Main grid
Introduction
The items you select in the left-side navigation- and search pane are loaded in the main grid. This article explains how you use the main grid to manage items and data.
Main grid toolbar
The toolbar at the top of main grid allows you to customize what you see in the grid and how you see it. We will go through these options first because they are essential tools to understand before you start to manage data.
Expand all/Collapse all
Expand all will expand the item hierarchy to the deepest level. Collapse all will collapse the item hierarchy to the highest level (“roots”).
TECH NOTE: Buttons to expand all/collapse all are disabled if grid contains more than 1.000 items
Layout
Four different Layout options are available.
Table layout is the most condensed layout leaving room for max number of items in the grid. Table layout shows data for each item in a single line. Images are not shown; they are listed with their file name. All data can be edited in table layout.
Grid layout reserves extra height to present each item. This extra height makes it possible to show images visually rather than their file names. All data can be edited in grid layout.
Dynamic layout automatically adjusts the height of each row to make sure all content is shown. This is valuable when working with texts or multivalue features with many values.
Card layout presents items in a single-column card format that respects hierarchies. A card can show up to four values for each item (in this example, an image, the item’s base value and the item name). Data cannot be edited in card layout. The purpose of having cards will become clear when drag-drop and work modes are explained later in this user guide.
TECH NOTE: Values shown in the card are controlled via the Compact View, which is configured by your administrator.
Cards are presented differently when base feature is an image AND the image feature does not allow hierarchies. In this case, cards show larger images in a multi-column format like this:
Views
Views are known from the Windows client. They are basically sets of columns grouped together for specific purposes. To select a view, click the View drop-down in the toolbar and find the view you need:
The following view types can be selected:
Simple | Removes all columns except the base value |
All | Loads all columns in the configuration of the item |
Standard Views | Contains the Perfion standard views (Item, Family Group, etc.). The columns related to each standard view are configured by your Perfion administrator |
Group Views | Group Views correspond to the grouping of data you see in the item editor. The columns related to each group view are configured by your Perfion administrator |
Customized Views (optional) | Customized views are only available if enabled by your Perfion Administrator. Customized views are created and saved by you (if you have the needed permissions) or by another Perfion user. Custom views are shared between all users. To create and save a customized view, use the Column Chooser. |
From the 3-dot menu inside the view selector you have the option to Manage Customized Views:
This opens a grid overlay where you can organize or delete existing views. You can even modify the API query that controls the features included in the view:
Column Chooser
With the Column Chooser you can customize the columns you see in grid. Start by clicking the Column Choose icon in the toolbar:
In the Column Chooser dialogue, you see all available features in the left pane and all selected columns (corresponding to the current view in grid) in the right pane. In this dialogue you have the following option:
Add a column | Click a feature name in the left pane. This will add the column at the bottom of the list in the right pane |
Reorder columns | Columns in the right pane can be reordered by dragging a column into its new position |
Remove column | A column can be removed from the view by hovering the column in the right pane and clicking the X that appears |
Show all | The left pane by default shows features configured on the base feature in grid. If you click Show All in the toolbar of the Column Chooser, all features in Perfion will be available for selection |
TECH NOTE: The Column Chooser only show features the user has at least read permissions to
Saving a new view
When a view has been changed with the Column Chooser, the View drop-down will show a * and a Save-icon will appear. Click the Save-icon to save the view under a new name (or type the current name again to overwrite the existing view).
TECH NOTE: The Save-icon will only appear if you have permissions to save customized views. This is controlled by your Perfion administrator.
Show Family
If you search or filter for specific items, they will be shown in grid without their parent(s) if parent(s) do not match the search criteria. In these situations, Show Family comes in handy. It has two options to bring parent(s) into the grid like this:
Actual search result
Only items specifically matching the search result are shown:
Show Parents
With Show Parents activated, all parents up to highest level are added to the grid. Base value of added parents are shown in italics:
Show Parents and Siblings
With Show Parents and Siblings activated, all parents up to highest level + all direct siblings to items in the original search result are added to the grid. Base value of added parents and siblings are shown in italics:
Filters
With the filter buttons, you can apply and remove a predefined filter or build your own filter. Click “Select Filter” or use shortcut CTRL+ALT+K to open the filter editor:
From the left panel, you can select a predefined filter. Click the filter name to see filter criteria in the right panel:
In this example, three criteria are included in the filter:
Brand = 0 // Only normal items will be returned (virtual items are excluded)
String != DUMMY // Base value must not be equal to DUMMY
Website HAS // A value exists in the Website feature
When you click “Apply”, the item list in the grid is filtered accordingly:
Notice that the View selector shows “Defined by Filter”. This means that the predefined filter contains information about which columns to load in grid when the filter is applied.
To clear the applied filter, click the Clear Filter button or use shortcut CTRL+ALT+L.
Build your own filter
As an alternative to applying a predefined filter, you can build your own filter. Start by clicking the Select Filter button in the toolbar. This opens the Filter editor and preselect “[New]” in the left panel:
In the right panel you see an empty criteria row. You must now select a feature in the first column, an operator in the second column and specify a value in the third column (depending on the selected operator). In the operator column, you can choose between these operators:
= | Value on item must match exactly (no wildcards allowed) |
!= | Value on item must be different from |
> | Value on item must be larger than |
>= | Value on item must be larger than or equal to |
< | Value on item must be smaller than |
<= | Value on item must be smaller than or equal to |
LIKE | Value on item must match exactly (wildcard % allowed)
Notes: LIKE works the same as “=” if no wildcard is applied. If wildcard % is added after search value (e.g. ABC%), the value on item must begin with ABC If wildcard % is added before search value (e.g. %ABC), the value on item must end with ABC |
NOT LIKE | Opposite to LIKE |
MATCH | Value on item must contain specified value (wildcard * allowed)
Notes: If wildcard * is added after search value (e.g. ABC*), the value on item must begin with ABC If wildcard % is added before search value (e.g. *ABC), the value on item must end with ABC |
NOT MATCH | Opposite to MATCH |
IN | Value on item must be any of specified values (no wildcards allowed)
Notes: Use semicolon (;) as separator between values. If you type 8;12;20 in the value column, filter will return items with 8 or 12 or 20 as value |
NOT IN | Opposite to IN |
HAS | Item must have a value
Notes: HAS does not need/use a value. Any value you type in the third column is ignored |
NOT HAS | Opposite to HAS |
BETWEEN | Value on item must be between two specified values
Notes: Use BETWEEN on numeric features only. Use semicolon (;) as separator between values. If you type 8;12 in the value column, filter will return items with values between 8 and 12 (both end-values included) |
IN HIERARCHY OF | Value on item must be identical to or a child/grand child of the specified value
Notes: Use IN HIERARCHY OF on selectable features with a hierarchy. If you type Cooking in the value column, filter will return items with value Cooking or any child/grand child of Cooking. |
Manage Filters
From the 3-dot menu inside the filter selector you have the option to Manage Filters:
This opens a grid overlay where you can organize or delete existing filters. You can even modify the API query that controls the filter:
TECH NOTE: The Select-part of the query controls which columns to show in grid when the filter is applied. The Where-part of the query controls the actual filtering of items. Please refer to separate API Query documentation for further details.
Multilanguage in grid
By default, the grid only shows data in your data language (see chapter User Settings). This saves space and is useful in many work scenarios. It looks like this (notice how Dynamic layout has been selected to see full texts):
Localized explicit features
If you need to manage translations for localized explicit features, you can add additional languages to grid. This is done with the language selector in the toolbar (the Globe-icon). Check the additional languages you need to add them to the grid. Notice how Subheader and Description now appears in English and German:
TECH NOTE: You can add languages and edit translations according to permissions in your user profile. This is controlled by your Perfion administrator.
Please refer to chapter Managing item data – Google or DeepL translations for information about how to translate texts using Perfion’s built-in integrations with Google Translate or DeepL.
Localized selectable features
If you need to verify translations for localized selectable features, you can add localized selectables to grid. This is done with the language selector in the toolbar (the Globe-icon) by checking Selectables together with the languages you need.
This loads localized selectable values as read-only columns in grid. Notice how Color is shown in English and German:
3-dot menu
From the 3-dot menu in the toolbar you have access to a number of functions related to content in grid.
Add New items
Add Item / Add Virtual Item / Add Catalog Item adds a new row of the selected type to the grid. The base value cell of the new item is preselected so you can immediately enter a base value:
TECH NOTE: Some values may be prefilled with default values when a new item is created. This is controlled by your administrator in the Features section.
Output to file
This option exports all data in grid (rows and columns) in Excel or XML-format. Please refer to the general Feature Data Export for details.
Download Images
This option downloads all images in the grid to a zip-file. Duplicated images in grid are only downloaded once.
The following options are available in the download dialogue:
Format | Choose original format to download each image in its original file format. Choose another option to download all images in a specific format. |
Size | Leave blank to download each image in its original size. Specify width and height (pixels) to download all images in a specific size. |
Fit | If you specifiy a specific size for all images, you can also choose a fit option. you can choose between Fit, Exact, Crop and Smart. |
Download Files
This option downloads all files in the grid to a zip-file. Duplicated files in grid are only downloaded once.
Select all cells
This option simply selects all rows and cells in the grid. It can be useful if you need to perform an operation on all items or if you want to copy all data in grid to Excel (see chapter Copy-Paste Values).
Recycle Bin
This option shows a list of deleted items with same base feature as current grid (e.g. Product). Items can be restored individually.
Please refer to the guide Logging and Recycle Bin for details.
Main grid caption bar
The main grid caption bar displays the captions (names) of the features in the grid:
Change order of features
To move a feature left or right in the grid, simply grab the “handle” that appears when you hover a feature caption and drag it to its new position:
Change column widths
To change the width of a column, simply drag the column by the icon in the bottom right corner:
TECH NOTE: Column widths are saved in the cache of your browser. If you clear your browser cache all widths will be reset to default. When you change the width of a specific column, this column will have the same width everywhere you use it.
Managing items
Items can be added, copied, organized in hierarchies, moved, grouped and deleted in a grid.
Add new item
In the previous chapter it was explained how items can be added at root level via the 3-dot menu in the grid toolbar. Items can also be added relative to existing items in a grid. This is done via the right-click menu at item level:
The principle is simple:
If you add a new item from a Catalog or Virtual item, the new item will be added as a child to the selected item
If you add a new item from a normal item, the new item will be added as a sibling to the selected item
Copy item
You can copy an item with or without its children via the right-click menu at item level:
The principle is simple:
If you choose Copy Item, the selected item will be copied without its children
If you choose Copy Item and Children, the selected virtual item will be copied with its children
Notice that the copy function only copies values determined by your administrator. If a value in a certain feature is not copied from the source to the new item, it is typically because the new item is not allowed to have the same value as the source.
Organize items in hierarchies
If you use hierarchies to manage products and variants, you can move a child item to a new parent with drag and drop.
Consider this example. The item 1210-PEBO clearly has the wrong parent. It should have the virtual item PEBO as parent. To move it, simply click any cell to select the item, drag it to the new parent and drop it. This will remove the item from its current parent and place it under the new parent.
If you want to remove an item from its parents (effectively moving it to root level) you must use the right-click menu. You can’t do this via drag and drop:
Move items
When you have a categorizer in the left panel, you can move items from one category to another by dragging and dropping.
Here is what you do:
Select an item by clicking any cell in the main grid (selecting a cell automatically also selects the item)
Select additional items by holding down SHIFT or CTRL and clicking another cell in the same column
Drag the selected items from right to left and hover the desired new category in the left panel
Drop the items on the category => items now disappear from the main grid and appear in the new category
Remove item(s) from [categorizer value]
When you have a categorizer in the left panel, you can remove the item from the current categorizer value via the right-click menu. This will effectively move the item to Untagged:
Convert items
Items in grid can be converted to another type (Normal, Virtual or Catalog) via the right-click menu:
Available options in Convert Item(s) dialogue depend on selected items:
Normal items can be converted to Virtual items
Normal items can be converted to Catalog items when working in Channels
Virtual items can be converted to Normal items provided they have no existing children
Virtual items can be converted to Catalog items when working in Channels
Catalog items can be converted to Normal and Virtual items provided they have no existing children
Replace
The Replace functionality allows you to update text, string, number, link, or date fields by searching for specific values and replacing them with new ones.
There are two types of replace operations available: Explicit Replace and Selectable Replace.
Explicit Replace
The Explicit Replace option lets you perform a search-and-replace operation on explicit field values. This works similarly to the Find and Replace feature in tools such as Excel or Word.
How to use
Right-click an explicit text, string, number, link, or date field.
Select Replace from the context menu.
In the dialog that opens, enter the value you want to search for and the value to replace it with.
Options in the Replace Dialog
Exact match only:
When checked, only complete matches on text, link, or string features are replaced with the Replace value.
If not checked, partial or “fuzzy” matches are allowed, so you can replace values even if they don’t exactly match the search text.
Default: Enabled
Tip: Use Exact match when you need precise replacements, and Non-exact match when working with variable text patterns.
Replace all items in view
Replaces values for all items in the current search, not just the visible page.
Does not work on Date fields, but works on tables and SWAP values.
In multivalue fields, you can replace only one value at a time.
Default: Disabled (only selected items are replaced)
Selectable Replace
The Selectable Replace option lets you replace one selectable value with another.
Details:
Supports multi-select fields (unlike the Windows client, where this is not available).
Both the search and replace values are shown using their base value (not the item ID).
If a scene selector is configured, it will be used for selecting values.
When the Replace feature is opened (inherited from Products), the Product scene selector is automatically used.
Group items
Items in grid can be grouped under a new virtual via the right-click menu:
The new virtual item will have the same parent as the selected items had before they were grouped:
TECH NOTE: Grouping is only allowed on items with same parent. The new virtual item will be created with default values as specified in configuration.
Delete items
If you need to delete one or more items completely from the system, you can do this via the right-click menu at item level:
NOTE: Deleted items can be restored via the Recycle Bin which can be found in the 3-dot menu in the toolbar (see Recycle Bin).
Managing item data - single-cell editing
In the main grid you can edit data in many ways. The most basic method is single-cell editing where you manage values in one cell at the time. In this section we will go through the different editing options you will meet.
Freeze column
Before you begin editing data in grid, you may want to freeze one or more of the left-most columns. This will help you identify items when you scroll right in large grid.
To freeze one or more columns, simply select a cell in the column you want to freeze, and select Freeze Column in the right-click menu (or use shortcut ALT+Z):
This will introduce a thick line between frozen columns and remaining grid. You can now scroll horizontally without the moving the frozen columns:
To unfreeze columns, simply select Unfreeze columns in the right-click menu or use shortcut ALT+Z.
Edit single-value, explicit features
Single-value, explicit features are typically short texts (strings) and numbers. These can be edited directly in the cell:
To activate edit-mode you can:
Press F2
Double-click in the cell
Simply start typing (will remove current value)
When you are done editing, you can:
Press Enter to save new value
Click once in another cell to save new value
Press Esc to revert to original value
Edit date features
Dates are edited and displayed according to your user settings (see chapter User Options). In this example we assume you use the format dd/mm/yyyy.
When editing a date feature, you can type the following “short versions” in the cell:
12 (two digits) + Enter: Saved as the 12th of this month of this year
2412 (four digits) + Enter: Saved as the 24th December of this year
311224 (six digits) + Enter: Saved as the 31st December 2024
Edit booleans
Booleans can be edited in two ways:
Click once on the boolean slider icon
Select the cell and press the Space key
