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WINSPM R8 Alphabetical order
- Thread starter jinxs
- Start date
Are you speaking of the "Available Sites"?
If you have Paradox you can open the database and change the order of display. Look in your WinSPM directory in the Data subdirectory. Site names are stored in "Site.db" file. They are in ID (an, apparently arbitrary, number assigned by WinSPM) order which is the first field and the default sort order. You can resort on SiteID (a-z or z-a) and they will be displayed this way in WinSPM. You will not be changing any data, just shuffling display order, and WinSPM doesn't seem to care.
If you have Paradox you can open the database and change the order of display. Look in your WinSPM directory in the Data subdirectory. Site names are stored in "Site.db" file. They are in ID (an, apparently arbitrary, number assigned by WinSPM) order which is the first field and the default sort order. You can resort on SiteID (a-z or z-a) and they will be displayed this way in WinSPM. You will not be changing any data, just shuffling display order, and WinSPM doesn't seem to care.
tdaugirdas
Technical User
merlinman - you can also open the file with microsoft access (the Microsoft database program). If you open Access and open the "site.db" file - it will load into the "Tables" section of Microsoft Access. If you then double click on the site file in "Tables" - you will see it's structure and you can resort it by clicking on the site "name" column. However, since this is a Paradox database file - I am not sure when you resave it - that it will work as RobbR stated - but it probably will. A safer bet would be to use Paradox - if you have that database program.
Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com
Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com
I've used Access, and this seems to work, but you'll hvae to do it again after a few more entries. It would make SENSE, of course, if WinSPM sorted in alphabetical order rather than "unseen ID order", but it doesn't.
Pepperz at newper dot net
Pepperz at newper dot net
tdaugirdas
Technical User
Pepperz - in Microsoft Access - you can see the number order of the "index" field (first column). The arbitrary numbers start after the 3 default choices built into WinSPM. I assume you could go into that column and just rekey the numbers for the order you want to see as 1,2,3,etc. The first three entries (direct, indirect, etc.) follow that numeric order. However, this would affect the database "index" file as well - and since it is a "key" field - I would not want to risk messing up the rest of WinSPM's Paradox database files.
Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com
Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com
Tony, this was a small project of mine awhile back, and it was a hassle, but it did work, it's just a little tedious. It would be nice HINT HINT for someone to look at the code for WinSPM and change the sort flag on it.
Pepperz at newper dot net
Pepperz at newper dot net
I took some time this morning to investigate WinSPM a bit further.
First, I added several new sites. No matter their name, they appeared on bottom of list. Site.db was opened in Paradox and table was sorted on "Available Sites" name. WinSPM launched again, names appeared in alphabetical order, but any new site added went to bottom of list.
Next, Site.db was restructured within Paradox. SiteName field was moved from second position to first position. New sites were added in WinSPM but they still did not automatically re-sort into alphabetical order.
Next, I restructured Site.db by placing an index key onto SiteName since it was now the first field in the table (this is required in Paradox).
Now when adding a new Available Site within WinSPM they immediately resort correctly. So far there has been no problem and I don't expect any as table data was not changed. WinSPM uses the SiteID to link to other tables for data retrieval, but since none of those tables seem to be keyed, does not object to Site.db being keyed on SiteName. Of course, before one starts monkeying around with file data one *always* does a backup, just in case.
Your (or your customers') mileage may vary, etc. I caution anyone to NOT make changes in table data (i.e., SiteID number) as the data is linked to other tables (i.e., Notes and Reports). Links will be broken and you will have to re-enter your sites, print out all those Notes and Reports you had, and who knows what else.
I am not familiar with Access. Maybe someone will give it a whirl as it is much more available than is Paradox.
First, I added several new sites. No matter their name, they appeared on bottom of list. Site.db was opened in Paradox and table was sorted on "Available Sites" name. WinSPM launched again, names appeared in alphabetical order, but any new site added went to bottom of list.
Next, Site.db was restructured within Paradox. SiteName field was moved from second position to first position. New sites were added in WinSPM but they still did not automatically re-sort into alphabetical order.
Next, I restructured Site.db by placing an index key onto SiteName since it was now the first field in the table (this is required in Paradox).
Now when adding a new Available Site within WinSPM they immediately resort correctly. So far there has been no problem and I don't expect any as table data was not changed. WinSPM uses the SiteID to link to other tables for data retrieval, but since none of those tables seem to be keyed, does not object to Site.db being keyed on SiteName. Of course, before one starts monkeying around with file data one *always* does a backup, just in case.
Your (or your customers') mileage may vary, etc. I caution anyone to NOT make changes in table data (i.e., SiteID number) as the data is linked to other tables (i.e., Notes and Reports). Links will be broken and you will have to re-enter your sites, print out all those Notes and Reports you had, and who knows what else.
I am not familiar with Access. Maybe someone will give it a whirl as it is much more available than is Paradox.
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