The Eye is the Nioxus weekly newsletter -- and it's all about how you can get the most out of your Ninox databases. Each issue of The Eye features tutorial videos from our Ninox University, ready-to-use applets and database templates, and much more. If you're new to Ninox, or if you're a seasoned pro, check out these past newsletters to help you get started with Ninox or to add to your Ninox database toolbox.
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Featured Template - Security Configuration Worksheet
January 14, 2020
In this issue:
Training Video: The New Kanban in Ninox
Featured Template - Auto Numbering Documents
Document Management & Workflow Automation Come To The World of Ninox Databases
November 20, 2019
In this issue:
Learning Channel Video - Creating Reports in Ninox
Nioxus Membership Sign-Up Deadline Extended Until Thursday, November 21!
Follow Us on Social Media
This Week in Ninox University
Featured Template - Invoice Number Formatting
October 29, 2019
In this issue:
Nioxus Membership Announcement
Learning Channel Video - Integrated and Automated Email
This Week in Ninox University
Featured Applet - Medicine Cabinet
September 5, 2019
In this issue:
Learning Channel Video - Working with Dates and Using Date Functions
Featured Template - Calendar Scheduling Tools
Solution Spotlight - The Lemon Dog Project
February 11, 2020
In this issue:
Training Video: Summarizing Child Table Data
Featured Template - Home Improvement Tracking & Inventory
January 7, 2019
In this issue:
Training Video: Database Control Panels in Ninox
Featured Template - Equipment Preventive Maintenance
Welcome our New CEO
November 12, 2019
In this issue:
New Ninox User Manual - Premium Edition Released!
Learning Channel Video - Data Flows and Using Templates
Follow Us on Social Media
This Week in Ninox University
Featured Template - Project Management
Earn Credits for Nioxus Gear!
Featured Applet - Bill Pay Reminder
October 11, 2019
In this issue:
Learning Channel Video - Creating a Powerful Task Manager at Home
Featured Function - Family To-Do List
Solution Spotlight - Announcing Ninox University
August 27, 2019
In this issue:
Learning Channel Video - Working with Dates and Date Formulae
Featured Function - Global Functions and Duplicate Values
Tech Tips - The Dual Nature of the Select Function
February 4, 2020
In this issue:
Training Video: Using the Card and Gantt Chart Views
Featured Template - Phone Number Formatting
November 26, 2019
In this issue:
Nioxus wishes you a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Featured Template - Phone Number Formatting
November 5, 2019
In this issue:
Learning Channel Video - Dashboards, Hotspots and Accounts Receivable
Follow Us on Social Media
This Week in Ninox University
Featured Applet - Audio Cabinet
September 25, 2019
In this issue:
Learning Channel Video - Introducting the Pivot Table
Template of the Week - Global Currency Function
Issue Sixteen- Published August 13, 2019 Charting & Data Visualization | Updating Multiple Records | Sort Keys & Concatenation
NINOX
LEARNING
CHARTING & DATA VISUALIZATION
NINOX
TECH TIPS
UPDATING
MULTIPLE RECORDS
FEATURED
TEMPLATE
SORTING KEYS & CONCATENATION
NIOXUS WELCOMES
NEW STAFF!
We are pleased to welcome Marlon K. Brownlee to the Nioxus team as a Senior Consultant. Marlon has over 30 years of experience working on a wide array of information systems projects with clients ranging from small and mid-sized businesses and organizations to multi-billion dollar international corporations to help them achieve their strategic objectives.
His work has included product lifecycle management (PLM) software implementation, supply chain software implementation, time and attendance system implementation, systems integration, data conversion, end-user training, technical seminars and more. Marlon will be working with Nioxus to help customers implement our Real Estate, ERP and CRM solutions as well as leading webinars, assisting concierge clients and developing new custom technology solutions.
FOLLOW NIOXUS
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Learn more about Nioxus on our social media channels. Like us on Facebook & LinkedIn and follow the Ninox Learning Channel on YouTube.
Be the first to hear about new training Webinars, Special Events, Special Product Pricing and many other exciting Ninox announcements.
One of the most powerful and intuitive ways to present information and business intelligence is via charts and graphs. The ability to visualize database content in a graphic format makes it easy for people to understand performance, trends, and results. The Ninox Solution provides a world-class graphic analysis and data visualization engine that makes data visualization as easy as a click of the mouse.
In this Ninox Learning Channel class, we explore Bar Charts, Line Charts, Pie Charts, and Radar diagrams that help bring our data to life.
Do you like making repetitive changes to “every” record in your database?
Yeah, neither do we. We’re in luck because Ninox has given us a very powerful tool when it comes to making updates to multiple records. It’s called (as you would imagine), Updating Multiple Records and it’s located in the gear icon at the top of the page.
And while this tool lets you make massive updates to your database, which is amazing, there are some really great features that take it to the next level.
First,there are there 4 ways to update each field individually:
These options allow you to control what exactly is updated, from a static value to a calculated value and even removing any existing value from that one field. You have control over what fields are updated and how they are updated.
The second great thing that Ninox can do is allow you to control what records in the table are actually updated.
This feature is key in updating a select group of records, instead of the whole table. Update Selected Records gives you the opportunity to make a selection of specific records within the table - just click on the record to select! The Update Visible Records does exactly that - it updates every record that is “visible” in your table. Now this one can get a little tricky. If you open a table and have no filters set, then every record in that table will be updated. However, f you go in and add a filter so you only see a subset of your data, then those are the records that will be updated.
So, whether you’ve added a new field that needs value or you are making widescale changes to the information in your database, the Update Multiple Records functionality will make it easy as pie. Mmmm, pie.
SORTING KEYS & CONCATENATION
While it is true that you can only order, sort, filter or group by one field at a time in Ninox, there’s no reason that one field can’t contain MORE than one piece of content. In this template, we may demonstrate Kanban views of invoices sorted by multiple fields. The technique demonstrated here will work for any View or Chart in Ninox.
Issue Fifteen - Published August 6, 2019 Ninox Users Manual | Passwords & Security | Stock Portfolio Management
WEEKLY
TECH TIP
Nioxus Users
Manual
NINOX
LEARNING
Passwords &
Database Security
FEATURED
TEMPLATE
Stock Portfolio
Management
NEED HELP?
Check out our sweet Ninox Users Manual to help with all aspects of your Ninox Database. This great tool is a must-have for learning all the in’s and out’s of Ninox. Log in and get the information you need today!
Building a powerful database is great. But protecting that database is crucial. In this class, we explore the many tools, functions, and layers of data security and user rights that can be built right into your bespoke Ninox application. From locking down specific fields to creating digital armor that protects the entire application, the security functions in Ninox are second-to-none.
Buy low, sell high and use Ninox...Those are the keys to a successful stock portfolio. This template keeps track of all of your equity holdings while maintaining an accurate historical record of your transactions and price checks.
Nioxus now provides 24 x 7 LIVE tech support. Our toll-free number is 1-888-437-4937. This is part of our continuing commitment to supporting The Global Ninox Community and enhancing the Ninox user experience.
Issue Fourteen - Published July 30, 2019 Control Your UI | Data Views - Part 1 | Using the Kanban
WEEKLY
TECH TIP
Control
your UI
NINOX
LEARNING
Views Part 1:
Data Views
FEATURED
TEMPLATE
Using the
Kanban
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
Nioxus now provides 24 x 7 LIVE tech support. Our toll-free number is 1-888-437-4937. This is part of our continuing commitment to supporting The Global Ninox Community and enhancing the Ninox user experience.
CONTROL YOUR UI
You have complete control over the User Interface (UI) of your database. You can use the "Display field only, if" section on any field to drive the view on any form. It can be as simple as hiding the field entirely using the “null” element or creating a complex formula using other fields to drive the inclusion or exclusion of the field. So, now that you know… get busy building a simple and clean UI!
The Kanban is an extremely powerful feature in Ninox that also happens to be very easy to create. This columnar view of table records is great for displaying and managing records that are grouped and/or categorized by any number of criteria.
In this template, you can see how sample of Kanbans - and their unique characteristics - when grouped by text fields, choice fields and concatenated formula fields.
There are lots of ways to create a Kanban, experiment with them to add a fantastic visual component to your Ninox database applications.
So if you want your text to be orange and have a warning the formula would look like this:
styled(“This is a Warning”, “orange”, “warn”)
And this is what you would get:
A New Addition to
the Nioxus Team!
We are pleased to welcome Leah Henrichsen to the Nioxus team as a Senior Programmer. Leah has been a long time client of Nioxus, and has experience with using Ninox to develop CRM and ERP solutions. She will be working with Nioxus in the development of custom technology solutions, leading webinars, and assisting concierge clients.
We're guessing that the projects she takes on with Nioxus will not be nearly as difficult as the canyoneering that she's enjoying in this photograph!
Similar to our Journal Entries template, this solution demonstrates both automated and manual bank balance transfer transaction entry into a Ninox application solution. Use this template to track bank accounts, account balances and any movement of funds between accounts.
In this week's class on the Ninox Learning Channel, we continue our study of Views in Ninox. The Card View and the Gantt Chart are the focus in this new training class. Learn how to apply these two visual constructs to your Ninox projects.
And if you use Ninox for any kind of project management, resource load balancing or task management, you'll want to pay particular attention to our presentation on the Gantt chart; a unique and powerful way to assess work stream start dates, end dates, durations and scheduling dependancies.
If you use equipment, then you have to maintain it. And it's a lot cheaper to perform scheduled routine maintenance than it is to repair things after they've broken down. But how do you know when it's time for the next service call? Easy - You use this template to make sure that every machine, truck, copier, and tractor (and whatever else you need to maintain) is always up-to-date with the scheduled repairs.
This template translates miles and hours and any other measure of usage into calendar schedules for routine service and maintenance.
The Kanban is an extremely powerful feature in Ninox that also happens to be very easy to create. This columnar view of table records is great for displaying and managing records that are grouped and/or categorized by any number of criteria. In this video, you'll learn how to group and present content in Kanbans by text fields, choice fields, and concatenated formula fields to add a fantastic visual component to your Ninox database applications.
Join Nioxus experts every week for free webinars on a variety of topics. These webinars cover everything from getting started with Ninox to more advanced topics such as Zapier integration and CRM setup. Replays of past webinars are available in the Nioxus Webinar Vault - the webinars provide a wealth of information. Learn how to build a switch in this featured video.
The Workflow Management / Project Management template allows users to create workflow templates that can be used as boilerplates to easily create detailed project plans with up to five levels of detail including Program > Project > Tasks > Actions > Instructions. Track assignments, cost factors budgets.
MAKE SURE YOUR NINOX FIXED ASSET DATABASE HAS ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW LAWS FOR LEASED ASSET REPORTING
If you are a lessee or a lessor, the new laws regarding ACCOUNTING FOR LEASES are going to matter to you. By the end of 2019, businesses around the world will have to comply with new laws regarding Operating and Finance Lease Capitalization. From real estate to office equipment to heavy machinery, if you lease it, you'll want to attend this free seminar regarding ASC 842 and IFRS 16 and Ninox.
There are so many different applications of the Select statement that it's almost hard to know where to start. This week's Learning Channel installment looks at the Select statement in all of its iterations. Creating arrays, defining multi-record views, drawing charts and graphs, performing calculations and applying statistical measures... It's all covered in our newest video.
PART II
The Select Function - Working with Views
In this class, we continue our discussion of the Select function and learn how to apply it in order to add View elements to our Ninox screen forms.
If you use equipment, then you have to maintain it. And it's a lot cheaper to perform scheduled routine maintenance than it is to repair things after they've broken down. But how do you know when it's time for the next service call? Easy - You use this template to make sure that every machine, truck, copier and tractor (and whatever else you need to maintain) is always up-to-date with scheduled repair.
This template translates miles and hour and any other measure of usage into calendar schedules for routine service and maintenance.
One of the things that makes a relational database like Ninox so powerful and useful is the ability to create relationships - links - between tables and records. The incredible ease with which we can establish a relationship between a tenant and a rental property, a vendor and a purchase order or even a class and a list of students, defies the tremendous functionality that these relationships add to our applications. However, the way that these relationships are built and maintained in Ninox seems to confuse users.
Let's end the confusion right now.
To create a relationship between two Master tables (two data families or stacks), we simply open up the third panel of elements - the Table Reference Panel - on the far right side of the Table Management Window (see below) and drag the name of the table to which we wish to refer into the center section of Fields of the current table.
The Table Management window for Table 1, showing a reference field in that table's data model pointing to content in Table 2, is displayed above
Where data fields store content that users enter and formula fields store content that Ninox creates, reference fields store numeric content that is a pointer indicating which record in the lookup table that the record in the current table is linked to. And with this in mind, always remember:
THE CONTENT OF A REFERENCE FIELD IN THE CURRENT TABLE IS THE UNIQUE NUMERIC ID OF THE RECORD BEING POINTED TO IN THE LOOKUP TABLE.
Ninox database administrators can define any field, or combination of fields, to be displayed in a reference field using the Show As field options displayed below.
Irrespective however of what is displayed in the field the actual content is simply the unique ID number that was assigned by Ninox to the record to which the current record is pointing.
Consider, for example, a table of Apartments that is linked to a table of Tenants. Each specific record in the Apartments table represents a single rental unit and points to a single record in the Tenants table in order to define who is renting each space at any point in time. This relationship between these two data stacks is displayed below.
Based on this example, the content of the reference field in the Apartments Table ('Current Tenant' in the example above) is the number 35. This is the unique identifier (or pointer) that tells the current table (Apartments) and the current record (Unit 101) which tenant record is being pointed to indicating the current resident of the unit. And in this example, the current resident of unit 101 is Sally Jones and the unique identifier of the Sally Jones record in the Lookup Table (Tenants Table) is 35.
When importing content from flat files like spreadsheets or CSV files, it's important to understand how Ninox manages the relationships between linked tables. The key to that relationship is the unique record ID of the record in the lookup table (in the example above, this is the Tenants table).
By either setting this key identifier prior to the import, or using the "Update Multiple Records" function within Ninox, it becomes a very simple process to create links between tables that already have content. Just remember, when you are looking at a reference field, treat it as a numeric field where the content is the unique numeric code that Ninox assigns to each record upon its creation
The Select Function - Record Sets & Arrays
There are so many different applications of the Select statement that it's almost hard to know where to start. This week's Learning Channel installment looks at the Select statement in all of its iterations. Creating arrays, defining multi-record views, drawing charts and graphs, performing calculations and applying statistical measures... It's all covered in our newest video.
NOTE: The Select Function training class will be released on the Ninox Learning Channel on Thursday June 19, 2019
This template performs two powerful functions. First - it allows users to schedule recurring payments (like rent) and recurring receipts (like a paycheck) for any number of periods into the future. Then, it assess the impact of those cash transactions on a cash balance at any point in time and calculates your projected cash balance on hand for any number of days into the future.
This is a great template to use as a stand-alone app or as part of your financial accounting and management system.
We us tools and machines every day to speed up simple tasks and to ensure that complex tasks are done correctly every time. Now there's a way to create functional tools and machines in Ninox; and those tools and machines are called Global Functions.
Think of a Global Function the same way you might think of a wrench or screwdriver. It is a tool designed to do a specific thing and every time you need that thing to be done, you know to reach for that tool. A Global Function in Ninox is tool - or repeatable process - that you can reach for and use over and over again whenever you need a specific thing to be done in your Ninox application.
Maybe that "thing" is looking up a value in a table. Or maybe it's selecting a company logo or graphic to be included in a screen view or output form. Whatever it is, if you do it often within your database application, you should create your own Global Function to ensure that it's done correctly every time.
Global Functions are created in the "Global Script Definitions" section of the Options panel. When you click on the "Global Script Definitions" field, you will open up the Ninox Formula Editor where you can create an unlimited number of Global Functions. The syntax for a Global Function is as follows:
function NameOfFunction(parameter n : type n) do
Following the syntax above, every function begins with the keyword "function" in all lower case. This is followed by the name of the function. For best practices, do not include spaces or any special symbols in your function names. Next comes the list of parameters that are fed into the function. Think of these parameters as the raw materials that you feed into one end of a machine in order to get a processed finished good out the other end. The list of parameters fed into a Global Function is enclosed in parentheses with each parameter defined by name followed by a colon ( : ) followed by the keyword indicating what type of content is passed through that parameter. Finally, the first line of the function script is ended with the key word "do".
So consider, for example, that we want to create a function that converts Fahrenheit temperature readings into Celsius. The entire Global Function (or temperature conversion machine) would look like this:
In line 1, we see the "function" keyword followed by the name of the function "tmpChg". Next, in parentheses, we see two parameters defined, the first named "temp" and the second named "cnvrt". The keyword "number" after the colon following each parameter name tells Ninox that these parameters contain numeric content. This first line of the Global Function is ended with the keyword "do".
Lines 2 through 7 are the "guts of the machine". This is the process that is repeated every time this Global Function tool is called from anywhere within the database application. And then finally, on line 8, we see the final keyword "end". And in this case, the semi-colon ( ; ) at the end of line 8 indicates that another function is to be named on line 9 and beyond.
Global Functions in Ninox allow you to re-use single code blocks making for efficient and very powerful database applications. And since you have the entire scope and scale of the Ninox programming language at your finger tips, and because you can have as many functions as you like in any given database, the sky's the limit when it comes to applying this powerful capability.
To access all kinds of functions that you can copy and paste right into your Ninox databases, log into the Nioxus Member Portal and click on the TAKE ME THERE button below and select the "Global Functions" menu.
Working with Data Sets - The For / Next Loop Structure
In this week's new video on the Ninox Learning Channel, we explore the power and application of the fourth looping structure - The For / Next Loop. This powerful construct allows us to apply functions and transformations to entire tables or data sub-sets quickly and efficiently. VISIT THE LEARNING CHANNEL to learn how to supercharge your Ninox applications using the For / Next loop.
Lemon Dog Media is graphic design and consulting company in upstate New York that provides website design, hosting and marketing advisory services to clients throughout the United States. After using FileMaker Pro for years, Lemon Dog went searching for a better way to manage their business. They found a much better way when they found Ninox.
And now, only six months after purchasing their first Ninox license, Lemon Dog has converted all of their CRM and digital media management functions over to the Ninox no-code database platform. According to company founder and President Cindy Pinsonnault:
"For me, Ninox has offered a more cost-effective and yet more customizable solution to my requirements. I was able to get started quickly with basic vital information and I am able to continually add to and improve the way my apps work, how they look, and how much they help me get my job done.
While I have built several databases for keeping various kinds of data, I use two of them multiple times daily — client information and graphic assets management. These two databases have cut down on a lot of wasted time searching for data. Previously, I had information spread over several locations. Now I am building databases that contain all of the related information in a single application — easy to search, easy to use, and customized to the exact way I like to work.
I'm no longer fitting my operating style into some other programmer’s ideas of how it should work. I’m making my app fit me instead. And I like that — a lot.
In addition to the great software from Ninox, I have gained a tremendous wealth of information, best practices and guidelines, and practical application advice from the webinars presented by Nioxus. These webinars, to me, are an essential part of succeeding with Ninox. "
Lemon Dog clients expect precision, quality and fast turn-around so Cindy doesn't have time to waste looking for data or trying to figure out how her software works. With Ninox, she has a solution that gives her complete control and tremendous power combined with a short and flat learning curve. And that is one sweet lemon indeed.
FORMATTING PHONE NUMBERS
While there are masking options for the display of alpha and numeric content in Ninox, phone numbers could not be formatted for appearance; Until Now!
This template allows you to select any international phone number format and apply the appropriate display mask to the digits. You can easily add new formats to meet your specific and unique needs.
Issue Six - Published June 4, 2019 Calculation Duration Between Dates | The While / Do Repeating Loop | Creating Multiple Records
WEEKLY
TECH TIP
Calculating the
duration between
two time fields
NINOX
LEARNING
The While/Do
Repeat Loop
Structure
FEATURED
TEMPLATE
Creating Multiple
Records With
a Single Click
Calculating The Duration Between Two Time Fields
Ninox users often hit a wall when trying to easily and quickly calculate the amount of time that has passed between two time fields. Here's an easy tip that you can use to calculate durations without using the Appointment Field or having to do a lot of field conversions for milliseconds and such.
Use a Formula field in a table data model to format a Time field using the code snippet below:
format(now(), "hh:mm")
In this snippet, we are formatting the time represented by the now() function according to hours (hh) and minutes (mm) only. In your application, you can replace the now() function with a valid reference to any Time field in your table.
Now apply this same code snippet in a second Formula field to a second Time field. For this example, let's assume that the first Time field is called "Begin Time" and the second Time field is called "End Time" while the first Formula is called 'Formatted Begin' and the second Formula is called "Formatted End'.
Once you have both of your time fields formatted using the Formula fields and snippet described above, simply subtract 'Formatted End' from 'Formatted Begin' as follows:
'Formatted End' - 'Formatted Begin'
The result of the time subtraction calculation will be the amount of time that has passed between the two time fields "Begin Time" and "End Time" and it will be formatted using the HH:MM mask so it will be very easy to read the results in terms of hours and minutes.
Now you can hide the two formula fields using the Display Only If parameter and then position the calculated duration wherever you like on your form or view. Whenever you change either of the times, the duration will change automatically telling you how much time has passed
Go ahead and try it in your database... It could save you a whole lot of TIME!
The While/Do Structure and a Custom Search Engine
Of the four different repetitive looping and context evaluation structures in Ninox, only the While/Do Structure can determine its own end point and then go on to adjust that end point with situational awareness. In the newest video in the Ninox Learning Series, learn how to harness this power and use it for a variety of purposes including building a custom search engine for your bespoke Ninox application.
CREATING MULTIPLE RECORDS WITH A SINGLE MOUSE CLICK
Sometimes you need to have multiple records created based on a single event - say the click of a button. One such example is when you have a single financial transaction that needs to be recorded on both the Debit and Credit side of the ledger. In this template, we see how easy it is to click one button and have both records created instantaneously.
Of the many powerful and easy-to-use features available in Ninox, the ability to display a popup selection window by linking two tables is among the most used and most valuable. Sometimes, however, it's not necessary to display all of the records in the lookup table. This week's Tech Tip focuses on how to limit - or Constrain - the contents of your linked table popup selection lists.
Take, for example, two tables - States and Cities - in a single database. The States table contains all of the states and provinces within a country while the Cities table contains all of the cities in that same country. The Cities table is related to the States table such that each city is linked with one state.
Once a user has selected a state, as demonstrated above, Ninox should then popup a selection window of cities. But instead of showing all the records in the Cities table, the popup should only display cities in the State that has been previously selected. To do this, we need to Constrain the selection of City records. This is very simple to do in Ninox.
In the image above, we see the parameters screen for the Cities field (a linked field referencing the Cities table) with the red arrow highlighting the Constraints formula. When we click on the Constraints formula field, it will take us to the formula editor presented below.
This formula editor looks a little different than what we're used to in that it show two tables - a. and b. - with the respective table names in parentheses. This a/b reference identifies the current table (a.) and the table containing the records to be presented in the popup select window (b.).
In order to ensure that the only cities that appear in the City popup are those in the selected state we want to tell Ninox to Constrain the display in the b table. Going back to the very first image above, we see that the user has entered "Ohio" in the state field named 'Selected State'. And in the image above, we see that all of the records in the b. table (City) are associated with a state by virtue of the first field - the State field - in that table.
By entering the formula a.'Selected State' = b.State as our Constraint, we are telling Ninox to constrain the view of records in the City popup selection window to only those cities in the 'Selected State' field of the current table. And since Ohio is the selected state in the current table, only Ohio cities will appear in the popup as display below.
Using the a/b formulas available in the Constraint parameter of every Reference Field will enable you to create a user interface that is easier to use resulting in a more intuitive user experience.
Download your free copy of this tech tip in action by visiting the Nioxus member portal.
The if/then construct in Ninox is a powerful way to enable automated decision making. But when you need Ninox to evaluate a number of different options before making a choice, the if/then structure is inefficient. Say hello to the Case structure. The case/of construct in Ninox allows us to create complex decision making trees that take our Ninox solutions to the next level of artificial intelligence
Wallace Cameron International is a leader in first aid products and medical supplies throughout the United Kingdom. And when WCI got sick of conducting audits and processing customer orders by hand, they turned to Ninox to help them improve their technological health.
The bespoke CRM solution provided by Nioxus enables Wallace Cameron field representatives to manage their entire inventory in real time and also conduct client audits and sales operations in their fully-integrated Ninox solution.
The Activity Management function (above) allows WCI personnel to keep track of every phone call, email, meeting and transaction. And the automated follow-up scheduler makes certain that each user's To-Do list is current and accurate.
At the same time, the integrated online Audit & Compliance functions (below) allow field personnel to conduct up to four audits on a single form reducing processing time by 75% and eliminating 100% of the paper that everyone used to have to shuffle.
And when the bespoke customer Quote and Order Invoicing and document management function is added in, this medical manufacturing giant has a much healthier operating procedure that's easier to learn, faster to operate and much more efficient both in the field and in the corporate office.
Anthony A.
Wallace Cameron International
I now have a system where, for the very first time, I can record all of my customer's details while keeping track of my visits, audits, quotes and order details.
I can not thank Ninox and the team at Nioxus enough for producing a first-rate system that is so flexible and adaptable.
AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT NUMBERING
Customer quotes, invoices, vendor purchase orders, warehouse packing slips and shipping tickets; what do they all have in common? Sequential numbering. Internal Control best practice says that all documents and forms should be sequentially numbered. In this week's Template of the Week, find out how Ninox can automatically number all of your documents and all of the line-items in those documents for effective internal controls and efficient business operations.
Issue Four - Published May 21, 2019 Embedding Comments in Code | Top Three Ninox Commands | Calendar Date Switch | Victoria's Secret
WEEKLY
TECH TIP
Code Annotations & Embedded Formula Comments
NINOX
LEARNING
The Three Most
Important Programming
Functions
FEATURED
TEMPLATE
Date
Display
Switch
SOLUTION SPOTLIGHT
Victoria's Secret
Code Annotations and Embedded Formula Comments
This week’s tech tip is as valuable as it is simple. As your formulas become more and more complex and the number of lines in your programs increases, you will find it useful to embed comments inside the code itself. This will enable you to better understand your syntax and automated processes when it’s time to return to your code for enhancement, testing and debugging.
To embed comments and annotations inside of your code, simply enclose the entire text string in double quotation marks (example: “Date of Last Code Update: Jan 21, 2017”).
Recommended uses of this code documenting technique include describing the use of variables, explaining the purpose of loops and decision structures and indicating where a specific section of code begins and ends. An example of the annotated code is displayed below in red:
The comments in lines 2, 10, 19 and 26 above describe the code blocks in the lines that follow while the first and last lines (1 and 34 respectively) describe the purpose of the entire code block when it was last updated. The embedded carriage returns at lines 8, 17, 24, and 32 are there to make it easier to see where one sub-process ends and the next begins. Annotating your code as you write it will make it easier to leverage, test and share your code across large databases and with other members of your Ninox team.
The Three Most Import Programming Functions
In this class we focus on three of the most important symbols and functions in Ninox; the Equal Sign, the Let Function and the Select Function. It’s unlikely you’ll ever write a block of code without using at least one, if not all three, of these tools. And it’s important to understand their application and syntax as you continue to develop your skills as a Ninox Database Programmer.
Victoria’s Secret needed a better way to keep track of the sample inventory that was coming into their New York offices from all over the world. Every sample had multiple suppliers, each supplier used a different SKU and keeping track of colors, patterns, styles and production lots was becoming nearly impossible as more and more samples began to arrive every day. Victoria's Secret needed a better way and Ninox delivered.
The Purchasing and Logistics Management system that Ninoxus built allows this global leader in Intimate Fashion to know what’s on order, when it’s scheduled to arrive, which buyer is waiting on it and whether or not it’s going to make it onto the store shelves. Taking advantage of the powerful visual capabilities of the Ninox Kanban and Card views (see Figure 1), system users are able to quickly locate the item they’re looking for while every member of the supply chain stays in sync via real-time data updates.
The Inventory Item Management Screen (See Figure 2 below), allows system users to manage multiple suppliers for each inventory item and all of the combinations of colors, sizes, and production groups without having to search through mountains of paperwork or scroll past hundreds of records.
Everything the buyers and brand managers need to decide what goes to the stores is easily accessible from a single point of reference. This Ninox solution made the entire buying process more effective and improved efficiencies at every step. Maybe Victoria’s secret is that she uses Ninox.
DATE DISPLAY SWITCH
There are times when you want a future event to appear on the calendar while past events are cleared after they're completed. Other times, you may want a date to appear or disappear from the calendar based on events and/or circumstances.
This Template enables both of these features. Using employee birthdays as an example, this Ninox application always shows an employee's next birthday, but only if they are an active employee. Inactive employee birthdays are not displayed and past birthdays are erased automatically after they've been celebrated.
Issue Three - Published May 14, 2019 Customized Add New Record Button | Coding in Ninox | Travel & Mileage Log | Transamerica Real Estate
WEEKLY
TECH TIP
Customize the Add New Record (+) Button
NINOX
LEARNING
Formulas and
Coding in Ninox
FEATURED
TEMPLATE
Travel Journal
& Mileage Log
SOLUTION SPOTLIGHT
TRANSAMERICA
There are many instances in Ninox where a user can create new records in one table by clicking on a multi-record element embedded in the Form of a different table. This situation is displayed in Figure 1 below where a multi-record line-item display from the ‘Line Items’ Child Table is embedded in the ‘Customer Invoice’ Form view of the Parent Table. In Figure 1, we see the New Record button – the Plus Sign (+) in the circle – highlighted. This is the button a user can click to create and subsequently open a single new record in the ‘Line Items’ table. In this week’s Tech Tip, we look at how we can customize the button and add additional capabilities to the Add New Record function.
The first step is to add a View Layout Element to the Form. This can be accomplished by going into Administrative Mode and selecting “View” from the Layout Elements list in the toolbox on the left side of the form (See Figure 2 below).
Once the view has been placed on the screen, click and select it so you can modify the parameters of the element itself. From the View parameters screen, click on the Formula field to add the formula that you see displayed in Figure 3 below.
This code snippet stores the ID number of the current Invoice record in a variable named currRec and then uses that variable as the qualifier to determine which line-item records appear in the view of the ‘Line Items’ table as spelled out in the second line of code. After you click the [OK] button, you will return the Invoice Form view with the new Line-Item multi-record view appearing beneath the embedded element that Ninox placed in the form.
Now, go back into the Admin Mode Tool Box on the left side of the form and select Layout Elements and add two new buttons to the view. Name the first button “Add New Line Item” and name the second button “Add Multiple Line Items” and position the buttons as you see them displayed in figure 4 below. At this point, you can also hide the embedded multi-record view that Ninox placed in the form by typing “null” into the “Display field only if” parameter. You may also want to rename the new view you created in step 2 above. In the example below, we’ve named the new view “Line Items”.
The formula for the new buttons is shown in Figure 5 below. The code for the first button creates a new record in line 2, links it back to the parent Invoice record in line 3 and then opens that new record in line 4. The code for the “Multiple Lines” button (Button #2) omits the fourth line which enables you to click the button repeatedly in order to create multiple records in the Child Table and then open them on an as-needed basis.
Now you can add additional functionality to the “Add Child Table Record” function by enhancing the code attached to each button. This not only adds a new dimension to your User Interface and the User Experience of your Ninox application but gives you enhanced control over how new records are created in Child Tables.
This week’s new training video in the Ninox Learning Series is an introduction to Formulas and Coding in Ninox. In this class, we begin using the code editors and programming language in Ninox to automate functions in our Ninox applications while adding an entirely new level of power and capability to the Ninox solutions we build.
If you have ever sent an email or posted something in social media, you have the skills necessary to begin coding in Ninox. You don’t need to be a computer programmer; you only need to be ready to learn a new language – the language of Ninox. The Ninox Learning Series will have you speaking your new language fluently before you know it.
In San Francisco, California, in the very center of town, there stands a pyramid towering nearly 60 stories above the ground below. This is the home of Transamerica – a multi-billion dollar investment and insurance company that is a subsidiary of Aegon – the financial services giant headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. When Transamerica needed a new way to keep track of their real estate holdings and the daily operations at those property sites, they turned to Ninoxus and we turned to Ninox.
The Ninoxus Real Estate Solution is a modular real estate application with specific functions for Property Management, Portfolio Management, Lease Abstracts, Tenant & Rent Roll Accounting and Service & Maintenance.
From the Real Estate Management group headquartered in The Pyramid to the Property Managers on the ground, the Ninoxus Real Estate Solution enables everyone to be on the same page when it comes to the operations, finance and on-going maintenance of more than 40 million square feet of commercial real estate and nearly 1,000,000 multi-family and single-family residential properties.
Using the integrated Tenant and Property Dashboards, system users can navigate nearly 30 different functions including everything from commercial building services to tenant trust accounts and pets.
According to senior Property Manager Allison R. of a Transamerica shopping mall located in the Midwest with over 3 million square feet of leased space:
“We used to have to use three different systems to keep track of daily mall ops: one for accounting, one for maintenance, and one for tenant activities. None of the systems talked to each other, and none of them worked the same way. Our new system is so simple. Everything we need is available on one screen. No matter who walks into our office or calls us, we can immediately access the right data by just clicking a button. I can’t count how many hours our new Real Estate system has saved us.”
To learn more about the Ninoxus Real Estate Solution or to attend a Ninoxus Real Estate Solution Seminar, visit Ninoxus.com.
TRAVEL JOURNAL & MILEAGE LOG
Use this handy and simple travel journal template to keep track of miles driven per day, total fuel costs, average miles per gallon, and average miles driven per day. And when it's time to enter the next day's entry in the log, simply click the button and all the important information is carried over from the previous day.
Issue Two - Published May 7, 2019 Multi-Field Sorts & Groups | Parent/Child Tables | Summary by Month | American Electric Power ERP
WEEKLY
TECH TIP
Multi-Field Sorts & Groups
NINOX
LEARNING
Parent/Child Tables
FEATURED
TEMPLATE
Summary by Month
SOLUTION SPOTLIGHT
American Electric Power
Sometimes Ninox users get frustrated because they think they can’t sequence, sort, filter or group records in a view or chart by more than one field at a time. In this week’s Tech Tip, we put an end to the frustration.
While it is true that you can only order, sort, filter or group by one field at a time in Ninox, there’s no reason that one field can’t contain MORE than one piece of content. Consider a Ninox application that tracks Customer Invoices. In this system, we may want to have a Kanban view of invoices that is sorted both by the month the invoice was sent and alphabetically according to the last name of the salesperson who got the deal. In this situation, we need to be able to create Kanban lanes based on two different fields of data. Here’s how you do it.
First – make sure that you have separate fields for both ‘Invoice Date’ and ‘Salesperson Name’ in the data model of the Invoices Master Table. Once that’s done, go into the administrative mode and add a new Formula field at the very bottom of the list of elements in the Invoices table. Name this new formula field “Sort Key” and then add the following code snippet for the formula:
There are four key elements to this line of code. The “A” segment (monthName) converts the numeric month indicator into the name of the month spelled out in text while the “B” segment extracts the numeric month indicator from the field ‘Invoice Date’. Segment “C”, which consists of the two plus (+) signs and the dash enclosed in quotation marks, is there for aesthetic purposes so that when this ‘Sort Key’ field appears at the top of each lane in the Kanban, there is a separator between the name of the month and the name of the sales agent.
And finally, the “D” segment tacks the Salesperson’s name onto the end of the string. This technique of “adding” text strings together is called Concatenation and it allows you to create single fields of content that are the additive results of multiple other fields. And if you want to reverse the order and present the invoices sorted first by Employee Name and then by Invoice Date, simply reverse the order of the fields that appear in Segments “B” and “D” in the code snippet. Want to sort, filter or group by three, four or even more fields, simply add those fields into the code snippet separating each one with the plus (+) sign.
Once you have created the ‘Sort Key’ formula field and added in the code line, go ahead and add the “null” statement to the “Display Field Only If” field of the Formula parameters screen if you want to hide it from view when looking at customer invoices in the form view.
The last step is to create a new view that is a Kanban as demonstrated in Figure 1 below and then select the newly created ‘Sort Key’ field as the Grouping Column as shown in Figure 2 below.
Figure 1
Figure 2
And that’s it. Using this concatenation technique, you can create formula fields that automatically populate themselves based on the contents of multiple other fields in the record and you can then use these “compound” fields as the sort, subtotal, grouping and/or sequencing fields for any of your views or charts.
It’s true that you can only use one field at a time when defining key presentation parameters in Ninox views and charts. But with Concatenation, you can enlist multiple pieces of data to serve as your sorting, filtering and grouping criteria. To download this template, select the “Sorting Keys & Concatenation” entry in the Templates field of the Ninoxus Member Portal at www.NINOXUS.com
This week’s new training video in the Ninox Learning Series is all about the Parent/Child Relationship. In this session, we take a deep dive into the how, when and why of this powerful and easy-to-use linking technique that takes your Ninox solutions to an entirely new level of power and capability.
This One-to-Many relationship structure is often misunderstood, but in this video, we make it easy to learn and easy to leverage this powerful data modeling tool.
American Electric Power (AEP on NYSE) has over 18,000 employees who serve more than 5.4 million customers across a service territory of 200,000 square miles. They operate the largest electric power grid in North America and when they implemented a brand new hiring and staffing model, they turned to Ninox and Ninoxus to create the Human Resource ERP system they would need to enable a seamless transition from old to new.
Called RSMS™ and pronounced “Rasmus”, The Rapid Staffing Management System™ keeps track of all hiring managers, open positions, candidates, interviews, offers, and onboarding processes. Part HR Management, part Checklist and Project Management, and part Business Intelligence Dashboard, this Ninox system was created in less than a year and resulted in a 600% reduction in the amount of time it took to find, hire and onboard new employees resulting in millions of dollars in savings.
And by taking advantage of the ease with which Ninox solutions integrate with other applications, the entire RSMS application interfaced with all of AEP’s legacy accounting, human resource and immigration management systems starting on the first day.
With the Ninox RSMS solution in place, hiring managers, recruiters, and the AEP Human Resource personnel were all in sync in terms of job requirements, interview dates, start dates and on-boarding processes. In addition to the Human Resource functions built into RSMS, Ninoxus also created a Checklist Tracking and Progress module that standardized the New Employee Onboarding Process so when the new hires were delivered to their new departments, there was no waiting around for computers, network passwords or office equipment to be delivered.
This meant that new hires were able to get to work immediately on day one because, thanks to Ninox and RSMS, everything they needed to do their job was waiting for them when they arrived. This resulted in additional savings of over $725,000 per year by eliminating the cost of having to pay new employees who couldn’t perform their tasks because they didn’t have the proper resources.
Because of Ninox, one of the largest power suppliers in the world was up and running with a brand new Human Resource ERP system ahead of schedule and under budget. And the savings in year one alone provided a significant return on investment that continues to pay off three years later. Ninox and Ninoxus meant that American Electric Power was able to quickly pivot to a more efficient hiring process without having to worry about or wait for the technology tools that would support the entire operation. AEP prides itself on “finding new ways to deliver”. Ninox works every day to do the same thing and that’s why Ninox has been such a huge success at American Electric Power.
SUMMARY BY MONTH
It’s often handy to be able to summarize large batches of data by period. Whether a period is a week, month, quarter or year, when you’ve got hundreds or thousands of invoices, purchase orders, registrations or other transactions, it’s nice when you can quickly assess periodic totals. The “Summary By Month” template demonstrates how to do this with two fields and one simple line of code.
In this template, we summarize hundreds of customer invoices by month, quarter, semi-annual and annual periods. Using this technique, you can store multiple periods (think “years of history”) in the same table, and still break down the totals for past and present years. And if you’re doing budgeting, forecasting or projections in Ninox, this technique works equally well for future periods. Check out "Summary by Month" template in the Ninoxus Members Portal Template Section.
Inaugural Issue - Published April 30, 2019 Creating an ON/OFF Button | Linking Master Tables | Calendar Scheduling Tools | UCI World Championships
APRIL 30, 2019 | ISSUE ONE
WEEKLY
TECH TIP
Create an On/Off Button
NINOX
LEARNING
Linking Master Tables
FEATURED
TEMPLATE
Calendar Scheduling Tools
SOLUTION SPOTLIGHT
International Cycling Federation
NINOXUS WEEKLY TECH TIP
There are a number of buttons and switches available in Ninox. One button type that is not native to the platform, however, is an On/Off button. But with a little creativity and just a few lines of code, you can turn that Yes/No Field into a clickable toggle switch that will add real pizzazz to your Ninox applications.
The idea behind this is to create what appears to be a single button that changes form based on whether or not the user has turned it “On” or “Off”.
Follow the steps below to create this fun and powerful element:
Create a new table and add two buttons and one Yes/No field to the data model as displayed below.
Name the buttons “ON” and “OFF” and then name the Yes/No field “System is On”
In the “ON” button parameters screen, enter the following line of code in the Display field only if field: not ‘System is On’
In the “OFF” button parameter screen, enter the following line of code in the Display field only if field: 'System is On’
Now enter the following code snippet for BOTH buttons in their respective Formula fields:
The final step is to hide the ‘System is On’ switch by typing the word “null” into the Display field only if field
And that’s all there is to it. By setting opposite visibility parameters in steps 2 and 3 above, you have configured the buttons so that only one appears at a time. And the code that you created in step 4 above results in each button “flipping” the switch that makes one button appear at the exact moment the other one disappears. Now if you want to get a little fancier, change the color of the “ON” button background to green and the background of the “OFF” button to red. This will give you a really nice visual effect when you click the “ON/OFF” button that you constructed.
And if you ever need to know whether the system is “ON” or “OFF”, you only need to refer to the hidden Yes/No field as it will always tell you the current “state” of affairs.
To see a sample of this Tech Tip, check out the “On/Off Button” template in the Ninoxus User Portal.
This week’s new training video in the Ninox Learning series is all about Linking Master Tables. In this session, we explore all aspects of enabling parent tables in different families to share and exchange content.
This One-to-Many relationship is fundamental to all Ninox applications and a basic building block for every solution built on the Ninox platform.
SOLUTION SPOTLIGHT
When the International Cycling Federation needed new technology for their 2019 World Championships, they turned to Ninoxus. With less than two months to go, the stadium announcer for the Championships in Pruszków, Poland needed a way to track hundreds of athletes and thousands of event results in order to be able to provide live commentary inside the BGZ Velodrome. The Ninoxus team quickly designed a wagon-wheel architecture that enabled system users to access race results from anywhere in the world in mere seconds.
The Event Dashboard (Fig. 1) made it easy for system operators to review results from every event over the last eight years while the Athlete Management screen (Fig. 2) provided important information that was shared in real-time with the thousands of spectators in the arena.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Not only did the system need to report on individual riders, but entire national teams also had to be tracked for the multi-rider events. The Event Summary (Fig. 3) was the perfect solution for drilling down into the details of all the Olympic and World-Championship events over the past decade.
Fig. 3
And the new Ninox Kanban view was the perfect for creating the International Scorecard which summarized thousands of records instantly and accurately.
Fig. 4
According to Anthony Cooper, the in-stadium announcer:
"The Ninoxus application allowed me to instantly search for a rider's past results in international competitions which I was then able to share with the crowd. In past events, I had relied on hand-written notes and my memory, but this time, it was immediate and accurate. The Ninoxus solution was a tremendous help during the event. Thanks, Ninoxus!"
Proving once and for all that building Ninox
solutions are truly, as easy as riding a bike.
NINOX TEMPLATE OF THE WEEK
Calendar Scheduling Tools
The Calendar view is just one of the many features that make Ninox the very best “no-code” relational database platform in the world. This week’s featured template will enable you to take your calendar scheduling apps to the next level. Whether you need to schedule an event with multiple reminders and follow-ups or create a series of daily, weekly, monthly or annual events with one click, the Calendar Scheduling Tool makes it easy.
Nioxus builds technology and service solutions for small, medium and large businesses and enterprises around the world. Our IT Consultants, CPAs, Programmers and Ninox experts take great pride in delivering outstanding service and solutions to clients in a wide variety of industries.
Nioxus Corporation is the oldest and largest Ninox Database partner in the world and the first partner to ever be designated a Premium Partner.
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"Ninox," "Ninox Database" and the blue Ninox owl eye logo are the property of Ninox Berlin and are used with permission.
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