and I think you can consistently switch layouts while developing a find request... though I am still testing that theory out.

The big question seems to be if its bad UI design to allow users to be in any layout when doing a find. The danger is that when they push the button, they may not realize there are find specs in fields not currently displayed. But forcibly moving them to the detail layout seems disruptive for many common scenarios (e.g., I am looking at a list and decide I want to filter away a bunch of the records... hit Find, the list blanks, and I put the filter specs right there in the columns I've been looking at).

Opinions?

[kennedy]

OR start with a blank form and have a button to fill it in with the last find (assuming that's possible).

Uhh, what am I saying... that's not possible because entering Find Mode with a blank form clears the last find info. See my previous note for my current thinking on this. Opinions on the UI design choice will be appreciated.

[CobaltSky]

OR start with a blank form and have a button to fill it in with the last find (assuming that's possible)

As you say, entering 'find' mode in the normal way obliterates the stored values of the last find, so although I agree that the approach you were envisaging would be ideal, it can't be achieved in a straightforward way using the 'Modify Last Find' script step.

It would nonethless be possible by setting a script which first invoked 'Modify last find', checked all fields for criteria, stored the criteria (in a format which could later be parsed for reinstatement) and then entered find mode. Then your 'Reinstate Previous Find Criteria' button would (instead of using the 'modify...' script step) parse the stored criteria and place them in the appropriate fields (possibly taking users to the same layout that the last find was done on, so that they can see and edit all the relevant criteria...)

This approach is certainly possible, but would involve some rather tedious scripting, and you may not think it worth the extra work...

[kennedy]

As a follow-up, FWIW, I implemented my own set of Find buttons that start you with a Modify Last Find and give you a "Clear" button to start from scratch. Seems to work fairly well. You can see and play with the result in my Starter Template posted in Sample Files:

http://www.fmforums.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=files&Number=46219&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1