Where to start?

[gwilburn]

I want to create a new app to replace our existing ERP Part Master Inquiry. We have 50+ different companies in our ERP, each with their own part numbers.

Currently, users select the company number and then search for the part number (by number or description.
Once located, they can see things like

• specific part details
• quantities by warehouse (we have multiple warehouses)
• quantities by specific location in each warehouse

I eventually need to allow certain actions/transactions from within the app. My first action would be to allow certain users the ability to change lot numbers (this is at the location level above)

I just don't know how what the best layout for the application would be...
Do i start with a grid and go to popup forms when a user clicks a row?
Do i start with a form and a simple lookup?

There's quite a bit of information to fit into one app.

BTW - as a programmer, app design is actually one of the hardest things for me.

TIA
Greg

[AndrewLDS]

Starting with a grid and using the row menu on a row click sounds like the best option. Have one of the options titled "Edit Lot No.". Selecting "Edit Lot No." then pops up the form. Make "Edit Lot No." a feature and then disable/enable the feature depending what group is accessing the app via RPG.

I recommend using row menus instead of row click since you can easily add more functions without re-teaching the app to users.

If you want a more user-friendly filter than the grid filters, you can have a form on the side of the grid that filters the grid depending on the fields in the form.

[gwilburn]

Starting with a grid and using the row menu on a row click sounds like the best option. Have one of the options titled "Edit Lot No.". Selecting "Edit Lot No." then pops up the form. Make "Edit Lot No." a feature and then disable/enable the feature depending what group is accessing the app via RPG.

I recommend using row menus instead of row click since you can easily add more functions without re-teaching the app to users.

If you want a more user-friendly filter than the grid filters, you can have a form on the side of the grid that filters the grid depending on the fields in the form.

So how do you accomplish this?

[AndrewLDS]

So how do you accomplish this?

Create a form using the same data source as the grid. Add a button on the form widget that says "Filter" or "Search". When the button is selected, filter the grid based on the fields on the form.

This is optional and there are some drawbacks since the grid filters run automatically after inputting text which is nice.