Linking Panels

[Bob King]

Hi Guys,

Another one of my "Is there a way..." questions--Is there a way to link two panels in a tab together, for example a Bathroom tab which has a selection (Location:) panel and a damage panel (Observations:), so that my report would list Location:,Observation:, for say the first bathroom, then Location:,Observation: for a different bathroom? 
Any thoughts/methods would be appreciated--
Thanks,
DrBob

[Dominic Maricic]

Hi Bob,

I'm a bit confused. That's exactly what the program does now. There's one title Bathroom, then Location & Observation are below it. What are you looking for differently?

[Bob King]

Hi Dom:
Here is what the report print-out would look like:

1.  Bathrooms
Location:  Master Bath
Observations:  Leak at sink trap
Location:  Guest Bathroom
Observations:  Possible cross-connection at tub
Location:  Hall Bathroom, upper level
Observations:  GFCI inoperative
...etc.

These comments would all come from the same tab, i.e., "Bathrooms", rather than have multiple tabs for multiple bathrooms.  Does this help?
DrBob

[Dominic Maricic]

Yup, check out Residential Template 2 for an example of something close this. You would just duplicate a tab for each bathroom rather than an entire page or each bathroom.

[Bob King]

Thanks, Dom:

I can use that fix without too much fuss--Sorry for having to put up with my inexperience--I guess what I'm used to in some other programs is that they build in a "Location" comment option into the "Observation" comment.  For example, the GFCI located in (here you select the location entry) was inoperable.  This way I have all the locations in a selection panel, and all the comments in a damage panel for say a single tab called "Bathrooms".  I thought if there was a way to link the location and comment together as many times as necessary in a single tab it would come close to the same idea.

Maybe I'm just not seeing how to do it simply enough and could use the collective wisdom of the users--Here's another way to look at it--Say I've set up individual tabs for each bath as you suggest--Suppose in a single bathroom I have two GFCIs in separate locations in the bathroom--one works, one doesn't, and I want to call out which is which (remember I'm seriously anal-retentive).  It seems to me that I either have to have separate comments like "The GFCI located on the south bathroom wall was inoperable", "The GFCI on the north bathroom wall was inoperable", etc.,etc., or as I have seen some guys do it in their comments, "The GFCI located @@@@@@@was inoperable" which means they fill in the location as they go or before they complete the report.

Seems to me that either option has some limitations--I either need to have lots of additional comments to cover the specific locations, which adds to the comments list and makes them harder to find in the field, or at some point I am making a manual text entry to a comment every time I use it.  I suppose another way to do it would be to expand the number of tabs, i.e., Bathroom#1-East Wall, Bathroom#1-South Wall, etc., but I think that would look pretty cumbersome in a report and be a lot more hunting and pecking.

With my inexperience am I missing a slick way to do something like this?  In my perfect world I would love to eventually have a field program so complete that all I have to do when I get back to the office is add the photos (I should live so long!).

Thanks for anyone's help--
DrBob

[Bob King]

I think I found another way:

Since the damage panels list comments sequentially, rather than have a "Locations" selection panel and an "Observations" damage panel, you can put the whole enchilada in a single damage panel:
Have the locations listed first in the panel as: "Location: Bathroom#1-South Wall", "Location: Bathroom#2-North Wall", etc.--Then list your observations: "Observation: GFCI inoperable"--As long as you click on your location comment in the damage panel first, followed by the comment, followed by the next location comment, then the next commemt, the report should sequentially list each as the next bullet, so you have a single "Bathrooms" tab which prints Location:..., Observation:..., Location:.., Observation:... ad infinitum..Am I just discovering how you guys do it or does this help?  Seems like its really going to work for me--just need to make sure my damage panel comments start with either LOCATION or OBSERVATION

DrBob

[Dominic Maricic]

Some guys just insert the comment like you're describing which adds in the location. You can use the move up/down on the right to rearrange comments.

We're finsihing up a drop down box feeature within narratives which will give you exactly what you want. The ability to just select the location and be done!

[Bob Elliott]

Sure seems a lot easier to me to just copy the bathroom tab and rename it Master,Hall,whatever,etc.

If you feel the need to repeat tips like seal grout 3 times for three bathrooms sucks you could always add a line such as this report has 3 bathrooms with comments combined and name the tab BATHROOMS.

Not hard to type one extra word if needed ,and another Idea would be to put general information under a text in brackets as follows.

(applies to all)
.
I recommend the grout be sealed with a silicon based grout sealant as water will penetrate the grout and loosen the wall tile.This can also possibly lead to mold issues. 

(Simply add that bracket comment to all bathroom sub tabs.)then click it in when needed.