SneakyPeak 1.1 Columns bug ???
 

Not sure if this is a bug in the new sneaky peak builds or if I'm just missing a preference, but when I set the columns to view "Start Date" and "Due Date" in OF the show up fine. However, once I switch to a project view, or a difference context view, the columns disappear. Is there a preference to keep the start and due date columns "sticky" across all views as my default? Or is this a bug?

I don't remember this happening with the stable release.

Thanks.

The displayed columns is a per-perspective setting. Once you have the columns as you like, use Perspectives --> Take Snapshot to remember them.

It would be good if there was a default view where you could set which columns you want and their set widths to begin with.. otherwise I find myself having to make endless Perspectives to cover every eventuality just to make sure my columns don't disappear or data doesn't wrap to two lines (especially dates) every time I open a new window or switch views. Is there a current workaround? tia

There's no work around that I know of. After an initial period of adjustment when per-perspective columns were added, I've found the it isn't an issue anymore.

That said, I wonder if changes to columns shouldn't be automatically remembered with the current perspective. The current design is definitely suboptimal.

@Curt, Yes, that makes sense and works great for perspectives. However, they still don't stick.

For Example:
I select ProjectA from the sidebar and set the columns to view start date and end date.
Then select ProjectB from the sidebar.
When I click [I]back[/I] to ProjectA in the sidebar, the start and due columns that I previously set are now gone.

The only way I can keep those colums visible is by taking a snapshot of the project as a Perspective after setting the columns to be viewed.

If I select that new perspective, and then choose any project from the sidebar (even if it's not part of that perspective), the columns are visible. But, it only works if I have selected that perspective for which I have set the start and due columns.

This seems like a UI bug, since the other apps tend to have a default view setting or custom view setting. What makes me say it's a [I]bug[/I], is that the view never sticks for a project once you click on another project in the sidebar.

And I agree that the whole column-size thing is kind of a drag, especially when I bounce from different monitors with my laptop. I constanly have to resize the column for longer context names in the column. Would be smoother to have each column resize to fit the available info, or at least truncate like Finder, where a simple double-click on the column slider would give you full-view of the contents. Wrapping it to the next line just doesn't do it for me.

Not trying to be a downer, just hoping that this feature can be addressed for future 1.1 releases. Just my $.02.

[QUOTE=bcalloway;47044]@Curt, Yes, that makes sense and works great for perspectives. However, they still don't stick.

For Example:
I select ProjectA from the sidebar and set the columns to view start date and end date.
Then select ProjectB from the sidebar.
When I click [I]back[/I] to ProjectA in the sidebar, the start and due columns that I previously set are now gone.

[/quote]
Are you [b]sure[/b] about that? You didn't change windows or perspectives, or flip between context and planning mode? The column headings don't change at all for me in a given window no matter what combination of projects and folders I select in the sidebar, so long as changing the selection of projects and folders is all I change. As the column view stuff is a property of the window, it is hard to imagine why changing the selection would affect it.

An option to set the column width would be helpful too. Having my due dates broken up into 2 rows makes things less easy to grasp.

[QUOTE=dstay;47064]An option to set the column width would be helpful too. Having my due dates broken up into 2 rows makes things less easy to grasp.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you looking for some kind of numeric value to assign to the column width, like 200 pixels or something like that? If you're not looking for that kind of precision, why not just resize the columns by dragging the dividers in the column headings? Note that your view bar must be on to see the column headers.

-Dennis

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;47058]Are you [b]sure[/b] about that? You didn't change windows or perspectives, or flip between context and planning mode? The column headings don't change at all for me in a given window no matter what combination of projects and folders I select in the sidebar, so long as changing the selection of projects and folders is all I change. As the column view stuff is a property of the window, it is hard to imagine why changing the selection would affect it.[/QUOTE]

Yep, only way it works is if I [B]previously[/B] selected a Perspective for which I have saved the column view. It seems that the column view setting does carry over after selecting a Perspective containing that column view, even if I select a project that is not part of that perspective. [I][B]But[/B][/I], I have to select the Perspective first.

When you say "select", do you mean single clicking on a project in the sidebar? Or do you mean double-clicking on a project to open a new window?

[QUOTE=bcalloway;47097]Yep, only way it works is if I [B]previously[/B] selected a Perspective for which I have saved the column view. It seems that the column view setting does carry over after selecting a Perspective containing that column view, even if I select a project that is not part of that perspective. [I][B]But[/B][/I], I have to select the Perspective first.[/QUOTE]

Yes, the column settings stay with the window, even if you change the window contents (sidebar selection, action selections) such that it no longer matches the perspective originally selected. But changing the selected items in the sidebar will not, in my experience, change the column headings. I even created a brand-new user to try this out, just to make sure that it was true even when no user perspectives had been created and no preferences changed from their factory defaults.

Think of the perspective as an initial set of settings for a window. OF will set up the window (new or existing depending on what you choose for "always open in new window") according to those settings, which include sidebar selection, window size, column choice, etc. They will stay set for that window until you change that window, whether by clicking on different sidebar items, resizing the window, adding or removing columns, and so on. Even then, the only changes will be the ones you make.

Note also that if you open up multiple windows with the same perspective, then edit the view options for one of them, such as adding or dropping a column, it will not influence the other windows.

@Curt-
I meant single-clicking on a project in the sidebar.

@whpalmer4
Cool, I hear what you're saying, and that is exactly how it happens on my OF. It just seems really backwards for it to do that. It would be great to have a Preference to declare a "Default View" or "Inherit Perspectives View". If a project selected in the sidebar does not belong to a Perspective, then there is no way to set its view (unless you select a Perspective beforehand that contains the view).

[QUOTE=bcalloway;47174]@Curt-
I meant single-clicking on a project in the sidebar.

@whpalmer4
Cool, I hear what you're saying, and that is exactly how it happens on my OF. It just seems really backwards for it to do that. It would be great to have a Preference to declare a "Default View" or "Inherit Perspectives View". If a project selected in the sidebar does not belong to a Perspective, then there is no way to set its view (unless you select a Perspective beforehand that contains the view).[/QUOTE]

Ah, okay, I see what you are saying. I don't think it would be unreasonable to have some means of telling OF what the default view should look like. I'm not so sure that it makes sense to snap to that default view as soon as you change the sidebar selection, though. If I'm looking at one project in a given viewing style, I'm probably going to want to look at the next one the same way. If not, I have a different perspective to use. So, I've got a perspective for doing my inbox processing, which has all the columns, as I'll want to fill all that stuff in if I know it, and it will only show the Inbox. Reviewing projects, I'll want the dates but don't need the sidebar. My flagged view is for stuff that needs to be done now, so no need for dates and in the tickler view of things starting today, again, no need for dates. The only perspective that I have which selects content for me in the sidebar is one done to consolidate some contexts which sometimes overlap (for grocery shopping at different stores) but the grouping there isn't one I find useful for other things, so instead of clicking something in the sidebar, I select the appropriate perspective for what I'm doing next. Yes, I realize this last case could be used as an argument for your default view notion, except in my case, about half the time the default view wouldn't be the one I'd want.

What happens in your scheme if you want to include a project (or a context) in more than one perspective? What if you click on more than one project (or context) and they belong to different perspectives? I think the "the perspective is a property of the project" idea has some problems in this regard, and I'll bet (not very much) that it might have been a factor in why Omni chose to go with the current scheme.