I end up using a lot of the same actions with subtle variations such that it is easier on me to put them in favorites rather than copying actions and re-configuring. It would be nice to be able to reorder my favorite actions or to have multiple lists of favorite actions.
I’ve heard a similar suggestion from other people who use EasyMorph. Can you provide a couple of examples of actions that you reuse with subtle variations?
I have been making reports where I want an output of a separate excel workbooks for different budget entities and separate sheets on each workbook for different exceptions, so I use filter, synchronize, and export into excel for that. They all have different inputs, so for entering those I use various steps like imports, filters, keep/remove columns, reorder columns etc. It would be nice if I could a list of favorite import actions and a list of favorite export actions. Some of these projects have a dozen or more groups and many hundreds of actions, so the small time savings of not having to hunt for actions as much would really add up.
Thank you for the details.
As an idea, it could be something called templates. A template can be a single action (with pre-configured settings), a chain of actions, a table, or a whole tab (group). There can be 2 collections of templates - a personal collection (stored with EasyMorph Desktop), and a shared collection (stored on EasyMorph Server). The shared collection can be a convenient way to share a template with colleagues.
Each template can have an optional annotation to describe the template and make it easier to find the necessary one.
How does that sound?
1 Like
I think that sounds like a great idea. Being able to add multiple actions at once would be a big time save. I know I would use it often with final cleaning actions like a combination of reorder, filter, and sort as well as with the import and export actions that I commonly use together.
Greetings,
Dmitry, it sounds like the “actions shelves” we talked about once.
Or is it the introduction of macros in EM ?
On my own, I get a clumsy surrogate feature with gathering actions into modules, put them into a master project and use the “import module” feature into new projects. I then use them with the “call another module” transformation.
the fact to isolate these macros into submodules (sandboxes ?) makes the maintenance easier.
It’s time saving but also ensuring quality standards.
A centralized library of modules could be an interresting feature.
Regards
Yes, that’s very much like the “action shelves”.
I envision the local templates to be stored in a local folder in the EasyMorph installation folder. This would make it easy to port templates from one computer to another computer if the user switches computers.
The shared templates would be files with a special extension (.idiom) stored in the Public folder. Storing templates in a folder structure is convenient because it helps organize and manage a high number of templates. Also, it will be possible to share a local template, or copy a shared template to local templates.
Dmitry,
I guess these .idiom files will be xml files.
Maybe it’s a nonsense, but why not try to use the shared memory storage. The format fits very well with XML files structure and the replication/distribution logic is already implemented and reliable ?
Regards
Yes, it will be XML files.
Mainly for the purpose of simple management. When it's just files, it's easy to copy/delete/replicate them, or move around even without EasyMorph.
1 Like
Would love to see something like this - I’ve literally had to copy and paste the same 5 actions into dozens of tables and it’s a process I will likely need to use for hundreds more, so being able to group a chain of actions and put them in my favorites for every project would be amazing.
In the mean time, being able to select multiple actions to copy and paste is a real time saver!