Three Often Overlooked Features

We always try to implement new features as visible as possible. However, sometimes features are less discoverable or self explaining than we'd hope for – we're steadily working on that. Here are three very useful features you might have overlooked so far.

Direct Table Editing

This is one of my favorites – you can do a large number of changes to tables without ever using the table content dialog. Once you select a table in the workspace, here is what happens:

  • the ribbon will switch to a context ribbon, enabling you to quickly change fonts, borders or add new fields and lines
  • the table will offer a UI to easily select single fields, whole rows or columns

Once you hover around a row selector (to the left of the row), the cursor will change to an arrow:

UI-Select-Row.png
 
If you click, the whole row will be selected:
 UI-Select-Row-Selected.png
 
Any action from the context ribbon tab now will change all fields in the selected row. You can choose an italic font by clicking on the corresponding button:

UI-Row-Change-Italic.png
 
Which makes the line look like this:

UI-Row-Changed-Italic.png
 
In the same way, you can select single fields. Just hover the left hand side in the workspace – you’ll get a new cursor again:
 UI-Select-Field.png
 
A click selects this single field:
 UI-Field-Selected.png
  
Which would enable you e.g. to move this column to the left:
 UI-Field-Move-Left.png
 
Using the Ctrl-Modifier enables you to select multiple fields or multiple rows. Using “Alt” as modifier selects a whole column. As always – it would be great to hear from you which additional features or options might be useful in the context tab. We’ve just launched our yearly customer survey – make sure to answer it and let us know your thoughts or leave them in the comments below.

Switch the Column Resize Mode

This is an option that has just been promoted to the table’s context ribbon by frequent request (“Change width individually”). In LL19, it is available from the File > Options > Workspace dialog (“Column width modification affects next column”). What this option does is to toggle between these two states:
(1)   If you click on a column separator and move it e.g. to the right, all following columns will move to the right accordingly. See this before/after:

Separator-Move-Before.png

Separator-Move-After.png

Note how the “OrderNo” column is moved out of sight because all columns besides the one edited still have exactly the same width as before.
 
(2)   If you click on a column separator and move it e.g. to the right, the following column’s width will be decreased accordingly. See this before/after:

Separator-Move-Before-1.png

Separator-Move-After-2.png
 
In this mode only the separator is moved and all other columns remain just as designed. Both modes have their right to exist, sometimes you’ll require to “just get more space”, sometimes you’ll want to “preserve the layout no matter what”. Using this little gem of an option allows you to toggle freely between whatever makes sense for you.

Quickly Change the Workspace Zoom

Very handy, very quick: Alt+1/2/3/4 gives you four quick zoom levels. With LL20, you can even move objects around while the workspace is zoomed – the workspace will automatically scroll into the direction you’re moving the object to.
 

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