Adding and removing columns from data views

When you open any record in Alloy Navigator Express, you will see a set of properties, which are fields with individual values. Some fields, like Status or Category, are common across all records, while others are specific to certain classes. For instance, tickets have fields like Requester, Assignee, and Due Date, whereas computers have fields such as Computer Name, Serial Number, and Owner. In data views, which are lists of records, these fields appear as columns with corresponding values for each record. To avoid clutter, data views initially display only a subset of available record fields. You can customize your data views based on your needs by removing some columns, adding new ones, and rearranging their display order. Read this article to learn how to show or hide record fields in your data views, i.e., how to add or remove columns.

TIP: When Alloy Navigator Express loads data views, it retrieves from the database on the SQL Server only the visible fields' values. Therefore, hiding unnecessary fields from the view can help avoid long waiting and reduce network traffic, especially if your network connection is slow and the number of records to retrieve is large. Other means to reduce network traffic and speed up loading data are applying filters (see Advanced Filter) and limiting the number of records to retrieve (see Applying advanced preferences: Limiting the number of records to retrieve).

To add columns to a data view:

1. Right-click anywhere in the grid and choose Customize View from the pop-up menu to open the Customize View window, then click the Fields tab.

2. To add a column to the data view, double-click the corresponding field in the Available Fields pane. To add more columns, repeat this action for each field you want to show.

   TIP: New columns are added to the end of the list, appearing on the right side of the data grid. Now you may want to use the Move Up/Move Down buttons to move them to your desired location. For details, see Changing the order of columns.

3. To show all available fields, click Add All.

4. Click OK.

To instantly remove a column directly from the data view:

• Drag the column heading outside the grid. The heading will be marked with the black cross when it's outside.

  Alternatively, you can right-click the heading of the column you want to hide and choose View > Column > Remove This Column from the pop-up menu.

To remove columns by using the Customize View window:

1. Right-click anywhere in the grid and choose Customize View from the pop-up menu to open the Customize View window, then click the Fields tab.

2. To remove a column, double-click the corresponding field in the Show These Fields pane. To remove several columns, repeat this action for each field you want to hide.

3. To hide all fields, click Remove All.

NOTE: At least one field must be shown in a grid.

4. Click OK.

Related Information:

Arranging grid columns and rows

Customizing grids

Applying advanced preferences: Limiting the number of records to retrieve