I think you're asking what's the best UI metaphor for displaying hierarchal data from a dataGrid. While popup windows are cheap and easy. This work well if your user will be edtting the data once they see it. The Ok-Cancel metaphor on the popup window makes editing easy to use. Adding editing with these other options can be difficult. However, I think navigating around in data they are pain, plus the pop always is smaller than your screen real estate of your main window.
I favor more a fluid UI by dividing the UI into the dataGrid on top and the content on bottom. Click a row displays the data in the bottom panel. You can orient the two areas anyway you like. Left and right if your data lends itself to being displayed easily that way. But, with tables they always seem less cramped if it's a top bottom orientation. This way your users can quickly navigate through the data and see the content with one window. If the bottom portion doesn't have enough space. Surround your table in a tab UI, then allow them to open up the content in a sibling tab so that they have all the screen space they need. And, that allows for a quick bookmark like work flow allowing the user to refer back to previously found objects. TreeTable grids work if the columns of the table match the columns you'll display when you drill down on a row. If the UI shown for drill down has different data requirements than the table's you'll find it too limiting or akward to display other types of data in the table. Ultimately, TreeTables can limit your ability to modify the UI in the future. Charlie On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 8:20 AM, markgoldin_2000 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If a user wants to drilldown into a dataGrid's cell what could have > been the best approach? Popup windows? Other ideas? If popup it is, can > I completely get rid of a blur affect when popup window is shown? > > Thanks for help. > >
