Data Grid Helper 2.5 adds support for Datagrid 2

When I started to build the first version of Data Grid Helper 8 years ago, just a few months after having bought my first LiveCode license, I never imagined DGH would be as successful as it is and how many interesting people would contact me with questions about the datagrid control itself.

Sharing with and receiving information from users was something I was hoping for, because I believe developing any great tool like LiveCode, any amazing software or DGH as well, requires you to always use user feedback to improve your tool.

A tool is not just you providing a license, a box and earning some good money for your work. It is also sharing with your users and implementing what they need to be successful with their projects. I love when I can develop this way, help users and provide good support. This is what I really love in development: always being in motion, pushing the limits of your tool and your own limits as well, going further and further. And this can’t be accomplished if you just ignore your community and never provide updates for your product. A tool should be never considered as “finished”, not unfinished in the sense that you will never fix bugs or provide features that don’t work, but in the sense that you have never finished improving it, creating new features, updating it even if it is only from time to time, to satisfy more and more users. Your product must be a living product and this is the way you make it live.

Having this is mind when you develop something is a constant challenge, and this is what interests me, and drives me to come back and provide you with new features.

Behind the scenes, during all the years DGH has existed, a lot of users have come to me with datagrid questions and every time I have done my best to provide advice in how to use DGH or sample stacks demonstrating how to fit their needs. Listening is really important for your users, for you and for improving your tools.

Recently, in the end of 2017, a contact reaching my website for the first time asked me what I thought of DataGrid 2. At the time I was not aware of the near release of this DataGrid update. I jumped on the LiveCode website, downloaded my first LiveCode 9 dp 11 version and when I saw the new DataGrid 2  library, I immediately started to improve DGH as a new challenge. My idea was to implement not only the DataGrid 2 properties, features and widgets but also the most useful features I have provided individually to some of you from time to time in the form of advice or sample stacks. All these features are in DGH 2.5 now: custom headers, formula calculation, grand total function, search features, action scripts, and more.

There were difficulties and major challenges: I needed to rewrite whole areas of DGH to keep things as easy as possible. I implemented new features, tested the result myself and then did extensive testing with the help of DGH’s Users in an open beta. The documentation has also been rewritten with the kind help of James Hale. In these tasks, having a community behind you, pushing you in the right direction, giving you motivation and helping you because they know you are working for them and for the whole community, is really something wonderful! You can’t accomplish all of that by ignoring your Users.

So a big thanks to all of you who have shared with me about DGH by email and in the LiveCode forums. You have all contributed to this new version.

Here is a quick presentation of some of the new features we have in the DGH 2.5 version.

Datagrid2 properties:

Inside DGH, the Grid topic has now additional controls to access the newer features of Data Grid 2. In particular the swipe motion, animation and edit modes. And we added a couple of new templates in the Behaviors / Templates topic to help you customize the Data Grid 2 enhancements.

And for going further, the same templates have also been added in the DGH’s template area.

Widgets now supported in DGH!

Widgets are amazing and exciting additions to LiveCode! We are happy to welcome them inside DGH 2.5.

Customize the data grid table headers with controls

DGH now provides access to the properties used to describe the general appearance of headers in your data grid table as well as define and modify headers properties for specific columns.

For example, you can include a mother checkbox in the header.

Or use some Widget Icons to improve your interface.

All of this in a snap and with no code to write.

Search and Find Features

DGH can now help in two tasks: finding values inside the data grid and altering rows displayed to only show those containing the found values (which is ideal for quickly filtering rows in a mobile app).

These features grouped inside the Find / Search topic are supporting data grid tables and forms.

Formula and Grand Total Functions

For Table, a new Formula topic provides two functions.

Firstly, the ability to can add a simple formula for the value of this column’s cell based on values in other columns.

Secondly, the Grand Total Function allows you to place the result of a calculation applied to the entire column into a “result” field, outside of the data grid.

For more details, all of these new features and more are described inside the documentation pdf and coming Lessons.

So, we are happy to announce Data Grid Helper 2.5 is now available here, full of cool new features and with whole parts rethought. And we hope you will enjoy it because we developed it with you and for you!