Archive for November, 2008
by achakmakjian under Inside QuickBase
Several weeks ago, in a pinch, I was making our (in)famous Waltham tuna casserole for lunch. Phil Gross noticed that I had made a variation of the normal casserole by adding Salt and Vinegar chips on the lower layer. He thought that this would make a good topic for the “Inside QuickBase” kind of features we want to do for our blog. So here it is:
Anyway, I’m posting this just subsequent to meal time on Thanksgiving on the east coast here in the U.S. as a little entertainment for you over the weekend. We really do eat this once in a while, if there was any question. It was good fun pulling the video together. Happy Thanksgiving!
by achakmakjian under QuickBase Advice & Tips
So after my foray into quick and dirty dashboarding, I quickly discovered that even having the largest screen and using the act=API_GenResults table to squeeze down the wasted real estate, that some reports and charts really need to be shown large. And also, having the screen update every 30 seconds with exactly the same data was kind of boring.
I googled around to find a little bit of javascript that might help and I found some stuff that was close, but no cigar.
The thing I wanted to do was make it so people walking by could get a quick glimpse of all the projects going, which releases had open bugs, which releases had check-ins waiting for testing, where our risk analysis was pointing to et cetera.
Does anyone actually look at this, I dunno, but sometimes you have to create a widget in order for someone to start using it.
It took me a little bit of work to undo the original coders gif banner rotating kioskand make it a QuickBase report kiosk but here it is (just like the dashboard project you have to create a page that ends in HTML. For ease just call the page kiosk.html) :
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Rotating QuickBase Reports and Charts Kiosk</TITLE>
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE=”JavaScript”>
<!– Beginning of JavaScript -
newplace = new Array(8);
newplace[0] = “https://www.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxx?a=q&qid=AA”;
newplace[1] = “https://www.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxx?a=q&qid=BB”;
newplace[2] = “https://www.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxx?a=q&qid=CC”;
newplace[3] = “https://www.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxx?a=q&qid=DD”;
newplace[4] = “https://team.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxx?a=q&qid=EE”;
newplace[5] = “https://team.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxx?a=q&qid=FF”;
newplace[6] = “https://team.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxx?a=q&qid=GG”;
newplace[7] = “https://team.quickbase.com/db/xxxxxxxx?a=q&qid=HH”;
var timer = null
var counter = 0
function kiosk() {
timer=setTimeout(”kiosk()”, 20000);
counter++;
if (counter >= 8 )
counter = 0;
gothere();
}
function gothere() {
var obj= document.getElementById(”kioskexample”);
obj.innerHTML = “<iframe src=\”"+newplace[counter]+”\” width = 1200 height = 1000></iframe>”;
}
// – End of JavaScript – –>
</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR=”#FFFFFF” onload=”kiosk()”>
<DIV ID=”kioskexample”>
</DIV>
</BODY>
All you have to do is replace the URLs in the Newplace array with the URLs of your reports and voi la you have a kiosk. In fact you can put any QuickBase url in there, so if you use DB pages, jpegs stored as file attachments or your main app dashboard or reports from several different quickbases, it really doesn’t matter. One thing you might want to adjust is the assumption here that my iframe is 1200×1000. It depends on your monitor/windows display settings what you put in there. Oh and make sure that if you use only 5 reports or something that you also adjust the max value of counter to match the size of the newplace array.
One thing this will not solve is that after a few hours you’ll have to re-sign into quickbase but if you are willing to maintain the kiosk, its something you just do when you walk by. I’m sure the intrepid amongst you will also come up with all variations of this. Love to hear them.
Anyway, hope this is something useful.
Armen
by Philip Gross under Customer Stories, Industry Trends
The App Gap, the Work 2.0 community blog that we sponsor, has announced the launch of the ‘Appopedia‘. The Appopedia is a directory of Web 2.0 apps. They have already reviewed tons of web based applications, and I’m sure many more will follow.
There are products in categories from Analytics to Workflow, and are focused specifically on applications that are for the office, rather than the consumer based directories that are out there. When they review apps, they look at how these tools can help individuals and organizations better communicate and collaborate, catalog and share knowledge, engage users and customers, manage projects and further support existing business processes.
Although I’d like to think that QuickBase can solve any business problem, I’m sure many of you are using other tools for other functions of your business. The Appopedia is a resource for you to find the right tool to get your work done. I hope you will find it useful.
by kthoresen under QuickBase Advice & Tips
Ever wanted to display a picture of your merchandise in a report for your clients? Or how about show an employee’s picture next to their contact information? I’d like to help you create a thumbnail version of your images you can display in a report that’s also clickable to view the full image.
While working through these steps, feel free to visit the following application to see the formula in action as well as step by step screen shots to help you through the process.
https://www.quickbase.com/db/bdx6dbns5
Create a file attachment field.
If your table doesn’t already contain a file attachment field, the first step is to create one to hold your image. If you’ve never created a field, this help topic explains the process.
https://www.quickbase.com/help/default.html#adding_a_field.html
File attachment fields have special properties, so if you’re not familiar with them, you’ll want to read over this help topic that explains how to manage your files in QuickBase.
https://www.quickbase.com/help/default.html#about_doc_management.html
Create a multiple choice text field with Vertical and Horizontal as the choices.
Once you have a file attachment field in your table, the next step is to create a multiple choice text field, called Image Thumbnail Orientation in this example. The two choices in this field should be Vertical and Horizontal.
Add the file attachment field and multiple choice text fields to your forms.
Both the file attachment field and the text multiple choice field need to be added to your forms. If you need help adding fields to your forms, this help topic will guide you.
https://www.quickbase.com/help/default.html#setting_form_elements.html
Create a formula text field with the check the box for “Allow some HTML tags” checked and the formula below.
The next step is to create a formula text field in the same table. The formula text field will be the column you display in your report to show the thumbnail versions of your images.
Access the field properties of your newly created formula text field. If you need help accessing the field properties, this help topic explains the necessary steps.
https://www.quickbase.com/help/default.html#changing_field_properties.html
Within the field properties of your formula text field, check the box for “Allow some HTML tags” and enter the following formula in the formula box.
If ( Length([File Attachment]) = 0, "--", Case( [Image Thumbnail Orientation], "Vertical", "<a href='https://www.quickbase.com/up/" & Dbid () & "/a/r" & [Image ID#] & "/e6/v0' target='_blank' > " & "<img src='https://www.quickbase.com/up/" & Dbid () & "/a/r" & [Image ID#] & "/e6/v0' height='75' width='50' alt='' />" & "</a>", "Horizontal", "<a href='https://www.quickbase.com/up/" & Dbid () & "/a/r" & [Image ID#] & "/e6/v0' target='_blank' > " & "<img src='https://www.quickbase.com/up/" & Dbid () & "/a/r" & [Image ID#] & "/e6/v0' height='50' width='75' alt='' />" & "</a>", "<a href='https://www.quickbase.com/up/" & Dbid () & "/a/r" & [Image ID#] & "/e6/v0' target='_blank' > " & "<img src='https://www.quickbase.com/up/" & Dbid () & "/a/r" & [Image ID#] & "/e6/v0' height='75' width='75' alt='' />" & "</a>" ))
You’ll need to replace three pieces of data in this formula to make it work.
1. Replace “[File Attachment]” with the name of your file attachment field. (Don’t forget to place the name of the field in brackets!)
2. Replace “6” with the field ID of your file attachment field. To find the field ID, click on the name of your table in the blue table bar, choose “Customize (table name) table”, and choose fields. If there is not already a column called Field ID displaying, you can click the button on the bottom right called Show Field IDS to see this data. Find the field ID for your file attachment field and replace 6 with this number, all six times that 6 appears in the formula above.
3. Replace “[Image ID #]” with the name of your table’s key field all six times it appears. (Don’t forget to place the name of the field in brackets!). If you need help identifying the key field of your table, this help topic will explain how to find it.
https://www.quickbase.com/help/default.html#setting_the_key_field.html
Now that you’ve modified your formula, hit the Save at the top or bottom right of the field properties to save these changes.
The formula we’ve created will display your images in a thumbnail size in your report and on your forms. You can have the thumbnail image display vertically, horizontally, or squarely by choosing either value, or no value for squarely, from your multiple choice field. The image will be 75 x 50 pixels if Vertical is chosen, 50 x 75 pixels if Horizontal is chosen, or 75×75 if neither is chosen. If there is no image at all, “- -“ will display.
You’ll need to add this formula text field to the report you want to display your thumbnail images. This help topic explains how to add a column to a report, if you need assistance with this step.
https://www.quickbase.com/help/default.html#edit_view_5_columns.html
Now, run your report and see your beautiful, clickable images. Great job!
