Uniform field spacing

[john9210]

I frequently arrange fields on a layout into a column. When I add or remove fields I have to re-adjust the spacing between fields to achiece a uniform spacing. Is there any way to select a number of fields and arrange them vertically (or horizontally) to a specified spacing value (say in inches or pixels)? This would would be a significant time and work saver in orgainzing layouts..

I frequently arrange fields on a layout into a column. When I add or remove fields I have to re-adjust the spacing between fields to achieve a uniform spacing. Is there any way to select a number of fields and arrange them vertically (or horizontally) to a specified spacing value (say in inches or pixels)? This would be a significant time and work saver in organizing layouts.

[bcooney]

There is the tool to distribute the fields evenly on the Inspector. You do not have the option to specify spacing, rather it uses the position of the topmost (or leftmost) field and the bottommost (or rightmost) field as the reference points.

[LaRetta]

Yes to what Barbara said and also ...

"Is there any way to select a number of fields and arrange them vertically (or horizontally) to a specified spacing value (say in inches or pixels)?"

You can not specify the spacing but fields can be distributed equally spaced apart in relation to each other. See Inspector > Position > Align > Space. Those two icons represent re-spacing a group of fields in proportion to each other. :-)

[john9210]

The problem I have with the spacing tool is that it spaces the objects uniformally between the first and last object. Great. However, I can't control the spacing(except trail and error) and after I align one set of objects on the layout, I can't easily align another set of objects to the same spacing without a lot of work. I was hoping that once I a space a group of objects I can easily select another group and apply the same spacing.

[bcooney]

There's also the ability to snap to the grid.

[john9210]

The problem with snap to grid is that if you decide to change the grid any objects created before the grid change will not align to the new grid. They only align to the grid that was in effect when they were made. Using snap to grid is great is you know exactly what grid spacing you want to use when you begin creating your solution. I frequently need to change it once I get started and re-aligning is a slow and painful process.

[comment]

Perhaps the real problem is entirely elsewhere: why do you need to make these changes so frequently? Normally, you strive to arrive at a permanent schema, with the day-to-day changes occurring purely at data level.