Windows Grid

he Grid is where you manage data in Perfion. Data can also be managed in the Item Editor. In the grid you can add and delete items (if you have rights to do so), and you can update values (again, according to your user rights).

Hierarchies and inheritance

Before we look at managing data in grid, you should understand the concepts of hierarchies and inheritance.

Look at this example:

Open

Hierarchies

Notice how items in the grid are structured with a parent item (Grindenstein Knock-Box) and three child items (DFGR1181, DFGR1280 and DFGR1686). This structure is called a Hierarchy.  

Hierarchies are typically used to represent products and variants. Hierarchies can also be used for other grouping purposes. This will not be discussed in this guide. And since a “parent product” is most often not a sellable item, we call these Virtual items in Perfion (indicated by the folder icon). Variants are most often sellable items. We call these Normal items in Perfion (indicated by the barcode icon).

What is the purpose of using hierarchies?

First, it creates a very nice overview in grid. Parent products can be expanded and collapsed making it possible to zoom in on parent products rather than seeing all variants.

Second, hierarchies allow you to use inheritance. This concept is explained below.

Inheritance

With items structured in hierarchies you can use Inheritance. Inheritance means that you can set a value at parent level at let it inherit to all children.

In the example above, Brand is inherited. The value Dreamfarm has been set at parent level and is automatically inherited to all children. Notice the grey background color at child level. This means that value is inherited and cannot be edited at child level.

Non-inheritable features

Not all features are “inheritable”. This is determined at feature level and managed by your Administrator.

Example: In the screenshot above, the base feature “Product” is non-inheritable. This makes it possible to set a value at parent level (Grindenstein Knock-Box) that is not inherited. Instead, it is possible to set other values (individual item numbers) in the same feature at child level. 

Multi-level hierarchies and inheritance

Hierarchies and inheritance can be used at multiple levels. Look at this example:

Open

The top-level product is Cocotte Round. It comes in three colors (Black, Blue and Gray). Each color comes in various sizes.

To represent this structure, we have used two virtual levels. One for the product and one for colors. This makes it possible to inherit values from top-level to all normal items (e.g. Group Name), but at the same time you can use inheritance from color level to normal items (e.g. Image and Color).

Adding and removing columns

The grid shows a set of columns determined by the selected view. You can add and remove columns to the grid by following instructions below. 

Add a column to grid (Column Chooser)

To add a column to grid you must use the Column Chooser. You find it by right-clicking anywhere in the Feature Caption line.

The Column Chooser provides access to all feature in Perfion. Type in the name of the feature you need or browse by expanding one of the “types”. When you have found the feature you need, double-click it to add it to grid. It will be added to the end of the current grid.

You can add more feature if you want. When done, click OK to close the Column Chooser.

Remove a column from grid

Removing a column from grid is simple. You can either:

• Right-click on the Feature Caption and choose Remove Column, or

• Drag the Feature Caption down into the grid until an X is shown. Drop the column to remove it.

Rearrange items in grid

Move from one virtual parent to another

If your items are organized in hierarchies, you can use drag & drop to move items from one virtual parent to another. Simply drag an item by its icon (the barcode) and drop it on top of a virtual item.

Move from one categorizer value to another

You can also move an item from one categorizer value to another by drag & drop. In the image below, you can move item 13689 (right side) from Coffee Machines to Coffee Makers (left side). Simply drag item by its icon (barcode) and drop it on top of Coffee Makers (left side).

You cannot move a child item from one categorizer value to another. Look at the example below. If you try to move item 1923-18 from Coffee Makers to Accessories, the item will not be moved.

This is because item 1923-18 has its Category value (Coffee Makers) inherited from its virtual parent (CHAMBORD), and the drag/drop operation tries to change this value for 1923-18. This is not possible – inherited values cannot be changed on children!

Editing values in grid

Edit rights

The first simple principle in grid: You can only edit values with a white background. All other background colors (grey, green and blue) indicates non-editable values. Explanation to background colors:

• White:     You can edit this value.

• Grey:      You cannot edit this value. It is either inherited or you do not have rights to edit it

• Blue:       You cannot edit this value. It is a remote value managed in another system.

• Green:    You cannot edit this value. It is a related value that depends on another value on same item

Edit single-value features

A single-value feature can only hold one value. Most single-value features can be edited in grid by double-clicking or pressing Enter in the cell. This will allow you edit the value in the cell directly (explicit single-values) or bring up a list of values to choose from (selectable single-values).

Edit selectable single-value:

Edit multi-value features

A multi-value feature can hold multiple values in one cell. Most multi-value features can be edited in grid by double-clicking or pressing Enter in the cell.

Edit explicit multi-value

After double-clicking the cell, you see a list of current values. Right-clicking in the list allows you to manage values. To sort values, use ALT + arrow keys up/down. When done, click the X to close the value list.

Edit selectable multi-value

After double-clicking the cell, you can add/remove values to Selected list. To sort selected values, use arrows up/down. When done, click the X to close the list.

Edit explicit image or file

Some features allow you to upload images and files directly from your Windows environment. These are called explicit image and file features.

Edit explicit single-value image or file feature

Right-click in the cell and choose Load Image / Load File. This will bring up a Windows Open dialog. Locate the image or file you need and click Open. The image or file will be uploaded and replace existing image or file.

Supported image formats:

• JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF. TIF, TIFF, BMP, EPS, PSD, PDF (front page recognized as image)

Supported file formats:

• All

Edit formula

Text features can be set up to support formulas. Formulas are comparable to Concatenation in Excel. You can basically construct values (text strings) based on other values on same item.

Example: SEO text is set up as a formula feature. When you double-click the cell, a formula editor is opened. In the editor you can build text strings that reference other features. The Result-pane shows the text that will be rendered in the feature.

Edit date

Dates can be edited in two ways:

• Type in a date

• Use date picker

The fastest way to enter or update a date is to select the cell but not double-click to open it. When a date cell is selected, you can use these input methods:

• Press D or space = today’s date

• Type 24 + Enter = 24^th of this month and this year

• Type 2412 + Enter = 24^th December this year

• Type 241220 + Enter = 24^th December 2020

If you double-click in a date cell, the date picker will open. Navigate to the desired date; the date picker will close automatically when you click a date:

Edit link

Link features enable users to open a webpage, an external file or an application from within Perfion with a single click.

Link features are NOT edited by double-clicking or hitting Enter in the cell. These actions will open the webpage, file, etc. Instead, user must hit F2 to open the cell in edit mode. Perfion will automatically turn the entered value into a clickable link.

Supported link types:

• Web pages (http, https)

• External files or applications (C:\, \\server\)

Edit rich text

Rich text is a special text type that enables you to use bold and italics, create bullet lists and apply other types of styling to your texts.

Non-editable features

You can’t edit cells in grid with a non-white background color. These are non-editable cells:

• Inherited Value

• Values you do not have permissions to edit

• Remote value managed in another system.

• Related values that depends on another value on same item

Validation

Your Administrator can add validation rules to selected features. This means that you should or must comply with these rules when you manage data.

Example: Validation rules have been set for Description and Weight:

Description rule has been set as a soft rule (yellow indication when exceed) which means that values should not be shorter than X characters. You can break soft rules. You will be given a warning, but you can still choose to save the illegal value.

Weight rule has been set as a hard rule (red indication when exceeded) which means that values must not exceed X kg. You will not be able to break hard rules. The system will refuse illegal values. But how can a value then be marked as red (= hard illegal)? This can only happen if value was set before validation rule was created.

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