DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

[JSChasle]

So was wondering if there is a way to optimise the DropDown List

I have in a View 20 DropDown that contain the exact same MySQL Query (for populating the list). Having just 1 of those showed works really fast. But having the 20 of them showed takes about 30 secs to load the form. So my guess it's running the MySQL query 20 times.

Pretty sure there is a way to load the data once and then affect the drop down list with the loaded data?

Thanks

[Steve Workings]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

It sounds like you're using a defined SQL statement in each dropdown control? If so, then yes, you can do this once, re-use many times.

Look at the way you can define choices in the control. The choice you want is the "Variable" choice.

Then, execute some SQL in the OnDialogInitialize event to create e.rtc.MyVariableName

Here's an example:

dim cn as sql::connection
dim rs as sql::resultset
cn.open("::name::conn")
sql = <<%a%
SELECT DISTINCT Type
FROM vw_Medical_TherapyPlan_Animals
order by type
%a%
cn.execute(sql)
rs = cn.ResultSet
typeList = rs.toString()
e.rtc.Type_list = "All" + crlf() + typeList
cn.freeresult()
cn.close()

Then, in this case, set the Variable name in the dropdown control to "Type_List" (without the quotes).

Of course the question also should be considered as to why you have 20 identical dropdown lists but I'm sure you have good reason.

[JSChasle]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

Of course the question also should be considered as to why you have 20 identical dropdown lists but I'm sure you have good reason.

Its for crafting recipe. So item1 + item2 + item3 (16 times) = result1 + results2 (4 times) -> All the items that can be use or craft are from an other table in the DB.

Ok so never did anything like this before (Guess I need to get into that now) So I use a Grid, I looked in the Server-side Events and Client-side Events and can't find the OnDialogInitialize (Could it be OnGridInitialize) ?

Also I show the Name (in the table) but need to put the ID; would this still work?

Example of my DropDown = SELECT DISTINCT name, id FROM item_templates WHERE isActive=1 ORDER BY name, id

[Steve Workings]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

Yes, use the OnGridInitialize event in the grid.

And to display one value, but store another, your query is:

SELECT DISTINCT concat(Name, '|', ID)
FROM item_templates 
WHERE isActive=1 
ORDER BY name, id

This is MSSQL syntax with the concat() function -- I'd have to check that it's the correct function for MySQL.

[JSChasle]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

Must be missing something, tried something without concat (should work in MySQL)

<CODE>
dim cn as sql::connection
dim rs as sql::resultset
cn.open("::name::utheroustest")
sql = <<%a%
SELECT DISTINCT id FROM item_templates WHERE isActive=1 ORDER BY id
%a%
cn.execute(sql)
rs = cn.ResultSet
item_Templates = rs.toString()
e.rtc.Item_Templates_List = "All" + crlf() + item_Templates
cn.freeresult()
cn.close()
</CODE>

Using Item_Templates_List in the variable and its showing nothing?

Also not to sure how to input code in the forum?

[JSChasle]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

So found out how to use the XBasic debugger (Sorry still really new at this). I have added the debug(1) - debug (0) to the script. When I hover over the e.rtc.Item_Templates_List I have the full list of what I need (changed it to be e.rtc.Item_Templates_List = "-1|-1" + crlf() + typeList.

In the DropDown I use the variable Item_Templates_List but the dropdown is empty

[JSChasle]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

Made it work by using the Choice Variable in the Drop Down; using the DataSource type Variable does not seem to work (see pictures) Anyone knows the difference?
VariableDropDown-DoesNotWorks.png
VariableDropDown-Works.png

[JSChasle]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

Ok did the test and the speeds are the same (about 25 seconds to open the window) and that's on every links. Guess it's when AA tries to parse the DropDownList?

[Steve Workings]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

And you've changed all your dropdowns to use the Variable method?

How long is the list in a dropdown?

It may be appropriate to consider some other design -- finding yourself with 20 identical dropdowns could be an indication of this.

[JSChasle]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

Hi Steve,

Each Drop Down List contains 2500 items. Attached is a picture. I thought I could maybe do a list (with all the items) and allow drag and drop on each place, since all of those have Icons and then do a lookup; but thats kind of advance for me for now but might do the trick.

Crafting_Recipe.png

Thanks

[Steve Workings]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

Yeah, that's not going to work very well. 2500 lines x 20 controls = 50,000 lines to deliver to the browser - and that's just for the dropdowns. It'll be worse if any of your users have a slower connection than you.

I'd like to suggest what you should be doing instead, but am wary of taking that path without a decent understanding of what you're doing.

You could try some other controls such as auto-suggest lookup that doesn't start by loading all those values 20 times. Test this by configuring one or two and seeing if you think that will work from the user's standpoint.

And while the grids are useful workhorses, I generally counsel to look for a UX-based solution if possible -- it simply offers newer, more, better, faster tools than the grid -- it's a longer-term solution where you might eventually end up anyway.

[Davidk]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

I wouldn't attempt delivering repetitive data from a server to a client. I would try letting the client do the work.

Populate one dropdown and then, when the component is rendered, harvest that dropdown putting the data into an array. Then use the {grid.Object}.populateDropdownBox() method to load the other dropdowns.

If there's a reason not to load all dropdowns upon render... even better. Do they all need to be available at the same time?

[Michael1954]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

I am actually doing something clientside with no visit to the server. I want to populate dropdowns for all permitted choices.


I use JavaScript (didn't check to see if Alpha had a method.)

var select = {dialog.Object}.getPointer('dropDown');
// this line clears choices if they exist.
select.options.length = 0;
// these lines add choices
select.add(new Option("one", 1));
select.add(new Option("two", 2));
select.add(new Option("three", 3));

[Davidk]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

I don't think I'd want to perform a select.add 2500 times... X 20. Plus Jean is using a Grid.

You could, in XBasic, build your dropdown data array and assigned it to a state variable. Your data array would end up looking like this in XBasic...

"[['alpha 2','A2'],['beta 2','B2'],['display for c','C2']]"

And then you'd assign that "string array" to a state variable in XBasic...

e._state.myddData = "[['alpha 2','A2'],['beta 2','B2'],['display for c','C2']]"

In the grid, in client-side onRenderComplete you could then do something like this...

var stateInfo = {Grid.Object}.getStateInfo();
//the stateInfo is & delimited so we need to split it up into an array
var stateArray = stateInfo.split("&");

//now we need to find our state variable
var search = "myddData";
var found = null;

for (var i = 0; i < stateArray.length; i++) {
  if (stateArray[i].indexOf(search) > -1) {
    found = stateArray[i];
    break;
  }
}
//we found are state variable.  Split it up into its own array
var stateArray = found.split("=");
var arrayStr = stateArray[1];
//we built the string array of data using single quotes... which is easy for XBasic but JSON doesn't like it very much.  Convert single to double quotes.
var arrayStr = arrayStr.replace(/'/g, '"');

//now we have a properly formatted JSON string.  Parse it into a proper JS array for use in the populate method.
myDDData = JSON.parse(arrayStr);

{grid.Object}.populateDropdownBox('G','BILL_ADDRESS1',1,myDDData,true);
{grid.Object}.populateDropdownBox('G','BILL_ADDRESS2',1,myDDData,true);

Lots to worry about doing this. Does your dropdown data include single quotes? How will the grid handle a state variable of the size you're proposing? How fast will the populate method work with an array of that size?

Doing this, you don't have to set up even one dropdown in the normal way. Just use the Static option for all dropdowns you plan to populate

[Michael1954]

Re: DropDown List X 20 on Details View X 2.5K Items - Long Load

David, we had a discussion about my 6,500 lines of wine.

Is a dropdown with 2500 useable?

What about lookup using a grid or list with a search?