How to: Use Viewers in "Quadrant"

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In Microsoft code name “Quadrant”, you can create a customized view of data by combining elements from different viewers. This topic walks through simple scenarios using the table, master/detail, tree, and diagram viewers. The figure below shows an example of what can be accomplished using these viewers.

Note

The tutorial uses the sample data that you install in How to: Install the "Quadrant" Sample Data.

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The Table Viewer

The table viewer is best suited for surveying collections. Using a familiar grid of columns and rows, you can see and compare values for every entity in a collection.

To add and delete columns

  1. On the View menu, click Explorer, and then click Repository.

  2. Expand the Database node.

  3. Expand the Microsoft.Samples.Organization node.

  4. Drag the People node to an empty space on the workspace.

    Alternatively, double-click the People node to automatically open it beside the Repository workpad.

  5. Select the newly-opened People workpad.

  6. On the Data menu, click Column Settings, and click Id to show or hide the column in the workpad.

    The Column Settings menu displays all columns found in the schema for the table. You can customize which columns are displayed by selecting and clearing the appropriate names.

  7. In the workpad, right-click any column header and click Column Settings, then click Middle Name to clear it. This is an alternative way of choosing columns to hide and display.

  8. Repeat the last step to display the Computers column.

To change a column viewer

  1. In the workpad, right-click the Computers column header to select it.

  2. In the Data menu, click View Column As and select List.

    The computers for the person are now shown in a list viewer. By changing the column viewer, you can customize the view of a table to display each column in the viewer that is most suitable for the data it contains.

  3. Optional. Right-click any header in a workpad and click View Column As and select a column viewer.

The Tree Viewer

The tree viewer displays data as a hierarchy of nodes. This is well-suited to organization charts or data that has dependencies on other data.

To view an organization

  1. In the Repository workpad, expand the Database node.

  2. Expand the Microsoft.Samples.Organization node.

  3. Double-click the OrganizationGroups node to open it in a new workpad.

  4. Change the view of the OrganizationGroups workpad to Tree.

  5. Expand the Business Analysts node.

  6. Expand the PersonToOrganizationGroups node.

  7. Expand each numbered node to see the Person folder, which contains the name of a business analyst.

  8. For each name, expand the Tasks node to see a list of tasks for the person.

  9. Double-click a task to see its details in a new workpad.

The Master/Detail Viewer

The master/detail and tree master/detail viewers display lists of data, allowing you to survey all items. To see details about the item, click an item in the left pane. The details appear in the right pane.

Note

By default, no item is selected when you first view a master/detail or tree/master detail viewer. Therefore, no details appear in the right pane until an item in the left pane is selected.

To use a master/detail viewer

  1. In the Repository explorer, expand the Database node and find the Microsoft.Samples.Process node.

  2. Expand the node and double-click Processes to open it in a new workpad.

  3. Switch the view to a tree master/detail viewer.

  4. Click Print Manager. The details for the entity will be displayed in a property viewer in the right pane.

  5. Optional. Resize the master/detail panes by dragging the divider between the left and right panes.

To change the details pane viewer

  1. From the left pane, drag the HR node to an empty space on the workpad.

  2. Switch the workpad viewer to a tree viewer.

  3. With the HR workpad selected, on the Workpad menu, click Set As Default View. The right pane of the master/detail viewer updates to show the HR in a tree viewer.

    The details pane of a master/detail viewer is determined by the default view for the entity that is selected in the left pane.

The Diagram Viewer

The diagram viewer helps you view processes as a workflow.

To see a diagram viewer

  1. In the Repository workpad, find the Processes node under the Microsoft.Samples.Process node.

  2. Double-click Processes to open it in a new workpad.

  3. In the Processes workpad, double-click Empty Process to open it in a new workpad.

  4. Change the viewer for the Empty Process workpad to a diagram viewer.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Install the "Quadrant" Sample Data

Concepts

"Quadrant" Interface Tour

Other Resources

"Quadrant" Tutorials
How To: Create a New Model and View it in "Quadrant"
Viewing and Editing Data in "Quadrant"