Date Selection

[Richard]

I had decided to use Attributes to record; Birth, Baptism, Marriage, Death, and Burial dates for family members. Since I was not sure what format the date should be in, I selected [Today]. Once I knew what the format should be I tried to remove the current date by clicking [None]. It doesn't work that way. The only way that I could change the date was by holding down the pointer as the months scrolled back. Luckily it only took about ten minutes to get back two hundred years.

My wish is that we could enter a year and then select the drop down calendar and scroll to the correct month and day. The calendar is a handy feature but only for fairly recent events. Some means is needed to jump to a target year or even mm/yyyy and then be able to select the day.

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[jch2103]

+1

[sinus]

I had decided to use Attributes to record; Birth, Baptism, Marriage, Death, and Burial dates for family members. Since I was not sure what format the date should be in, I selected [Today]. Once I knew what the format should be I tried to remove the current date by clicking [None]. It doesn't work that way. The only way that I could change the date was by holding down the pointer as the months scrolled back. Luckily it only took about ten minutes to get back two hundred years.

Richard, I am not sure, if I understand. If I do the same like you, choose a date with the calender and then "delete" this date again (make that the field is emtpy), I can simply go in the field without open the calender and delete the numbers. In 3 secondes it is done and I could enter a new date.

My wish is that we could enter a year and then select the drop down calendar and scroll to the correct month and day. The calendar is a handy feature but only for fairly recent events. Some means is needed to jump to a target year or even mm/yyyy and then be able to select the day.

Yep, that is true, I have also some very old years, and then it is not very handy.

Maybe something like this, but of course more years back:

https://support.juvenilecompact.org/entries/22254126-How-do-I-enter-a-Date-of-Birth-further-back-than-2002-

[Richard]

choose a date with the calender and then "delete" this date again

Hi Sinus,

I have experimented enough to find that the date can be deleted or it can be changed but I still think that the [None] button should remove any date. If I didn't want any date I would simply leave that field blank. I would not select it and then press [None]. Thus I don't know why the [None] button exists.

[Mario]

The calendar control in the Date filter allows you to select one or more days, or entire ranges of days/weeks etc.
The "None" button clears the selection.

I see your problem selecting dates decades ago. Unfortunately the calendar control of the UI toolkit does not yet have the nifty zoom function Windows introduced a  while ago (click on the year in the calendar to zoom out until you see only decades and then go back).

I have added a separate calendar control now which allows you to go to a specific date. This also has a drop-down calendar where you can use the zoom to quickly reach all available years:



Selecting ranges of dates (and using None to reset the selection)



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[Richard]

I see your problem selecting dates decades ago.

Hi Mario,

In a way I wish it was just decades ago but it is actually centuries ago and if I can find the supporting documents, it will be over a millennium ago. 

The "None" button clears the selection.

It does not work that way in Attributes.

I have added a separate calendar control now which allows you to go to a specific date.

That already works in Attributes. I can paste a date near what I want and then open the Calendar and from there go to a specific date. Of course I can simply enter the correct date manually. Mostly I am just experimenting to see how Attributes would work for recording these dates.

I am impressed with how quickly you were able to add the new feature. Nobody can say that you are just a half fast developer. 

[Mario]

I had a pending request for making it easier to select ranges decades or even centuries apart in the filter window, so I started there.
Doing the same in the Attributes panel will be much more complex. The gird and the controls available in the grid (e.g. the calendar control) are supplied by the user interface toolkit I use. Short from ripping out the default calendar control and implementing my own control there is little I can do. But since you can easily type in a date, the problem is not as bad as in was in the filter panel.

I agree that the None button should not show here (I try to remove it). You cannot select a date range in this control so the button is useless. The UI toolkit should be clever enough to hide it. To clear a date in the Attribute, just clear the text. That's OK I think.

[Richard]

Hi Mario,

This feature request is not all that important. By experimenting I have found ways to work with it as it is. Someday, after IMatch 5 has been released to the public, maybe you will have time to make it better.

[Mario]

If you enter a date in the Attribute grid, the calendar control drop down will use that date as the starting point. You cannot just enter a year, though. It has to be a proper date like 1.1.1890. I'm not sure how I can improve that for the Attribute grid. I've re-read your original post, but I'm not sure that I get it. The "None" button is gone now, it was useless in this context. It makes sense in the filter panel date filter, because there you can select individual days, weeks, months or years. "None" clears that selection. For Attributes, you select one specific date.

[Richard]

For Attributes, you select one specific date.

And therein is the problem. If the target date is recent, it can be selected. If it is in another century, it is easiest to simply enter the correct date by hand. This renders the calendar worthless for date entry. All it is good for is finding on what day of the week a date fell.

What matters now is that what I would like is not some easy change. So now is not the time to make a change.

[Richard]

Hi Mario,

I was experimenting with Properties in IMatch 3.6 and discovered a feature that I did not know existed. If you open a Calendar and click on the year shown, you can scroll through the years very quickly. See the attached screen shot.

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[Mario]

This control is not available for IMatch 5.

1. I changed the date filter to allow for a direct input of a date for quick positioning across decades and centuries (see screen shot).

2. The Attribute editor in IMatch 5 already allows direct input of a date so you can e.g. start by typing 1/1/1890 (format depends on your locale) and then open the calendar for further adjustments. This is a very efficient method.

3. The calendar in the Date filter and in the Attributes panel now display a second sets or arrows to quickly move one year back or forth.



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[Richard]

Hi Mario,

Being able to move by years will be a big help. Thank you.