Tony and Dale's suggestions are really, really good. Can I do calculations with Fill With? I tried "=Area(i)/10000" and "Area(i)/10000" but there is no change in the column.
... The simplicity of [an] SQL update query married with active columns would suit me. Users could learn the one language (SQL), and apply it both queries and active columns. Not yet submitted as a suggestion to sales.
They would make great suggestions to sales. Except... Manifold have already implemented them both. I was so struck by the match, that I asked permission to sneak some details from the Radian Studio beta (many thanks to Dimitri). Radian Studio is heavily focussed on SQL, much of it new, all very fast. But that does not mean human usability has been placed second. A lot of really smart thinking has been poured into user interface design. In my opinion, one of the coolest new design elements is the Edit > Transform dialog. This is one of two places where Tony and Dale's suggestions come in. Edit > Transform operates on tables, like the Transform toolbar for tables in Manifold 8. In Manifold 8, the toolbar gives access to many SQL-like functions, without the user having to know or use SQL. The new Transform dialog has a similar intent, but takes the idea further--and, optionally, brings SQL with it. The dialog updates a target column, with tools under either of two tabs. The Template tab is very like the Transform toolbar in 8. There is a list of pre-built functions--a different list according to the target column type. Select a text column and you get Trim, Lower Case, replacement functions, and so on. Select a numeric column and you get a list of (mostly) math functions. Familiar concept, with a richer of functions than we are used to in 8. The number of parameters available changes depending on the chosen function, currently between 1 and 4 parameters, which are generally pre-populated with defaults. Beside it, the Expression tab gives us a query builder. That is, instead of a list of pre-built functions, we have the full range of Radian SQL syntax to choose from, which can either be typed in manually, or chosen by mouse from a list of fields (columns), and a structured list of operators and functions. It's a long list! Luckily, there's a search box to restrict the list to (say) functions with "Geom" in their name. Beautiful design. No instructions required. In both the Template and the Expression tab, you can target all records or just selected records. Both tabs also have live preview. So whether you choose a template function or build your own, the result of the transformation is previewed live in the table window (open underneath). Changes are only committed when you press Update Field button. So that's one thing. The second new feature where Tony and Dale's suggestions have been implemented is Computed Fields. These are the successor both to Active Columns and (largely) to intrinsic fields in Manifold 8. The contents of a computed field (or column) are produced live from a user expression written in SQL syntax. Again the whole range of Radian SQL is available. The result can take any built-in type (text, numeric, geometry, date-time, boolean, and a few others), and the expression can include other fields from the same table, or a different table (I won't go into the possibilities more for now). Change the expression and the content changes. Content is calculated live--just like an active column in 8 (if set to auto-update), but now at the speed of SQL. So, you can see why I thought Tony and Dale (and others) might be happy with these new features.
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