Jason, Thank you for a very thorough review. We are just installing v7.5 on our test server this week. I've installed the Dev Studio and logged in but haven't had a chance yet to play with it! Your info will certainly shorten my learning curve.
As much as you see Dev Studio beforehand it's not the same once it's there and you want to use it. Thanks again, Susan On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 3:59 PM, Jason Miller <jason.mil...@gmail.com> wrote: > ** > > We went live with ARS 7.5 last April. At that time I figured I might as > well get used to this thing called the Dev Studio and force myself to use it > unless I absolutely could not (yes there are still a few bugs that require > the Admin Tool to make a change). > > It did take a few weeks to get used to and it did slow my production down a > little while I was learning the features. Now that is over I love it!!!! > There are a number of things that can be done much faster in the Dev > Studio. There are a handful of things that do take a little long or may > require a few more clicks but the positives far outweigh the negatives. > > Hopefully this will help those who are still getting used to the Dev > Studio. > > - One of the first things is to Minimize all of the windows that are > Restored by default. This is a great help with the workspace size issues. > I do a lot of development on my laptop without any problem. > - I minimize every window (tab). Once minimized an icon is sent to > one of margins surrounding the application and grouped by Shortcut Bars. > Click on the appropriate icon to show that tab. It will automatically > minimize once you move away from it (such as opening a > form/AL/Filter/etc). > - I find that initially opening a tab that lists objects from the > icon, that the viewing area is a little small vertically. You can > easily > drag the bottom down to make it larger. I have not figured out if I > can set the default size as a preference. > - Press the period key to move a field > - This was a major frustration point at first until I figured out > how to move a field with the arrow keys. Selecting a field and > pressing an arrow key used to move the field now it just selects the > next > field making it impossible to nudge fields around. > - Select a field(s) and then press the period key. Now you can > arrow the field(s) around. > - Be careful not to bump your mouse while you are moving field with > the arrow keys, they’ll jump around the form very quickly. Just > press Esc to cancel the move. > - I just found this out 5 minutes ago… Keep pressing the period key > and it will change what property you are changing (position, Field > Width, > Data Length) > - Moving between fields could be really handy if I could figure out > how to open/get to the properties without using my mouse (you can > navigate > and set properties from the keyboard). > - Setting the form size > - This was another pain point until I figured out how to do it. > - Open a form, click Layout from the menu bar then Show Actual View > Size. You will now have some handles to drag the form to the size > you want. > - Once you get used to this it is a nice feature because you have to > purposely change the size of your form vs. using the last size it was > saved > at. > - One note: Ctrl+Alt+M is supposed to toggle this mode on and off. > I find that I have to choose Show Actual View Size from the menu the > first time after opening a form and then the key combination will start > to > work. > - The Working Lists replaces the View By Form functionality > - Right Click on the Working List node and select "New View by Form > List. Save it and add the forms you want to see. > - Then double click the new Working List to open (Right click to > edit the forms) > - Single List, View by Type and View by Form > - When you are working in a Working List or Application there are 3 > buttons in the upper right corner. These change how the objects are > grouped. > - Single List: lists all objects together. Very nice to sort by > Modified time and you can see all objects (Forms, Filters, ALs, > Menus) that > were recently changed. > - By Type: Groups objects by Type. This is what we are used to > in the Admin Tool, Forms grouped together, all Active Links grouped > together, etc. > - By Form: Groups objects by their primary form. > - Combining these with the Filter Options is a very quick way to > find objects (copy and paste from a def/log file) > - Outline > - This will show all fields in the view that is active > - Clicking a field will automatically jump that the field on the > form. From there you can quickly click the Properties button. > - There are two options for how you view the Outline. > - Tree Overview: Will show the fields in hierarchical format in > relation to their parent container. A page holder (AKA a panel) > will have its pages listed below it. Below that Attachment Pools > and Table fields will have their attachments or column listed below > them. > - Table Overview: Shows Field ID, Name and Label. You can sort > by any of these columns! > - Tab Order > - You can now set the Tab Order by changing an integer property of > fields (Select and Edit) or by clicking on the objects in the same tab > order > you want (Increment on Click). > - Find > - Ctrl + F with a form open will bring up the Find Field dialog. Here > you can find a field by entering a Label, Name or Field ID. > - The content assist feature > - This is a form auto complete that many IDEs already have. > - Ctrl+M to maximize an object and hide to other tabs. I find that I > do this less since I minimize the tabs first thing and have more working > space. > - Now that I think about it, this is a really quick way to minimize > all of the tabs in bullet 1 > - Multiple field properties > - There is more that can be done to multiple fields at once and a > little less cumbersome. You can grab a group of field and drag the > handle to increase or decrease their size at once. You can even > select multiple fields from the Outline field list and adjust > properties. > - Obviously you can change only shared properties that make sense if > you have different field types selected. (Permissions, views, > hidden/visible, label location) > - Much more Copy and Paste capabilities. Most properties and > references are text fields where you can copy text. > - Run Process library > - You can select a run process from within the Dev Studio. No more > looking to the workflow guide to find the exact Run Process syntax. > - There is even documentation as to what the RP does and some > examples > > > HTH, > > Jason > _Platinum Sponsor: rmisoluti...@verizon.net ARSlist: "Where the Answers > Are"_ _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor:rmisoluti...@verizon.net ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
