How To - Customize layout

TM Master v2 How To: Customize layout 

Introduction 

In TM Master v2 information is presented in grids. Just like in Excel a grid is made up of columns and rows. Each column contains a specific type of information, and each row is an actual piece of information. In this cheat sheet we will use the Components List as an example, but please note that this is consistent throughout TM Master v2, so regardless of which part of the software you are in information will always be presented in grids.

This guide will show you how you can customize how each grid is organized. Every TM Master v2 user can do this. The changes are user specific, meaning that they only affect you and no other users. We call the grid organizations “layouts”.

Customizing your layout 

This is what the Component List layout looks like the first time you open it. Circled in red is the column headers that tell you what type of data is in each column.

There are many ways you can change the layout, and this guide will show you all of them.

Sorting

Left click on any column header to sort the grid by that column. You’ll see that you’re sorting by a column thanks to the little arrow indicator that appears (1). Left click again to sort the other way.

Resizing columns

Columns can be resized to any width. To resize, move the mouse pointer to the right end of a column header. This changes the mouse pointer to show you that it’s ready to resize the column. Now either double click to auto-resize the column to fit the content, or left click and drag to either side to either increase or decrease the column width.

Moving columns

To move a column, grab a column header by left clicking and holding it, then drag it to either side. You’ll see that little red arrows appear. These arrows show you where the column will move to if you let go of the mouse button.

Removing columns

To remove a column, grab a column header by left clicking and holding it, then drag it up or down. The mouse pointer will turn into a stop sign. If you now let go of the mouse button the column will be removed.

Adding columns

Click the “Columns” button on the toolbar to get a list of all columns that are available but currently removed. To add, either drag and drop a column header from the list to where you want it on the column header row, or double click one to automatically place it where it was removed from.

Filter tool

Clicking the filter tool button adds a row directly underneath the column header row. This row allows you to enter filters for that column. Most filter fields are free text, but some are date based. Entering a value in the filter row and hitting the enter key will immediately filter the grid results.

As an example, if I enter the value “ship” in the “Name” column filter, I will only see the rows that have a “Name” starting with “ship”:

The filter tool supports wildcards * (asterisk) in free text fields. To use these, simply put a * at the start and/or the end of the value you want to filter by. For example, if I put a wildcard * before and after the “ship” value, I now get twice as many results since any row that has the value “ship” anywhere in the name will now be included:

Group tool

Clicking the “Group” button on the toolbar opens up the group row above the column header row. Dragging any column header onto the group row will group the contents of the grid according to that specific column.

For example, dragging the “Maker” column header onto the group row will group the components by maker:

Clicking the plus sign box on the left side of each row will open it up, displaying all components with that maker. You can also use the             buttons to quickly expand or collapse all:

To group on more levels simply drag and drop more column headers onto the group row. Drop the additional column headers to the right or the left of existing groupings to make them parent or child groups:

Freeze columns

Right click any column header and select “freeze column” to ensure that the column and everything to its left stays visible even if you scroll to the right:

To unfreeze, right click and select “Unfreeze column”.

Reset grid columns

You can always right click anywhere in the grid and select “Reset grid columns” to reset back to the default layout.

Save layouts

You can save any number of custom layouts so that you can easily restore them and swap between them by clicking the “Save layout” button on the toolbar:

Once you have saved a layout it will be available under the drop-down menu to the left: